Canfield Soccer Club regains priority use of soccer fields
By Susan Tebben
canfield
Almost a year after the Canfield Soccer Club missed a payment in an agreement with the township trustees, leaving it in breach of contract according to the trustees, the dispute has been settled.
Summer soccer will continue on the township park athletic fields on Herbert Road.
The club entered into a written agreement in 2009 with the township stating the club would pay $50,000 in five installments over five years. In paying the money, the township allowed CSC priority with scheduling the fields for 15 years.
But, because of what the soccer club called a clerical error, the fourth payment was not paid until March 2012. Per the contract, the payments are due Aug. 1 of every year, according to township Trustee Marie Izzo Cartwright.
Trustees said this week that the matter had been settled, and the soccer club would continue to have priority in scheduling the fields.
“Everybody will have time on the fields,” Cartwright said. “We look forward to them having a great season.”
Cartwright, as she said in May 2012 when members of the soccer club spoke at a trustees meeting about the issue, said the bigger problem was the club’s not providing a detailed practice and game schedule to the township by the end of March, which was a part of the agreement. Throughout the year, the township and the soccer club have been struggling to find time to sit down and discuss the issues until now.
Old North Church’s Upward Sports and St. Michael’s — part of the Catholic Youth Soccer League — are looking to use the fields as well, which now have power and water. A sewer system is planned for the concession building, Cartwright said.
“We negotiated and we talked over the course of the year, and we’re happy that it’s been resolved,” said Brian Governor, soccer club president. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
The club, which has about 500 children participating, according to Governor, plans to expand the way coaches are educated and the program itself.
The club has been in the area since 1978.