Supply and Demand
I have to extend my appreciation for the posts from youth sports that NH+ has allowed, and to NH+ for acknowledging it may not have enough “evidence” of there being enough field space.
It’s clear that: 1) Rec Commission does not organize the use of field space by youth sports, 2) the children of New Hartford have not disappeared, and 3) they are a healthy active bunch at a time when the nation faces worries about rampant childhood obesity.
newhartfordbeacon.com 
She posted Rick’s updated schedule and says she’ll be updating her info – no such update yet. I will note, however, that her “solution” of moving Football to Brodie North would be difficult with soccer practicing there 4 nights a week. She suggested the soccer teams that play at Brodie North just move to New Hartford Elementary or Bakerville school, which are full 4 out of the 5 nights with other soccer teams. Hmmmm…since she is more adept at scheduling youth sports practices and allocating space than the Rec Dept is, I wonder what she will come up with? I await the update….
While there is a lot of time put into the article & updates, the primary problem is the source. Because of her prior false written & spoken statements and her opinion/position/agenda, it just isn’t a credible source.
I spoke with Rick B. yesterday. He stated that he misunderstood the question because it was coming through a third party, Rec Dept. He gave Maria the complete schedule, so I don’t know how much more she has to verify. It should just be posted, Rick is the horse’s mouth, so to speak. No disrespect Rick. I think this will be glossed over because she won’t ever admit she’s wrong.
I find it interesting, to say the least, that one would actually believe that there really is practice one night a week at two fields, and that the all of the other fields in town are completely open all week long. I, for one, would question that information if it was provided to me, and assumed that it wasn’t a complete schedule, that there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere. If someone was so inclined to actually inquire directly from the people in charge of these programs, it would be a simple thing to accomplish, and a good way for a reporter to get accurate information. I have said before, and I truly believe, that the FoBPS honestly think the Football program has various other places to play, and that they choose Brodie South to spite them. Someone thought they had the “smoking gun” with this article, and ran with it. Its a shame.
The anonymous posting was me, I was trying to do it from my phone, not used to the set up.
That’s ok. Done that myself but can edit out of it.
More to come. The lack of field space is becoming painfully (mostly to Maria) apparent!
In Epcot – waiting for Illuminations. Sucks they don’t do the parade any more. 😦
Sent from my iPhone
Correct me if I’m wrong – but the information I’ve been reading would lead me to believe that Rick is in charge of Rec Soccer, which wouldn’t include the travel soccer team practice schedules?
No correction needed. Travel soccer is not included in his schedule – we’re working on getting that calendar, too.
A side note about Maria’s article..I emailed Maria and asked her for a retraction of the misstatements she has made about me in her response to an anonymous entry…and she has not responded to my request at all. I am posting here as I want everyone to know the truth about what transpired with the interview I was to give her during football practice In the Fall . Maria called me for the interview and I told her I would be happy to talk but that I would be by the storage pod taking jersey inventory that evening and she could find me there. Maria never showed up. After I was finished I was informed from our PR board member that Maria had shown up and interviewed her and at the end realized she was not talking to me and left (she never bothered to ask who she was talking to at the onset of the interview). I emailed her the following day to ask why she did not come to where I said I would be and she did not respond. There was no bait and switch as she reported and I am offended that she would report it as such. I also mentioned in that email that I was happy that the storage pod was not visible from the parking lot!
That fits with some of my personal experiences with her…says one thing & does another, yet takes zero responsibility for it.
Another update with the highly anticipated updated solution…first, some math. Apparently, although many of the fields in town are used 4 nights a week, BPS is used 5x as much because there are multiple Football teams/Cheer squads sharing the field. If one team uses one field for two hours, it equals two hours. But if two teams share one field for two hours, somehow that becomes 4 hours. Interesting. And the solution she proposes is for Football teams to practice 2 nights a week instead of 3-5, move to Antolini, and the cheerleaders can practice in the woods. I’m not joking. No mention of where the soccer teams currently using Antolini should go – I guess Brodie South? Problem solved? Anyone?
Why is it that NewHartfordHeldHostage has to solve all the problems of this town? It’s exhausting! Football, Rec Soccer, Travel Soccer, Baseball, Softball, TBall, and Basketball need to coordinate their schedules so BPS is utilized 365 days per year. While the youth sports facilities (WF@BPS) are being built, the back field can be mowed for a practice bubble. You know, a big white dome like they have in Winsted. It’s a travesty to under utilize this valuable town resource.
Haha! Love it! Batting cages, indoor pool, practice field for baseball/softball/football/soccer and whatever else team needs to use it, and a regulation track! Practice bubble … Bah!
A note: the bubble would lessen the noise from the “military style coaching” and you wouldn’t be able to see the lights, because they’d be inside the bubble. Sounds like a great solution to me! Ha!
A note to Maria. Since New Hartford doesn’t have it’s own lacrosse program yet, a lot of kids in town are playing in Canton. Canton is short on practice space. Many have suggested that since kids from other towns are on Canton teams, maybe a regional practice field is in order. The leading candidate – Brodie Park South. Canton teams at BPS. Hey Maria, wouldn’t that be great?
This is absurd. If we take a step back it is quite clear this is exactly what she wants….for us to be on the defensive. I still have such a hard time believing that kids using bps is the most nefarious happening in town. Really? Come on! The laughable part is we are not talking about disturbing 100s of residents or putting in a development of houses or a walmart. So it isn’t even really NIMBY, we are talking about Maria and a few others who want nothing except passive use for any open or wooded land. Did she really complain about not being able to walk at browns? How can we even take her seriously when she and a few others are so clearly unreasonable? I know most of you have moved on from the disbelief into action but I’m still trying to figure out how her arguments are rational.
That’s the problem Heather, her arguments aren’t rational. She starts with incorrect information as her basis, and then twists the facts to fit her arguments. Doesn’t work like that.
I should also agree with you though about being on the defensive. We should just focus on moving forward. While I can’t definitively state that football will be at BPS, to me it appears that that is the plan, until Antolini field is done. There were no more changes made to budget, so if the townspeople vote yes, then we will be working on that field pronto. Football moves to Antoloni, soccer moves to BPS. Next problem?
From 10 years old until I went off to college, I grew up in Albany with the playing fields of a large school across the street from our house. They played baseball, lacrosse, football, track, soccer, etc.. Although the parking lots were far across the fields, some cars parked on our street right across from our house. We could hear and watch the kids play and could also hear the PA system’s announcements. It was not a big deal. I know of no neighbors that were botherd by this, nor was my family, in fact we enjoyed the view. Those who are complaining about sports at BPS make no sense to me.
To echo an elder at the last rec meeting…. “good god people. Just let the kids play!…”. Time to move on and focus on real problems.