FRAMINGHAM – Training for the 2021 Framingham High boys and girls football season started on Monday, but midweek Framingham Parks & Recreation started the Flyers from one of two grass pitches adjacent to the high school.
The town of Framingham has essentially told the public school system that the grass field is not available for the season, and that junior and freshman teams will need to use Galvani Field behind Fuller Middle School or Butterworth Park, close to 4 km from the school. school.
It would be nice if the high school sports department had buses to transport the girls and boys teams to training on a daily basis, but the The Framingham public school system does not even have enough buses for the first day of school on September 1. The district has a contract with 77 bus drivers but had only 67 yesterday September 26.
Framingham Parks & Recreation has informed the sports department that one of the two grass fields in front of Framingham High has been “overused” and needs to be “rested” so it can be ready for the softball season in the spring of 2022.
The fields in front of Framingham High are controlled by the Town of Framingham, under Parks & Recreation, and not by the Framingham Public Schools.
The decision was apparently made by Parks and Recreation Superintendent Christopher McGinty as the Parks and Recreation Director has been on vacation for the past two weeks, including this week.
SOURCE contacted Framingham Parks and Recreation Director James Snyder but received a response that he was on vacation. McGinty was on vacation last week but returned to her post this week.
the The Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Framingham recently resigned and took on a newly created post as Deputy Director of Facilities and Capital Planning at Framingham Public Schools. He started with the public school district a few weeks ago.
The two grass fields of the Winch complex have had a lot of “rest” as many sports teams have been put on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Framingham High softball used the grass field in the spring of 2021, football has not used the field since the fall of 2019.
SOURCE has heard from several parents and others related to athletics how unhappy they are about the news of one less field for practice and games just days before the first game of the season.
Boys’ head football coach Dan Avery was on the pitch with his teams earlier this week when Parks & Recreation kicked coaches and players off the grass pitch and said he would not be available throughout the 2021 football season.
Ironically, Avery was employed by Parks & Recreation for decades before retiring.
Now, the boys and girls varsity soccer teams will share the same high school grass field, and the junior and freshman varsity teams will have to relocate to Galvani Field or Butterworth Field for daily after-school practice and games.
Basically about 100 boys and more than 5 dozen girls will have to walk about 3 km or 2.5 km to train each day on grounds that do not have a toilet.
Parents told SOURCE they were angry and puzzled because the field football teams are not allowed to use this season is in better condition than the college field, Parks and Recreation allows teams to use.
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These are photos of the land which Parks & Recreation says is “overused” and needs to be “rested”. -
These are photos of the college football field that Parks & Recreation said teams can use.
If NRT Bus Inc, has bus drivers, maybe using the Galvani field, a short drive away, wouldn’t be a problem for the junior and freshman teams. But most of these athletes are not allowed to drive, so the only way to train would be to walk – 3 km to the Galvani field, located behind the headquarters of the State Mass Police.
Next year, the boys and girls varsity soccer teams at Framingham High plan to use the soon-to-be-built artificial turf pitches at Fuller Middle School near Galvani Pitch, with the junior and freshman teams using the land adjacent to the school.
Parents wonder why reseeding and resting the grass field next to the high school can’t wait until fall 2022.
Again, using other grounds in town might not be as much of a problem if the school district knew it had bus drivers to drive football players to Galvani Field, Butterworth Field, or even at Merchant Soccer Field, but sports training buses are highly unlikely given the shortage of bus drivers in Framingham, across the Commonwealth and nationwide.
The sports department, coaches, players and parents are hoping that when Parks and Recreation Director Snyder returns from his two-week vacation, he will reverse the decision to close one of the two grass football pitches in the Winch complex of the high school. , and authorize the two fields for the 2021 soccer season.
In the meantime, parents have launched a letter-writing campaign to Parks and Recreation, city councilors and anyone who will listen to allow teams to have two soccer fields for the season at the high school complex for fall 2021.
SOURCE has contacted members of the Framingham City Parks and Recreation Commission. The 5-member Commission met on August 11.
The closure of one of the school’s grass fields was not on the agenda.
A few commissioners told SOURCE that the “rest” of the grass field was never discussed at this meeting.
