ENID, OK - July 22, 2017 - The Enid community really needs new EJRT Youth Football Fields for the EJRT youth football league. The U.S. Air Force brought me and my wife to Enid by way of Vance AFB in 2005. I have coached youth basketball and football in Enid for 12 years now, and 23 years overall. I absolutely love coaching. Upon retirement in 2009, we decided to stay in Enid because we love the community. From what I’ve seen in my 12 years in Enid, youth football and basketball seem to get "bottom of the barrel" treatment.
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First, I am thankful that Enid at least has football fields and its own football league, however, the children have played on substandard fields for years. I know this because over the years, I’ve helped fill in holes with dirt and whatever else it took to keep the fields in safe and playable condition. There was a proposal to build 2 new football fields at Crosslin Park. Unfortunately for football, it was decided that softball fields were given a higher priority.
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Perhaps if Enid had better youth football and basketball facilities, that would encourage the Enid youth to continue playing beyond the EJRT league. I believe better and more modern facilities would aid in that continuation. Although I don’t know where the money would come from, I do know that I would be willing to pay more taxes if it provided Enid’s youth an opportunity to stay involved in positive, constructive events. Although understandable, it was sad that Enid voted against raising taxes to build a youth sports complex. I believe the community may have missed a Golden opportunity because kids between ages 11-17 don’t have a lot to do here in Enid.
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I know many parents who have told me that they don’t like going out of town every weekend, but if they want their kids to face tougher competition and get better at sports, they have no choice. It would be nice to bring competition here to Enid. I believe that if Enid had a basketball complex with several gyms, like the HIVE in OKC/Edmond, we could bring basketball games and tournaments with better competition to Enid. That would help the Enid youth athletes improve. Parents also wouldn’t have to go out of town every weekend for traveling team events. People would come to Enid and spend money eating, staying in hotels and shopping as well.
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Anyone who knows me knows that I have always been about the betterment of the youth in the community through sports. I hope Enid will do something soon to improve upon our youth sporting competition levels to better prepare our youth for the future and help HS football and basketball strive for greatness. If not, I’m afraid we are missing a Golden opportunity.
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Suggestions welcomed!
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Coach James Saunders
Enid Cowboys Youth Football
— with Enid Cowboys.
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Visitors Post: Concern Over Football Fields
Adults in Enid are very selfish they would rather have softball fields where they can go play softball and drink beer. This is one of the reasons why they have not done more for the Youth. I do understand your frustration and I do believe that our youth are being taken care of a second-class citizens. The city fathers of Enid have an agenda and their agenda is downtown.