Tyrone Legion federation baseball manager Michael S. Boytim went before Tyrone Borough Council on Monday night to request a donation to help his team.
He explained in a letter to council, the team is made up of 16-to-18-year-olds and had been “a staple in the community for many years.” Boytim told council the team almost didn’t happen this year.
He said the team’s previous manager left the team just two weeks before the season started. Boytim said he was left with raising a $1,200 entry fee, which needed to go to the George B. Kelly Federation.
Boytim said local businesses helped out along with the Tyrone American Legion, Dan Sprankle, Greg Hoover, Harry Sickler and Kelly Wike. Boytim also raised money through other resources.
He explained the Tyrone teener league teams have no field this season as a result of Ferner Field being hit by last year’s flood and not being repaired. Boytim explained those games were moved to the Tyrone Area School District’s Harry K. Sickler field. The legion team has played their games there in past and is doing so again this year.
Boytim said because of the increased use of the field, Tyrone Area decided to hire security and both the teener and legion teams were asked to pay for it. Boytim also informed council he did not have the entire $1,200 entry fee but had been given an extension for the payment.
He said he had been informed by the team’s former manager the borough had traditionally donated $300 to the team. Boytim only asked for $250 since he said he was unable to get the request to the borough in a timely manner.
After a brief discussion, borough council approved the usual $300 to the federation team. The donation will allow Boytim to pay the $1,200 fee.
Boytim said he had a meeting scheduled on Tuesday with the school district’s Tom Muir to discuss the cost of security at Sickler field and whether or not the team would be responsible for a portion of it. Boytim said any leftover money would be used to buy jerseys, new bats and other equipment.
Muir told The Daily Herald this morning, “If we don’t have security guards on duty, some people won’t follow the rules.”
He expressed concern about several teams using the fields at the same time. He said in addition to meeting with a federation team representative, he also met with representatives from the teener league, Tyrone Youth Baseball Association and the summer softball league to discuss his concerns.
He said the fields were in use this summer at least five or six days a week and security was needed about four to four-and-a-half hours a night. Muir said that costs the district about $180 a week along with costs of $70 to $75 a week to clean the toilet facilities.
Muir said the district was asking for some assistance from the groups to defray those costs. He said a suggestion was made to use concession stands at the facility as a way for the groups to raise money to defray some of the costs. Muir said no decision was made on the suggestion by any of the groups at the meeting.
He also explained the facility will be heavily used this fall and he’ll be asking youth soccer and youth football teams to help defray some of the district’s costs for security and the bathroom facilities.
He noted the district takes care of mowing and the maintenance although he does ask teams to paint their own lines on the field. He said the teener teams were expected to return to their own field later this summer.
“We are not going to throw them off the fields but they (all the groups) are going to have to look at providing something if they are going to use it that heavily.”
