'An investment in the value of our community as a whole'

In response to a letter written by Mr. Tony Cardone this week on the “grossly despicable condition” of the M-W athletic fields, I must say I couldn’t agree more and truly appreciate that he has brought the matter to the forefront. My son plays football for the M-W Junior Varsity team, but the season is almost over. One might say that I have a vested interest in a proper playing field, but my concern is certainly larger than any benefit that my child could ever reap from an improved football field. I am certain that many members of this community who do not have children participating in school sports programs do not - and cannot - understand the broad ramifications of not creating an adequate sports facility for the Monroe-Woodbury High School. I am certain that this is because they are not properly informed about how it affects our community as a whole. They have not traveled Orange County as I have; visiting schools with far fewer resources than our community, whose fields and playing conditions are vastly superior to our own. It is not only an embarrassment, but a short-sighted decision that is costing our community in multiple ways. This year, I do not believe that we visited one high school with a field in worse condition than ours. It is a pathetic disgrace. Not only do we travel to much less affluent communities to play on beautifully pristine turf fields with bright lights, scoreboards, and loudspeaker announcements, we are charged admission to watch our children play on these fields. These fields are a source of revenue for other schools - one that we could be taking advantage of as a community of taxpayers. Instead, we choose to be short-sighted and continue dumping in money to maintain fields that are almost impossible to maintain in a manner appropriate for a proper sports season. This year, our field could not properly accommodate all of our high school football because they were in such poor condition, and at times our teams had to practice indoors or at the elementary school. An artificial turf field would not only accommodate all of our football teams, but potentially also soccer, lacrosse and other school sports teams. A turf field could also be rented out to other teams as an additional source of revenue. I am certain that many members of this community do not realize that the deplorable conditions of our field were televised by MSG Varsity on cable television. I personally know people who can watch our varsity games an hour away in New Jersey. What people see when they watch our games on cable television is a reflection of our school district as a whole, and can directly affect all of our property values. You may not value school sports, but many potential buyers of your houses do. I hope that another field proposal can be brought to the community before long. My son will graduate in 2014. Even if my son never has the opportunity to play on a new field, I would gladly cast my vote for one. It is not only an investment in our children, but an investment in the value of our community as a whole. Shannon Craven Monroe