News

Letter: Supporting Youth Sports and Fitness through the Ram Spirit Fund

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Dear Editor,

I’m writing to bring attention to a broad based community wide effort to improve our athletic fields. I invite every New Canaan resident to step forward and support the Ram Spirit Fund (RSF) Capital Campaign in progress now. The RSF represents a new collaborative effort that links our High School athletic program with various youth sports organizations with a shared vision to enhance our town’s athletic complex to meet current and future needs. Organizations coming together to create the Ram Spirit Fund include the NC Rams All Sports Booster Club, New Canaan Youth Football, New Canaan Soccer Association, New Canaan Youth Field Hockey and New Canaan Lacrosse Association. Phase 1 of this campaign seeks to raise Two Million Dollars to cover the cost of creating two new turf fields located between the current Water Tower Turf Field and Dunning Stadium (one full size regulation field and one smaller practice field), along with the re-surfacing of the Dunning turf.

News

Ram Spirit Fund: Formal Planning, Fundraising Efforts Underway for Two New Turf Fields at NCHS

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Nearly two years after receiving municipal approvals, a plan to create two additional turf athletic fields at New Canaan High School is gaining momentum this week, as a website, formal fundraising effort, renderings and timetable for the project have materialized. Through the newly created “Ram Spirit Fund,” a committee that includes the NCHS athletic director, recreation director of the town and officials from youth field hockey, football, lacrosse and soccer groups are seeking to raise $2 million by the end of this month. With those funds in hand, the committee would put the project out to bid in May, start work in June and have the fields ready for when the next academic year kicks off in September, according to a timetable published on the website. The fields would be located across the parking lot from Dunning Field, running from the tennis courts toward Waveny. Nick Williams—both a selectman who voted in favor of the project in July 2013 and a longtime youth sports parent who has launched a website dedicated to NCHS soccer teams—said the new turf fields are “something we need in town.”

“One of the trends continuing trends that we’re seeing in New Canaan is really the explosion of girls’ sports.

Government

Town Pursues Mandatory $20 Per-Player ‘Fields Usage’ Fee from Private Youth Sports Groups

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Seeking insight into the true membership numbers and financials of private organizations that run youth sports in New Canaan, town officials plan next year to make mandatory a $20 per-player “fields usage” fee. Led by Park & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell and Selectman Nick Williams and launched through the Youth Sports Committee, the move is designed, in part, to usher New Canaan toward a system where basic upkeep of playing fields is accounted for through above-the-line payments rather than private contributions. In the past, the town had no oversight of the financials of groups that oversee sports such as youth football, lacrosse, baseball, soccer and field hockey, Campbell said during the committee’s Jan. 29 meeting. As a result, she said, “we had groups that ended up having big cash reserves because they were collecting fees way in excess of what they needed to use.”

“So our point to them was, look, you know parents aren’t going to question the fee—because they want their kid to participate, they want them to make the A team and nobody would question it,” Campbell said at the meeting, held in the Art Room at Lapham Community Center.

News

New Canaan U12, U9 Boys Red Teams Complete Unbeaten Seasons with Championship Game Victories; Comeback Win for U10 Red Girls

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[The following youth sports game write-ups and photos were submitted by parents of the New Canaan Soccer Association. Please forward your own write-ups to editor@newcanaanite.com for publication on the site and visibility in our daily newsletter, Facebook page and Twitter feed.]

U9 Boys Black Beat Riverside 3-1 To Cap Winning Season

Facing down the Riverside team, the offensive line of Nate Markin, Alex Werner and Matthew Stimpson held their shape beautifully as they pressured the Riverside goal. Nate, Ehrlich and Nis Tuga each took a shots on goal that narrowly missed the mark. Midfield Chase Abbott locked down the right sideline and and Finn Greiner the left and forced Riverside players to try and come up the center, only to be intercepted by Enzo Fredericks and Nathan Sieckhaus. To deny Riverside any score, Fletcher Heron ran down a rare breakaway and goalie, Luke Frame, scrambled for a save on a fast, cross shot.

News

Key Weekend Wins for New Canaan Youth Soccer Girls and Boys; Unbeaten U12 Boys Red Head to Semis

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[The following youth sports game write-ups and photos were submitted by parents of the New Canaan Soccer Association. Please forward your own write-ups to editor@newcanaanite.com for publication on the site and visibility in our daily newsletter, Facebook page and Twitter feed.]

New Canaan U9 Girls Red Blow Away Old Greenwich 6-1

This past Sunday, despite cold and windy conditions, the New Canaan U9 Girls Red soccer team turned up the heat and blew away Old Greenwich 6-1. It did not start out easy for the Red, as a very physical Old Greenwich team struck first to take an early 1-0 lead. But it was all the motivation New Canaan needed. Tema Wagner and Maggie Murphy put up a wall of defense that repelled several drives and advanced the ball up to midfielders Kailee See and Katie Quill who got the offensive machine going.