Pop Warner May Make the Move to Woodbury [POLL]

The Nonnewaug High School football team erupted into applause after the Region 14 Board of Education approved the Nonnewaug Chiefs Pop Warner proposal to play games on Nonnewaug High School's fields.

Pop Warner will review the proposal and if the members agree to it, use of Nonnewaug's fields may commence, said Region 14 Board of Education Chairman George Bauer.

The only nay vote at the Monday, Sept. 10, special meeting was from board member Gary Suslavich, who expressed concerns about a $5,000 donation amount for NCPW to use the fields. Jim Uberti of NCPW echoed those concerns.

"Because in my estimation, that is a deal killer," Uberti said. "How this figure was calculated is still a mystery to me."

He noted that in his estimation, $5,000 is one-ninth of the total budget used for all of Region 14's fields.

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Region 14 Superintendent Jody Goeler said he asked Director of Grounds and Maintenance, Mike Molzon, to come up with a figure for a deposit. He asked Uberti to meet with him and other administrative personnel to discuss the costs, which Uberti said he will do.

Board member John Chapman said the $5,000 donation amount is a placeholder.

"It could be less than that," he said.

Robert Burke, an assistant coach at , told Patch that when Pop Warner used fields for five months, between three and five days a week, they were charged $75 for the entire time.

Wear and Tear

Uberti said there are only seven games left in the season that will be played on Nonnewaug's fields.

R.J. Burke, a strongside linebacker on the NHS team and Burke's son, said the proposal will help Nonnewaug be competitive and offer something more to students.

The NCPW will provide Nonnewaug with a scoreboard, an announcer's booth, goal posts and a concession trailer, among other items, according to the NCPW proposal. All those items will make Nonnewaug's program stronger, Burke said.

The sophomore said the are, in his opinion, unfounded.

"How much are eight and nine year old kids going to tear up the fields?" he said.