Youth track club pushed out
Every Saturday morning, kids come to Roxbury’s Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex to run around, throw a javelin or discus and bond with their friends.
Boston United has provided the weekly program since it became a track-andfield club in 2011, but coaches and parents are wondering where the next practice will be held as the state converts the recreational facility into emergency housing for migrants.
Roughly 30 children between the ages 4 and 18 participate each week with the club, which hosts its program indoors in the winter and outdoors in the spring. It also provides summer conditioning, cross country in the fall and year-round academic support and guidance.
“We were notified last week that our permit was canceled,” club treasurer Sekou Dilday told the Herald. “We didn’t understand why at first, and we subsequently found out about the plan to use the Cass to house migrants.”
Gov. Maura Healey, in a letter to state and city officials Monday, confirmed her administration would move forward with a plan to open a temporary overflow site at the state-owned recreation facility through the end of
May.
“As an organization, we are very sympathetic to the needs of the migrants. We don’t want any family sleeping on the floor at Logan Airport,” Dilday said. “If the governor has to commandeer the Cass, we kind of understand the need, but our thing is where are you going to redirect us? Don’t leave us out in the cold with nowhere to go.”
Many community members ripped the governor’s plan during a Monday night forum, with parents speaking out about the track-andfield club being pushed out. Boston United provides its offerings for free and is run by volunteers only.