Future of field in question for Derry youth soccer program

Five-year-old Sawyer Beggs and Dillon Morrow, 15, are both second-generation youth soccer players from Derry Township.

Their families would like them, and generations to come, to continue playing the sport at the local Paskovitch Field. To ensure that end, the Derry Area Youth Athletic Association soccer program is seeking donations toward possible purchase of the former farm field along Route 217 just northeast of the Derry Borough line.

Named for a family that championed the sport locally, the field now is part of the estate of the late Odette Paskovitch, who died in August 2019.

“We don’t want anyone to buy it out from under us before we have time to raise funds,” said Elizabeth Brownlee, president of the DAYAA soccer program.

Morrow, who is usually the goalie for his team, is among about 200 area kids who each year learn soccer skills and sportsmanship at Paskovitch Field. He’s been playing with the youth soccer program since he was 5. It’s been his main focus in athletics since he bowed out of baseball and football.

“You can make a lot of friends here,” he said, noting that has included players who reside in the neighboring Greater Latrobe and Blairsville-Saltsburg school districts as well as those in the local Derry Area School District.

Beggs’ mother, Emily, who began playing Derry youth soccer intramural games three decades ago, also at age 5, is among the program’s alumni who went on to join the soccer team at Derry Area High School.

Recalling her time with the youth program, she said, “It was just an enjoyable experience, getting to play on a team and getting to know more people in the town.”

Attorney Kenneth Baldonieri, who is representing the youth soccer program, said the Paskovitch family has been generous in charging a $1 annual fee for use of the field.

The lease expires at the end of the year, but Baldonieri expressed hope of negotiating another agreement. He’s looking for a 90-day grace period for vacation of the field, so that an upcoming soccer season wouldn’t be interrupted midstream in the event another party were to strike a deal to buy the property.

Brownlee’s fundraising goal is $180,000, a price that had been listed for the Paskovitch property. In a letter she wrote to solicit donations, she issued a plea for “the community’s help to secure a home for Derry soccer, whether that be Paskovitch Field or another property, to keep soccer alive.”

Brownlee’s preference would be buy Paskovitch Field, which could set the stage for a wish list of improvements at the 26-acre site.

A single building houses an office, equipment storage and a concession stand. Portable toilets are used, since the facility lacks water or sewage service.

Brownlee would like to see new facilities, including restrooms and a larger concession stand, built at the opposite end of the field, where utilities can be accessed. The addition of an indoor gym, she said, could allow for year-round soccer play while also accommodating DAYAA basketball games that have been held at Derry Area High School.

“I would just love to see a playground and a walking path,” she added.

As a result of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, the soccer program’s usual fundraising efforts have been canceled. Fall play is underway for youth groups — ages 3-6, 7-11 and 12-18 — and a Friday evening adult league has been added. But, Brownlee said, play consists of pickup games rather than a formal season schedule.

If health guidelines and field availability permit, the program’s 2021 spring season would begin by mid-April.

Gaining ownership of Paskovitch Field would open the possibility of expanding an adjacent baseball field that is used by another branch of the DAYAA organization, Brownlee said.

As a backup plan, the soccer program has been exploring relocation of its games to recreational fields in nearby Blairsville. That plan is uncertain but is still being discussed, according to Brock Harsh, director of Blairsville Parks and Recreation.

Harsh argued that soccer would be a valuable addition to Blairsville’s recreational offerings. But, he said, a proposal to shift baseball play to an alternate field to make way for soccer drew protest from local baseball organizations.

“I think we are currently looking at different options and areas to where both parties can be happy,” Harsh said. “When and what that is, is still up in the air.”

Brownlee said the soccer organization is setting up an account named “Save Paskovitch Field” at First Commonwealth Bank, where donations can be made toward purchase of a field. The organization also is inquiring about possible grants from foundations.

For more information, contact Brownlee at 724-464-7999.