HYS Community,
We regret to inform you that all Haverhill home fields will be closed on April 27, 2019. All Games and Sessions are postponed and will be rescheduled. As of today, The City of Haverhill has not issued permits for Consentino and Silver Hill, preventing us from being able to use those fields. The City also informed us that the High School fields will be closed due to unsafe field conditions.
In response to this, the Board of Directors met last night to develop a plan going forward. To allow everyone to play this spring, we decided to move the Development and In-Town programs to St. James, where permits have been issued and the field is dry and playable. Over the next week, we will be working hard to move all equipment and line the fields for play on May 4th.
The Development program will be extended until June 22nd for the full 8-week program in conjunction with our Mass Youth Soccer partnership. In-Town games that are being postponed for this week will be made up during weeknights and a new schedule will be posted once it is updated. All home Travel games will be rescheduled through Essex County.
FIELD CONDITIONS
The Haverhill Youth Soccer Board of Directors would like to address some of the email feedback we have been receiving lately. We, as a board composed of parents and unpaid volunteers, put in countless hours throughout the year to make this program the best that it can be with what we are provided with. It is very important to us that we provide some understanding and insight as to how the HYS program in conjunction with the City of Haverhill works.
As a community, we share the same frustration on the quality of our playing fields. HYS does not get to choose which fields we play on or when we obtain permits. This is determined by the City of Haverhill and granted as they see fit. Although HYS anticipates starting the season on a certain date, it is always subject to change based on environmental conditions and best judgement calls by the city.
In the fall, a fields sub-committee was organized by the HYS Board of Directors to assess short term as well as long term goals for the HYS organization in conjunction with the City of Haverhill. In December, a presentation was made to the Haverhill City Council followed up by a meeting with the Haverhill Natural Resources and Public Property committee in anticipation that they would be quicker to respond to our short-term goals and work with us towards our long-term goals. However, that has not happened thus far.
We implore you to get involved in our efforts to get better playing fields for our children. The board will continue to tirelessly advocate for our children but need the HYS community to unite with us in this effort so we are requesting that you, as parents, express these frustrations to the City Council, Mayor and any other city officials. HYS has a terrific group of volunteers, enthusiastic players and parents who really care about this "beautiful game” and hope that this type of grass roots movement will help the City to respond, take action and understand the importance of good, usable and designated soccer playing fields for our children.
It is our hope that this provides some clarification and answers questions or concerns you may have. Please accept our apologies on how this season has started and know that we appreciate your patience and understanding while HYS works on making the necessary changes in order to provide a better experience for players and parents in the future.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email us at board@haverhillyouthsoccer.org.
Thank you.
