PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer hosted a family fun day in South Philadelphia's FDR Park Saturday afternoon. Amid all the fun, though, was a message.
The goal of the day was to stress the importance of community athletic fields. Maura McCarthy, executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, said there will be five multi-sport playing fields built in FDR Park by 2026.
"We want to call attention to the fact that these kids need healthy accessible places to play and we want to highlight that coming up and the plan for FDR Park. That's a big part of the deliverables is to meet with these kids need," she said.
"We want every student in Philadelphia, every child in Philadelphia to have access to high quality outdoor recreation spaces that are embedded in high quality natural areas."
10-year-old Jared Fahnestock is all for it. "I think it helps build friendships and is a nice social outlet," he said.
His mom Lora says sports fields have been crucial, especially during the pandemic. "Last year this time, he was able to join a soccer team and it just made a world of difference," she shared.
"Being able to have a place where you could come together with other kids and they could all run together it just brought light to his eyes."
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But Jared Fahnestock said not all fields were in great shape. Some lacked proper lighting, some were too muddy to play on after rain, and some kids who live in the city don't have access to fields other than those that are publicly maintained.
"In the city, there's less space especially," he said, "even in yards for you to exercise or just play with the ball."
Mayor Jim Kenney said he hopes field improvements will help kids, not only through sports like soccer, "but field hockey, lacrosse, all those kinds of sports that allow young men and women to hone their skills so they can get a college scholarship," he said.
"It's also all about getting our kids to a place where they can be safe off the street and away from bad influences."
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