Letter to the Editor: Youth football on rec field, one of the last vestiges of small town America

April 23, 2010
by Jay A. Motola

To the editor:

Pete Zimmerman has donated countless hours to our town and this is the way that the rec department thanks him?

He has overseen the youth football program in our town in a most responsible manner. The kids playing in the program respect and admire Pete. At times he can be tough on the kids, but life is tough and perhaps these are valuable lessons that the kids learn.

There are probably very few varsity football players at Greeley who have not gone through this successful program.

One episode of questionable judgment should not be the basis for negating all that he has done for the town on a voluntary basis. The rec department should most definitely reconsider their decision, which by the looks of most replies regarding this topic does not rest comfortably with our residents. 

Perhaps the rec department also tries to flex their muscle a little excessively at times. The strictly enforced rules that require town residents to sign a roster in the rec department in order to play in a town softball league is another example of this.  Why should someone have to take off time from work, which I needed to do, in order to provide my signature to play a relatively meaningless game?

Driving by the rec field and seeing the kids play under the lights is one of the last touches of small town Americana that we still have in our town. It should be preserved as it is, and there is no need for change.

Jay A. Motola
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To see 12 previous letters on this subject, click HERE.