Sachem soccer club in jeopardy of losing field deal
One of the Island's biggest nonprofit soccer clubs is in jeopardy of losing its lease on a field it has been renting for decades. Dozens of parents packed Wednesday evening's school board meeting at
News 12 Staff
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Nov 5, 2015, 8:46 AM
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Updated 3,103 days ago
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One of the Island's biggest nonprofit soccer clubs is in jeopardy of losing its lease on a field it has been renting for decades.
Dozens of parents packed Wednesday evening's school board meeting at Samoset Middle School to discuss the issue.
Many of their kids play for the Sachem Youth Soccer League, which is at risk of losing access to soccer fields controlled by the district.
Jim Szillos, the league's director, says the Sachem School District told him last week that it is scrapping its 10-year lease agreement that it signed in May.
Under the terms of the contract, the district is allowed to pull the deal within six months.
"It's just absolutely a deathblow to the league," Szillos says. "Our children are being evicted from their own community."
He says the school board has been negotiating a separate deal with a different soccer organization, which would pay the cash-strapped district more money.
The Sachem Youth Soccer League has been playing on the fields for around 40 years. League officials say that children are now paying the price for the district's poor money management.
