Some in Southington are still not ready to quit on middle school sports.
The athletics were cut this year following a $1 million reduction to the Board of Education’s budget. Some parents and board members have been fighting to bring them back ever since.
On Wednesday night, the Southington Middle School Activities Committee, a sub-committee of the Board of Education, met to discuss ways to revive middle school sports.
“To lose this [middle school sports], I don't know what I would do with my time,” said Matthew Morgan, an athlete and seventh grader at John F. Kennedy Middle School.
For the committee comprised of two Board of Education members and parent volunteers, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
“It's a lot to do,” said committee co-chair & board member, Zaya Oshana. “The school year starts in a couple of months.”
There are still a lot of questions the committee needs to answer and a lot of ideas to consider, but co-chair, Patricia Queen is confident they can achieve something by the start of the school year.
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“People pull together when they want to get something done. There is a lot of energy here, intelligence, a lot creativity,” Queen said.
Both Queen and Oshana acknowledge they need to start small with the hopes middle school sports and other activities will make a full return in the future.
“People need to understand it is probably not going to be what they expect,” Oshana said. “It’s not going to be the same as it was last year, but we are trying to get something started so we don't have a gap in the program.”
The committee is open to any ideas from the public. They plan to meet again Wednesday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. The location is to be determined.