Region 17 Field Hockey Supporters Seek Budget Funds

Fewer than 20 people turned out Tuesday night for the community input meeting on the proposed $38 million budget for next year, and only two people addressed the board.

Virtually everyone who attended the meeting were either members, or the parents of members, of the girl’s field hocky team, and they were there to ask the board to return to the budget money needed to fund the team.

Sandy Castlevetro, who coaches girl’s softball at the high school and whose daughter plays on the field hockey team, urged the board to permanently fund the hockey team, which has been in existence for about 35 years and which went to the state championships twice two years ago.

The board used to spend about $10,000 annually to fund the team, but cut that money two years ago, supporters said. As a result, the team can no longer afford the removable sod it used to use on the high school baseball infield during field hockey games and now must play in the dirt.

That means the field does not meet league regulations and is also a danger to some of the players, said Ann Anderson, whose daughter is on the team and who also addressed the board.

Castlevetro said the board should fund the program to ensure that a girl’s sport gets the same kind of deference and equality in the district that boys’ sports get. That would be especially important this year, Castlevetro said, considering it is the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination across a broad range of academic programs, including sports.

She also said properly funding the field hockey team would pay homage to the many years that HKHS girls have invested in the program.

“These young ladies, what they’re asking for is your help in allowing this program to move forward … so these girls are not losing an opportunity that they’ve worked so hard for.”

Anderson, an assistant baseball coach at the middle school, said the field hockey team now is constantly in jeopardy of losing its standing with other teams in the league because the field it plays on here does not meet the requirements.

“A bigger issue is our field is technically not legal to play on and they can say, at any time, ‘we’re not going to allow our team to play on this field.’ ”

Newly elected board member Jamie Lehane questioned whether the field hockey supporters have looked into alternative sources of funding. 

“Do you have any suggestions, ideas, for permanent solutions? I just encourage you to think about other innovative solutions.”

Castlevetro said they sent the board a letter in January outlining other possible ways to get funding.

She asked the board what its position is on the budget request the team was making. Board Chairwoman

Karen Perry said it would be inappropriate at this point for the board to comment on its position since it is still in the process of reviewing the budget for next year.