Pop Warner gridders set to play on new turf field
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - Youngsters who play Pop Warner football in Jackson will have their "Field of Dreams."

"This is an exciting year for all of the sports organizations and the children of Jackson," said Jackson Pop Warner President Mark Bruscella. "When I took over as president in 2006, I did so with the goal of having a turf field installed at our Holman field complex, but I was continually told it just would never happen and that I was wasting my time."

Bruscella said that with the help of Mayor Mark Seda, former Business Administrator Bill Santos, the Township Council, Township Engineer Dan Burke and the other local sports organizations, his dream has become a reality following an Aug. 15 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new synthetic turf field at the Holman complex.

"The children of Jackson now have a place to call home for many years to come, and with Jackson Pop Warner being one of the largest in the 36 Jersey Shore League towns, we also now have the top facility in the league," Bruscella said. "Along with our field, the township has also [awarded contracts] to have two synthetic turf fields installed at the Jackson Justice Complex for football, soccer and lacrosse, and there will be two synthetic turf baseball fields."

He said Seda and the council have shown enthusiasm and commitment in helping the town's sports organizations upgrade their facilities as Jackson continues to grow.

Jackson Pop Warner has 18 football teams and 10 cheerleading teams and continues to grow.

"This field will help to accommodate the 700 children in our league," Bruscella said.

He noted that interest in lacrosse has been increasing over the past few years and said teams have had to scramble to find a field where they could play home games.

"Now they have just that," he said. "Our fields never had any drainage, and whenever it rained we would have to reschedule, cancel or play our home game at another town's field. There were many times the fields were so wet that we could not even practice. With the new synthetic turf field, we can now practice and play on it as often as we want in any weather conditions."

Bruscella said Seda welcomed ideas and input about the playing field upgrades.

"Now we have our 2007 'Field of Dreams' and we are all proud of this accomplishment. We look forward to the many years of enjoyment our kids will have in the place they can call home," he said.