Youth football field locked without warning, leaders say season is in jeopardy

NATRONA HEIGHTS, Pa. — With spring conditioning set to begin this weekend, Rams Youth Football Organization was essentially locked out of their field, Bushman Field.

The league is now hoping to use Dresher Stadium, at least for practice. The problem though is all their equipment is also locked up behind the gates.

“For a lot of kids, it’s all they’ve got,” said organization Vice President, Scott Dadowski.

Football is a big deal for the more than 150 kids who play and cheer for Ram’s organization, but league leaders said this year’s season is in jeopardy.

“We had our last game of the season at the very beginning of November, and a couple of days later we went down to the field, and there was a lock on the gate,” Dadowski said.

The league says without any warning the owners of the field, ATI Materials, locked the field after they said they received complaints. Now no trespassing signs line the fence.

In a statement, ATI said:

“For more than 25 years, ATI has proudly supported youth sport… leasing our property for Bushman Field at no cost…While we don’t want to prevent the use of Bushman Field for RYFO, we must also be respectful of neighborhood concerns, “said ATI Materials spokesperson Natalie Gillespie.

“Nobody ever came and said can we sit down and talk,” Dadowski said.

He pushed back on ATI’s claims and took to Facebook. The response was overwhelming, with community support, but without a field, the season will be impacted.

“The first Sunday in May is when we always start. This will be the first time in my ten years that we don’t have conditioning,” he said.

To make matters worse the league said not only are they losing time, but they are also losing money; an estimated $30,000 for a new scoreboard, a new fence, and lawnmowers and cleaners all invested in Bushman Field.

“We don’t really have a place to be and everything we own footballs, uniforms, everything is inside that building and the lock is on the building, so we are kind of stuck,” Dadowski said.

The organization said for now they will try to practice at Dresher Stadium in Tarentum and then coordinate to have their games played at highland high school in Natrona Heights until an agreement can be made.

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