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Local soccer organizations find lack of field time

Submitted by WWAY on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 5:20pm.READ MORE: Local soccer organizations find lack of field time
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The popularity of youth soccer in New Hanover County seems to be on the rise. With so many more kids getting their kicks, two local soccer organizations are competing for field time. Director of the Pleasure Island Soccer Association, Mike Bennett said, “If we lost these fields, we would lose our program.” The Pleasure Island Soccer Association, also known as PISA, uses two fields at Veteran’s Park for many of its games and practices. On the other side of town the Cape Fear Soccer Association has several fields it calls home. Paid for, in part, by New Hanover County and the city of Wilmington. “This is where we operate on a regular basis, as well as two or three other locations around town,” said director of Cape Fear Soccer Association, Peter Broadley. “The county and the city both contribute to that organization to provide a program at a fraction of the cost if we had to provide it ourselves,” said New Hanover County Commissioner Jason Thompson. Cape Fear Soccer also uses the fields at Veteran's Park for weekly practices. PISA's director said this just is not right. “The side issue that's a concern for all of us is that we're continuing to fund a private organization with public tax money,” said Bennett. Bennett said PISA needs both fields. He doesn't understand why they would have to share the fields with an organization that's received hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax payer money, specifically for new fields. “I've offered the fields to them to come out and practice in the evenings, to come out and use the fields for matches on the weekends and they've yet to take me up on that offer,” Broadley said. Broadley said the real issue is light. “It just comes down to the lights. Having that light available to practice under once it gets dark which is around 6:30 at night right now.” Bennett added, “Competition for these fields has been an ongoing concern due to a shortage of field space in the county, but especially lighted fields.” Broadley brought in generators to light some of the fields at the Cape Fear Soccer Complex, but with more than 2,500 athletes there's just not enough money to light all of the fields. This could lead to the same conversation next year. Broadley said he is ready to cut out the middle man, and sit down to work out a schedule for the future. “I have not really had that opportunity and I would welcome that opportunity still.” County commissioners have decided to award the fields to PISA for the remaining three weeks of the season. Jason Thompson said next year, all of the field assignments will be in writing before the season begins, but that may mean more licensing requirements for each of the organizations.

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NHHS Girls soccer and lacrosse - Legion Stadium Usage

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Sat, 06/26/2010 - 11:03am.

give legion back to the wildcats.

go to ecapefear web site

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Taxpayer subsidies for soccer?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 8:45am.
Perhaps if we didn't fund niche special-interest groups, taxes wouldn't be so high? Vote them ALL out, and elect people who will stop spending YOUR MONEY like drunken sailors.
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Exactly what I said

Submitted by guesty on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 4:08pm.
That is what I said, no incumbent gets re-elected to any city or county position. We need fresh people that aren't already bought.
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Cape Fear O Crock

Submitted by Socermom1963 (not verified) on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 11:34pm.
The problem with the cape fear snob leauge besides attitude, is that their coaches work at several schools in Wilmington and when you look at the team roster, you will see their cape fear kids on the team FIRST, and other kids second.. This is NOT because some kids are better.. but because they take care of their own first... A primary example? The coach at Roland Grise.. he always picks his girls first for soccer then who he thinks is prett and popular.... Is this really what we want our children to learn? Is this really what sportsmanship is about? No... It is purely a conflict of interest to coach school and a league.. When this happens, you get schools like Roland Grise who cape fear for the past two years has had first dibs on... but thats only because coach is up their butts and takes care of his won first.... Their league speaks for itself.... snotty, snobby, and crooked.
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Cape Fear has dominated the

Submitted by Guest1227 (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 2:56pm.
Cape Fear has dominated the local soccer scene for years, and has historically refused to cooperate or "play nice" with any other soccer group. Why NH County is subsidizing this group is beyond me, especially given the fact that many of their players at the higher levels are from out of county. In fact, many NH County kids have been displaced by those from other counties. Cape Fear is all about money and always has been. Parents pay a lot of money for their kids to belong to this league, and Cape Fear should pay their own way. It's about time PISA and other soccer organizations are given a fair shake.
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Waaaahhh

Submitted by Guest88 (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 2:43pm.
Cry me a river.
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vote them out

Submitted by Nurse on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:50am.
I agree, Jason Thompson needs to be voted out next election. He is only out for his own gain and doesn't care who is stepped on in the process. Cape Fear needs to be cut off from the taxpayers trough and be forced to stand on their own.
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PISA Supports the South Side

Submitted by Jason Herring (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:30am.
As a small business owner and Father of a 7 year old, I choose to participate with PISA because... 1)They are an organization that supports the South Side of New Hanover County. 2)Over the last 3 seasons they have REDUCED their fees. 3)They receive ZERO dollars from ANY Municipality. The money they raise is through sponsorships from businesses like mine. I coach a team of 6 and 7 year olds that live in the Monkey Junction/Pleasure Island area. Over the last 3 years I have coached, 3 to 4 of the players on my teams could have ridden their bikes to practice. Although Mr. Broadley says he has offered the use of "their" fields(Cape Fear Soccer),that would completely get away from the basis of PISA; to provide an organization that supports the children of the South Side of NHC. It would be interesting to find out how many players practicing on the Veterans Park fields don't reside in NHC. Wouldn't it be smarter for Cape Fear Soccer to organize things better so that those children can play at "their" facilities on 421? I too feel that the response from County Officails has been odd on this issue. It will be interesting to see the direction that is taken and the "reasons" given to back it up.
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clowns

Submitted by radar (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:50am.
We are surrounded by bad government on the county and city level.I do not have children that play in the PISA but they have my support. Subsidizing youth soccer programs are not one of the primary duties of government. Given the severe economic downturn and budget constraints we face in our communities , this should be an item that should be slashed if I were a commissioner.These clowns that run our county allowed the NHC tax administrator to keep his job after 10.5 million dollar mistake, which resulted in many municipalities having to devise a plan to deal with a revenue shortfall. As for elected officials being nasty and arrogant in our area , I have found this to be fairly common trait among all of them on the county and city levels.They want all of us to sit down and shut up. They do not like to be challenged and are not receptive to public input! If anyone is an incumbent on the city and county level , I say vote them out!
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Who's the clown?

Submitted by Justathought (not verified) on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 9:24am.
First, if you are the answer person then run for office, get elected and fix it. Second, Get the facts straight before putiing on you red round nose. The tax dollars are for the maintenance and monitoring of the fields which are built over the old Flemming landfill. NHC would have to spend the same monies to take care of this property whether or not there was a soccer complex on it. Of course it would be nice if WWAY would do a complete job and actually research and report the whole story. There is MUCH more to the story of the three soccer organizations in this county than is being told here. They all need to step back and think about what is the best thing for the players......you know the people this is supposed to be for. WWAY....how about a story on the number of college players this county has turned out? Why not show what these programs are doing on the positive side.
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tax admin

Submitted by Guester (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:17pm.
The county tax administrator had already announced his retirement earlier in the year, well before that huge error that cost us so much.
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Soccer

Submitted by missy carney (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:41am.
We pay 180.00 per year for soccer. I realize some of the money is for uniforms. Still if you were left over 100.00 per child and 2500 kids. That's 250,000.00 a year surely that's enough money to get some spot lights up on these fields. Anyone ever hear of fundraising? Everyone wants to keep these kids active and healthy, well you need well lit fields to do that in the late fall and early spring when it is dark so early in the evening. Fundraising and local business help is necessary to keep these kids active and busy with good activites rather than being a nuescance in the community.
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chumps

Submitted by bacon on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 7:32am.
"County commissioners have decided to award the fields to PISA for the remaining three weeks of the season." This after they kicked us off the fields in the middle of the season. I talked with jason thompson and he really showed his butt. I have a list of which county commissioners voted to allow cape fear to kick us off. This list will be shared and hopefully remembered next election time.
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Re: Jason Needs to Go

Submitted by Guestinwilmington (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:55pm.
I agree with you 100% anything involving children or supporting children Jason acts like a big Tool!!
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jason thompson

Submitted by scott (not verified) on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 10:48am.
Here is an email from jason thompson when I questioned his actions. He really needs to go.
Well here is my answer...I hope you find it to your liking. Usually I do not reply to emails for the following reason: 1. They lack factual information. 2. They are purely emotional or sensational and no reasonable answer will be accepted. 3. They address an issue that has already been resolved to the emailer's (is that a word?) favor. 4. They address something I have no idea what they are talking about. Your emails met 1-3 above. So I did not respond to your 1st,2nd, or 3rd email. Your 4th email (and now 5th) does deserve a response. You can find me at 606 Sunnyvale Drive M-F from 0730 to 1830 anytime you wish to come an inquire of me personally as to what I am or am not afraid to answer. I am more than happy to accommodate any requests you may have for a gentleman's discussion if you have the courage to ask. Does this answer your questions? I don't mind if you share this one. I await to see who the coward is. Stop hiding behind your keyboard and come tell me what a coward I am. I have provided all the info you will need. I have shared this email with the media because I am not scared of saying what I feel via email or to your face if you have the desire and courage to ask me in person. FYI I am already a 3 termer! Guess you didn't vote for me. Why don't you put your money where your mouth (hiding keyboard in your case) is and run for office and see if the citizens in NHC think you can make decisions on their behalf. It is easy to be a loud mouth when you do not have any facts. I mean that in the nicest way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Sent: Mon 11/2/2009 6:30 PM To: Thompson, Jason Subject: Fw: Cape Fear Soccer Wow, you really are a coward. Hope you don't mind if I share this e-mail with all the people I know. Enjoy being a one termer. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Scott To: JThompson Sent: Fri, October 30, 2009 4:11:48 PM Subject: Fw: Cape Fear Soccer And now a fourth request for an answer. Are you really that afraid to answer a few questions? Mr. Shell and Ms. Mallette had enough courage to respond to me. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Scott To: JThompson; AMallette Sent: Thu, October 29, 2009 3:23:41 PM Subject: Fw: Cape Fear Soccer And now a third request for answers. Mr. Snell was grown enough to respond. How about you two? If not, how about doing the public a favor and resign. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Scott To: JThompson; bShell; AMallette Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 11:25:29 AM Subject: Fw: Cape Fear Soccer This is a second request for an answer. As best as I recall you are all elected officials and OWE the tax paying public answers when you are asked. If you can't do that, resign from office. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Scott To: JThompson; bShell; AMallette Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 12:13:33 PM Subject: Cape Fear Soccer I was wondering if the three of you could please explain to me how you thought it was a good idea to kick Pleasure Island Soccer off the fields in the middle of the season. It is my understanding my money was used to build Cape Fear an exclusive facility for them to use off hwy421. Please explain your actions to me. Thank you,
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No vote from me

Submitted by KNM on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:49am.

Thompson will not get a vote from me.

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I had heard

Submitted by rowdy on Sun, 11/22/2009 - 6:27pm.
I had heard that he was a little boy but now I can really see it first hand. He is nothing but a clown.
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Not an act

Submitted by Nurse on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 11:14am.
The sad thing is that it isn't an act, Jason is a child.
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Very Nasty

Submitted by guesty on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 9:10am.
From the story: "County commissioners have decided to award the fields to PISA for the remaining three weeks of the season." The story leaves out that PISA was told last week they couldn't use the fields even though it is the middle of the season. Jason Thompson has been very nasty during this whole fiasco. Many parents I've talked with that said they have received nasty e-mails or had heated phone calls with Thompson. Since Cape Fear takes tax money, they should be at the bottom of the picking list. PISA doesn't take any tax money, it is completely self sufficient and is being push around by the county parks, county commissioners and Cape Fear. I wrote to the county commissioners and didn't not get a single response. Last time I checked those monkeys worked for me and begged for my vote at last election. Vote out all incumbents for every position, city and county.
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