P-G West, Letter to Editor, covers Carylnton and sports issue

Letters to the editor/West

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Carlynton needs nonresidents on teams

Despite opposition from residents representing youth programs, some elected Carlynton school directors want to limit facility use to organizations with 100 percent district youths.

They believe nonresidents take opportunities from Carlynton kids because nonresidents 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 high school teams don't win. What they don't realize is that barring nonresidents won't hurt those kids, it will only hurt ours.

Nonresidents will train elsewhere, while our kids will lose out because without nonresidents, many Carlynton programs will fold. Carlynton is too small to field teams by itself. In the end, our kids will get less training, and high school teams will suffer.

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 nonresidents.

These "nonresidents" aren't aliens from Mars. They're our neighbors in Ingram, Thornburg 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.

FRANCES MARY MODUGNO, Rosslyn Farms

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