Dear Editor,
I’m writing to bring attention to a broad based community wide effort to improve our athletic fields. I invite every New Canaan resident to step forward and support the Ram Spirit Fund (RSF) Capital Campaign in progress now. The RSF represents a new collaborative effort that links our High School athletic program with various youth sports organizations with a shared vision to enhance our town’s athletic complex to meet current and future needs.
A rendering of the planned new turf fields at New Canaan High School.
Organizations coming together to create the Ram Spirit Fund include the NC Rams All Sports Booster Club, New Canaan Youth Football, New Canaan Soccer Association, New Canaan Youth Field Hockey and New Canaan Lacrosse Association.
Phase 1 of this campaign seeks to raise Two Million Dollars to cover the cost of creating two new turf fields located between the current Water Tower Turf Field and Dunning Stadium (one full size regulation field and one smaller practice field), along with the re-surfacing of the Dunning turf. I am proud that the New Canaan Community Foundation has partnered with the Ram Spirit Fund to manage this campaign.
Every resident of New Canaan should embrace and celebrate the fact that so many of our young residents are getting outside to exercise and participate in athletics in one way or another. Childhood obesity may be a national trend, but our community has always ensured an adequate array of athletic opportunities exist to prevent that from being an issue here.
We can all be proud of the accomplishments of our New Canaan High School teams. At the same time, we should all be aware that the seeds for that success are planted much earlier through the efforts and dedicated volunteers running our youth sports organizations. As participation in our youth sports programs has grown over the years, so too has the need for safe, well maintained athletic facilities.
While the town’s Parks and Recreation Department, led by Steve Benko and John Howe, have always done an amazing job of maintaining our grass playing fields, the reality is that turf fields can dramatically expand the number of hours a field is available in any given season while reducing overall upkeep costs. Adding these new turf fields will reduce the burden of daily and weekly upkeep by our town’s personnel.
The Ram Spirit Fund will help create an athletic complex we can all be proud of. I encourage every resident to become part of this broad based community effort. Find out more details at www.ramspiritfund.org. NC PRIDE!
Sincerely,
Leo Karl III
President, New Canaan Community Foundation