BradfordToday received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Tracey Melidy in regards to the lack of soccer fields in the southeast end:
What a wonderful spring day, just perfect to get outside and kick a soccer ball around, maybe get up a pick-up game with friends who have been cooped up all winter long. Wait, if you are a kid in the southeast part of Bradford, it can’t be done. Why you ask? There are no public soccer fields within walking or biking distance. The soccer field at the Bradford Community Centre is off-bounds, preserved for the new development I guess. The soccer field at Taylor Park is being turned into tennis courts. It turns out that field was too popular: too many people were using it, so it was closed.
Watching the town council meeting of April 5 helps to explain this problem. Mayor Keffer says there are other facilities for adult soccer, at Henderson Park. There is no mention of how young people can get to a field. There was a discussion about Bradford not becoming like Brampton. There is no fear of that happening. After all, Brampton is the centre of soccer development in Canada, because they have multiple soccer fields easily accessible to residents of all neighbourhoods. The general manager for Brams United in Brampton credits this accessibility to the development of at least six current world-class professional soccer players in Brampton.
It’s too bad that Bradford will not have the opportunity to produce new champions of its own. The talent is there but the fields are not.
Tracey Melidy,
Bradford, Ont.
