To the editor,
Local youth football clubs keep getting shut out of the Maricopa High School football fields even as district leaders talk about recruiting kids into the high school programs. That contradiction is hard to ignore.
These clubs serve the community’s children. By rough estimate, about 95 percent of the players are minority kids. They practice and play in a city park while a publicly funded high school stadium sits largely unused for community purposes. They travel to teams as far as Prescott and Tucson for a stadium. Traveling to Yuma could easily become a reality. The facilities were built with taxpayer dollars. The high school belongs to the people of Maricopa, not to a superintendent’s private calendar.
Only after sustained public pressure and open criticism did one of the clubs finally receive two days of access. Two days. That is not partnership. That is damage control.
If the stated goal is to grow high school football and keep local talent in the district, denying regular, reasonable use of the field actively undermines it. It tells families their kids are welcome as future students but not welcome on the field today. That message lands especially poorly with minority families who already face barriers to participation.
It is time for a change in direction. Voters should consider fielding a full slate of school board candidates who will end the current superintendent’s tenure and hire leadership that understands a basic truth: the high school is a community asset. It should be available to the city’s citizens and their children under fair, transparent rules that prioritize youth development over bureaucratic gatekeeping.
Our children deserve better than two days of grudging access after being told “no.” The field is theirs. The school is ours. Leadership should act like it.
Lando Voyles
Former Pinal County Attorney
This is a letter written to the editor. You can view other opinions and letters here.
