Dear editor,

I am a grandmother; however, my children or grandchildren do not live here, nor am I originally from Mineola. The Civic Center has invested obvious time and money with the addition of the wonderful splash pad, along with other amenities, to encourage families to spend time together.  To learn you are wanting to send these families away is very disturbing. There isn’t another area in town that has the same capabilities to accommodate not only the parking, but also the number of fields needed to support a soccer league.  

While I do realize the revenue out of town RV campers bring as they travel through, have you stopped to realize the consistent weekly revenue families bring for these soccer games? Perhaps most importantly, are you saying the opinions of traveling RV campers are more important than our local youth? I encourage you to seriously think about the message you are sending.

Soccer is a very popular sport for young kids. By taking away the Civic Center area and possibly forcing soccer to another town, you could very well be taking away the only opportunity some of these kids have to play, as their parents may not be able to drive them to other towns to participate.

While I do believe small towns are wonderful places to raise kids, we do have to accept there are limitations to a variety of activities.

One final consideration is if soccer is taken away, a sport that may be a child’s favorite and he/she doesn’t find another sport to fit in, this child then feels left out. The door is opened wider for them to turn to drugs and/or alcohol in the future. This may seem to be an overreaction, but we have unfortunately witnessed firsthand what happens when local youth do not have extracurricular activities. 

I urge you to please reconsider relocating this program from the Civic Center. This will have a lasting impact on our youth. Please make sure you are basing your decision on what is best for them.

Lesa Tonne,
Mineola