Murphy Field, behind the Mission Hill School and Margarita Muñiz Academy, is one of just a small handful of athletic fields in the Jamaica Plain area. The playing surface, surrounding fences and backstops, lighting systems, and concrete bleachers are in clear need of an upgrade. Ever-growing youth sports programs like Jamaica Plain Youth Soccer (JPYS) and the Jamaica Plain Regan Youth League (baseball) rely on spaces such as Murphy to run their programs that provide athletic opportunities for the children of JP, Roxbury, Roslindale, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester. The crisis is already upon us. We don't have enough quality athletic field space to run our programs.

Both JPYS and Regan have over 500 kids each participating in their programs this Spring. As we emerge from the pandemic and months of remote learning, both of these vital, community-oriented, volunteer-led youth sports organizations are seeing first hand how kids and their families are hungry for sports and community connection. These programs aren’t just nice-to-haves. They are must-haves!

An investment by the City of Boston in this space is an imperative for the health and well-being of children in our community. As it stands, Murphy Field is not a suitable athletic field for sports because of the extremely poor quality of the playing surface. Because of its location and dimensions, it could be a gem in the community rather than the afterthought it is today. And JPYS and Regan together would use these fields seven days a week during the Spring and Fall seasons. And countless others would use this space as well. Please allocate the necessary funds in the FY22 budget to make Murphy Field a multi-sport playing surface worthy of the children who play on it.