8 WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 SEPTEMBER <strong>21</strong>, <strong>2017</strong>
SEPTEMBER <strong>21</strong>, <strong>2017</strong> WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9 LYFC parents’ petition gains steam Sports By Anne Marie Tobin PHOTO | ANNE MARIE TOBIN The membership classifications represent bylaw amendments that excluded parents with children in the program. Parents of children in the <strong>Lynnfield</strong> Youth Football and Cheerleading program have upped the ante in their efforts to gain a voice in the governance and management of LYFC. An unidentified <strong>Lynnfield</strong> resident, along with “another committed parent” have started a change.org petition at http:// chn.ge/2x4pdzu, demanding, among other things, the inclusion of parents as voting members of LYFC. Ongoing efforts by parents to have representation on the board have been repeated rebuffed by the board. The petition has received overwhelming support from the community with a total of 233 signatures as of Tuesday noon. For the record, there are approximately 260 children in the program this fall. The number of supporters is more than double the goal of 100, as stated in a notice of the petition that was circulated Sept. 15 in an email. The email stated the petition, which is entitled “<strong>Lynnfield</strong> Youth Football and Cheerleading Board of Directors: Demand for Change: Include Parents and Coaches as Voting Members of LYFC,” “will provide parents and anyone else who supports our efforts a place to make their opinions known (and that) our hope is that the petition will encourage the current board to operate with full, honest transparency and recognize parents as major stakeholders that deserve a voice in the organization.” The email also made it clear that “If we do not get the action we are seeking from the current board, the petition can be used to support any other efforts we may undertake.” The petition, which contains three demands for action, states that “the undersigned individuals believe that the current LYFC Board of Directors is unfairly excluding coaches and parents of registered participants from being recognized as LYFC members, thus not allowing them to participate or vote on matters concerning the LYFC program.” The demands call for the amendment of “the LYFC by-laws to allow for parent and coach participation and voting rights.” The petition also demands that the LYSC board “communicate regularly and openly with all LYFC interested parties about any proposed changes in operating procedures or corporate governance,” and that LYFC “conduct a properly noticed Annual Meeting as soon as possible to effectuate the requested changes.” The online petition comes approximately two weeks after LYFC’s efforts to conduct a second annual meeting during the month of August ended in controversy, confusion and another WBZ TV I-Team investigative report by reporter Ryan Kath that delved into recent actions of LYFC board members and also highlighted the ongoing frustration among parents whose efforts to have a voice in the conduct of the LYFC program have gone unheard. Parents arrived at the Aug. 30 meeting only to learn that the board, unknown to the parents, had met Aug. 14 and amended the existing bylaws of the organization. Some parents, who were allowed entry to the Aug. 7 annual meeting, were stunned when they were denied entry to the Aug. 30 meeting because of a bylaw amendment that redefined membership in the organization as limited to several classes, none of which included parents. The LYFC board ended the meeting without conducting an election, leaving the current LYFC board intact, without any representation from parents with children in the program. In fact, an election was held at the Aug. 7 annual meeting and four new directors were voted into office by a majority of persons in attendance, namely parents who have children in the program. The board, however, determined that it had not given notice of the meeting in accordance with its own bylaws, then used its own actions in giving defective notice to its advantage to nullify the election citing improper notice. Two weeks later, the board amended its bylaws, failing to include parents as members of the organization. Several people who signed the petition shared their reasons for signing. One supporter wrote, “The board’s behavior is unfathomable and an embarrassment to the community.” Another supporter wrote that she is “embarrassed for our community” and that “the current board has lost focus it’s for the youth of our town not egos, greed or pride. Sheer ignorance on their part.” A third supporter wrote, “I signed this petition because the parents of the children participating in youth football deserve to have their voices heard. It seems like a “no-brainer” unless that is the people running <strong>Lynnfield</strong> youth football have something to hide.” One supporter questioned why LYFC continues to oppose parent representation when a majority of parents supports it.. “Parents should be the most important voices. Why would the members of this board, who have no children in the program, continuously fight against the majority opinion of the parents? I can only surmise that what we would find out is far worse than the abuse they are enduring.” Another supporter said he was signing the petition “because the current board has not followed their own by-laws for at least the last 5 years. Not one single board member head any active children in the program. While I appreciate the work that has been done by some of the individuals on the board, it is time to bring on new parents with children in the program.” The petition also stated that, “the organizers of this petition reserve the right to share this petition with the Cape Ann Youth Football League (CAYFL) and with any other entity that may be in a position to promote the changes sought herein.” PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE Jonathan Luders had two assists in <strong>Lynnfield</strong>’s win over Hamilton Wenham. Boys soccer overcomes early deficit to defeat Generals By Mike Alongi LYNNFIELD — Despite falling behind early, the <strong>Lynnfield</strong> boys soccer team rallied behind some great defense and a host of scoring opportunities to take down Hamilton-Wenham, 2-1, Monday afternoon at <strong>Lynnfield</strong> High. “I thought we played pretty well out there today besides giving up that early goal,” said <strong>Lynnfield</strong> coach Brent Monroe. “I think we were able to dominate the play for the most part, but it was a hard-fought win. Hamilton-Wenham is always one of the best teams we play, and they beat us 3-0 last year, so this was a good win for us.” The Pioneers (3-0-1) saw two players score their first goals of the season in junior Max Sieger and senior Jeremy Banks, while junior captain Jonathan Luders had two assists. Hamilton-Wenham jumped out to an early lead, although <strong>Lynnfield</strong> really dominated the pace of play from the opening kick. But the Generals pushed the ball into the offensive zone and senior Alex Renaud got a ball in front of the net, a ball that junior Gabe Berthoud buried in the back of the net to give Hamilton-Wenham a 1-0 lead. “It was a little bit of a weird goal, we should have cleared it out of there but couldn’t, so that was unfortunate,” said Monroe. “But we were able to fight back against a quality team, and it’s not easy to play from behind against a team like that.” The goal didn’t seem to slow down the Pioneers much, if at all. <strong>Lynnfield</strong> continued to push the ball toward the net and dominate possession for the next 10 minutes of the first half. That time was filled with several quality scoring chances that didn’t find the back of the net, but the Pioneers were finally able to break through late in the first half.” With about eight minutes left in the half, <strong>Lynnfield</strong> pushed toward the net for another scoring opportunity. Luders sent a ball toward the net that found Sieger’s foot and Sieger sent a hard shot into the topright corner of the net to tie up the score. The Pioneers took that aggressiveness right up until the halftime whistle, then continued it into the second half. The aggressiveness paid off once again with just under 11 minutes remaining, on a play once again sparked by Luders. Banks took the ball up through the midfield and sent a pass to Luders, who immediately sent a give-and-go pass right back to Banks. With a clean look at the net, Banks wound up his left foot and blasted a shot from about 25 yards out that snuck right under the crossbar for the eventual game-winning goal. “It was a great exchange between those two guys, that was great to see,” said Monroe. “(Hamilton-Wenham) is a tough team to break down, they’re hard to score against. So you’ve got to do things like that to get an open look, and Jeremy made a great shot.” The game was just the beginning of a tough week for the Pioneers, who will traveled to Newburyport to take on the Clippers on yesterday afternoon and will take on Haverhill in a non-league contest Monday. For Monroe, the key is to just keep the train moving. “I think the No. 1 thing for us is just getting results, however they come,” said Monroe. “I think we’re playing really well defensively so far and limiting the opposing team’s opportunities, so we’ll need to keep that up for sure.”
Change language