As many of you know, the Holly City Youth Football League has been a vital part of our community, helping develop young athletes and fostering a love of football for years. Many of our high school football players started their journey right here, with our youth program. In fact, most of the high school team has roots in this organization.

Recently, the new turf field at Wheaton Field was completed—an incredible asset for our community. However, despite our history and the direct connection between our youth program and the high school football team, the school district has denied our request to rent the field for off-season training. The reasoning provided? We’re considered an “outside group.”

This decision feels like a huge oversight, especially when our young athletes are the future of the high school program. Holly City Youth Football League representatives helped influence the school board to vote in favor of funding the field renovation, yet they are now being excluded from using it.

It is important to remember that the turf field at Wheaton Field is not just for high school teams—it is part of public school grounds that belong to the entire community. It should be available for use by community groups, especially nonprofit organizations like ours, that provide wholesome, worthwhile activities for our youth. In fact, we believe the field use should be actively encouraged to support programs like ours that benefit the local children.

Unfortunately, we’ve been met with opposition, including comments from Millville’s athletic director, who referred to our youth football players as a “security risk,” and denied our youth football program the honor of a Youth Night when the field renovations were completed in 2023. To make matters worse, at a board meeting prior to the renovation, a community member publicly objected to the project, stating that our players should continue to practice on dirt fields, rather than “fancy turf fields and field houses.”

We strongly disagree with this stance. Our community deserves better, and our kids deserve the best opportunities to develop their skills. We believe the field should be accessible to all our community’s kids, not just the high school sports teams. This is our community’s field, and our young athletes deserve the same opportunities to train and play on it.

What Can You Do?
We’re asking for your support! Please take a moment to sign our petition and show that you believe the Holly City Youth Football League should have the same access to the new turf field as the high school team.

We also encourage you to share this post with friends, family, and anyone else who believes in giving our kids the resources they deserve.

Let’s work together to ensure that our community stays united, and that every player—no matter their age—gets the chance to use the new field that we all helped create.

Thank you for your support!