BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

EVEN IN THE RAIN

Elyria – What started as a dream almost 2 years ago became a reality Saturday afternoon as Football players from St. Judes took to their own football field to play a game.

Tony Filiaggi said that for the CYO (Christian Youth Organization) teams throughout Lorain County they have never had their own field to call home. “This meant that we would have to travel to places like Berea and Independence to play so a group of us got together back in ’06 and came up with this idea. I’ll be honest, at first people were telling us that it couldn’t be done but we fought hard for it and worked hard for it and it is paying off today.”


Although 16 teams will be using the field, this is the St. Jude Jaguar’s Home Field and Filiaggi said that it is nice to host other teams and to showcase their Parish.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the project, TMC NEWS reported last October about vandals who had driven their car through the field creating deep ruts for the volunteers to repair. – Vandalism story – “We had many obstacles over the last 18 months and that night was certainly discouraging but the next morning there was five of us out here working on the field trying to repair the damage.”

That incident lead to the installation of a green fence that surrounds the field and a new fence and gate at the rear of the field off Sycamore Street.

Vandals also struck the concession stand by breaking a door, painting swastikas on the building and knocking out 12 cement blocks. “Each time something happened we were right back here repairing, repainting or replacing. Vandals have not and will not set us back or discourage us, having this field is far too important for the kids.”

Father Kosem blessed the field and players during a dedication ceremony before today’s game. As the rain fell steady on the players during the dedication ceremony, Kosem commented how he didn’t need to bring Holy Water. Kosem also said that the field was not only a great addition to the Parish community but to the entire city of Elyria. He also applauded the work of so many volunteers who worked so hard to make the dream a reality.

The Jaguars fought hard in today’s game, but like the Buckeyes they fell a little short and came up on the losing end of the game. Not to worry though, there are many more games to come and plenty of W’s to be had for the Jaguars.

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