Francesmary Modugno letter to editor about school sports

Francesmary Modugno is a real 'running mate.'

Comments:
Editor: In light of the upcoming Carlynton School Board meeting in which the directors will vote on a facilities usage policy, I submit the following letter for publication. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Editor:

Despite opposition from residents representing youth programs, some elected Carlynton school directors want to limit facility use to organizations with 100% district youths. Why? They believe non-residents take opportunities from Carlynton kids because non-residents outperform our kids; thus, Carlynton kids need contrived opportunities for success because they are unable to succeed on their own. Not only are these beliefs untrue, they are insulting. Without basis, these directors also claim that clubs "train the competition" and that's the reason HS teams don't win. What they don't realize is that barring non-residents won't hurt those kids, it will only hurt ours. Non-residents will train elsewhere, while our kids will lose out because without non-residents, many Carlynton programs will fold. Carlynton is too small to field teams by itself. In the end, our kids will get less training and HS teams will suf! fer.

When asked, no director could explain what Carlynton gains by limiting programs. In contrast, youth leaders stated that further restrictions would hurt our programs and our kids. Nonetheless, some directors still advocate excluding non-residents. These "non-residents" aren't aliens from Mars. They're our neighbors in Ingram, Thornburgh and Scott. They live down the street from us. They work, play, shop and worship with us, and their districts warmly welcome Carlynton kids into their programs. Let's hope those districts don't adopt the "us only" view of some Carlynton directors - our kids will suffer greatly. Instead, let's hope Carlynton's directors listen to the people who elected them and adopt policies to keep our kids off the streets and engaged in positive, directed pursuits.

Francesmary Modugno
http://carlynton.blogspot.com/

I think that this will run in the P-G West tomorrow.