Youth sports advocates speak out on
possibility of losing SPHS facilities
January 30, 2015
By Brian D. Wilson
Santa Paula News
Supporters of youth football, basketball and other youth sports were out in force before a joint meeting Monday of the Santa Paula City Council and the Santa Paula Unified School District Board.
They were there because of concerns over the possible elimination of youth sports at the high school on weekends.
Tim Henderson was the first to speak out on the issue of not having the high school facilities available. He told the gathering that football is not going to go away even if the high school field is closed to the youth program. “We’re just going to lose these kids to other cities,” he said. He noted that school comes first and that kids help other kids with homework before practices. Henderson said the football program has kept his family in Santa Paula and if the program is broken up he’ll probably move to Ventura. “I hope it keeps going and I hope we can keep these kids in a positive direction, especially the junior high kids,” he added.
Simon Mata said the youth sports programs are positive for the kids. “The weekend is the only time that works for us to play sports and use the facilities at the high school,” Mata said.
Jacob Avila is a coach in the youth football program. He said the adults in the program bring a lot of different qualities to the young people that aren’t just football. “The things that we teach them on the field are things that they need to follow off the field,” he said.
Tommy Frutos is a fourth grade teacher, coach and counselor. He said those who have concerns about safety near t he high school have good intentions. He noted, “Let’s communicate and lets advocate on behalf of the population that doesn’t have a voice. They’re not going to come up and speak to our council members and board members, asking you to please keep football, please keep basketball. It is our responsibility as community members to advocate for our youth. It is our responsibility to not just think of now, but to think about tomorrow. It is our responsibility to keep their interests at hand at all times.”
Juvenal Magana is President of the Santa Paula Youth Football League and a board member of the Heritage Valley Youth Track program. He told the meeting that they no longer have youth track in Santa Paula. They have to transport the kids to Fillmore for the track program. “There are 80 Santa Paula kids who go to Fillmore four days a week,” he said.
Milo Solis is a youth football and basketball coach and is also a youth football board member. He said cutting the youth programs on the weekend is not even an option. He said that, after talking to some of the neighbors near the high school at the last school board meeting he understands their concerns. “Just understanding what the options are is the one thing I want the community to understand,” he added. “There’s really nothing else besides those high school locations.”
At the last school board meeting board member Diana Ponce-Gomez noted that there was no policy being proposed to limit weekend use.
