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Parents and coaches urge board to restore weekday access to Silvestri field for long-running youth football program
Summary
Members of the Henderson Cowboys youth football organization told the board that Sylvestri Middle School revoked weekday practice access to the adjacent field, and asked the district to restore or help find an alternative site.
Dozens of parents, youth players and volunteer coaches told the board that the Silvestri Middle School field has been the Henderson Cowboys’ primary practice location for about 20 years and urged the district to restore weekday access that school staff recently curtailed.
Coach Jeremy Fredrickson, president of the Henderson Cowboys, told trustees the program serves more than 300 children ages 5–13 and that the field’s lights, gated access and central location are essential to keeping practices and families together. "This field location is essential to how successful this camp has been and currently is," he said during the public-comment period. "Please step in and help us. We got nothing."
Several youth players and parents described the field as a safe, accessible hub for children from multiple parts of the valley. Players and coaches said school staff abruptly escorted teams off the field during a weekday practice without prior notice; coaches said there had been no earlier communication about safety or facilities issues and offered to work with the school on solutions. The group urged a compromise—coordinated scheduling, shared use agreements or help identifying suitable replacement fields.
Trustees and staff acknowledged the district must balance school programming and after-school community use. Board members said they would ask district operations staff to engage with the school principal, parks-and-rec officials and the community to identify options. Trustee Abraham (member of a county bond oversight committee) offered to explore capital improvements and bathroom upgrades at the field as part of broader facility planning.
Speakers asked for interim relief so the program can resume weekday evening practice; coaches emphasized they are unpaid volunteers, that many families lack transportation, and that splitting the program among multiple farther-away sites would hurt retention. The board said staff and the interim superintendent’s office would follow up with the principal and the group and report back to trustees.
