By Lee Weyhrich
PINSON – Pinson Valley Youth Association is no more, and in its place is the Pinson Youth Sports Complex.
The council voted to terminate the lease of the ball fields to PVYA and run the program directly. The Council assumed roughly $10,000 worth of unpaid debt from the organization, but they also gained assets of a similar or greater value, mayor Hoyt Sanders said. These assets include bleachers, helmets, sporting goods, and other items.
Coincidentally, football helmets will have to be traded in this year. Football helmets must be recertified and reconditioned every two years to meet safety standards. The current football helmets were made by Rawlings, but since that company has decided to no longer produce helmets, reconditioning them could be a lengthy and expensive process, and would be nearly impossible to do in the near future. BSN Sports has offered a buy-back deal for these helmets.
PYSC can trade in the Rawlings helmets and buy new Schutt helmets for $67.95 each – a fraction of the normal cost. Overall, this deal will save the program $3,282 over the course of the next two years. These new helmets can also be used for up to ten years, as opposed to the current ones, which will no longer be certifiable in just a few years time.
The council voted unanimously to accept the proposal.
“At the end of the day, we want to know that our youth are playing with the best helmet they can to protect those young men — and sometimes young women — from concussions and the like,” councilman Joe Cochran said.
One other piece of business regarding the Sports Complex is the need for a secure storage facility. In the past there has been vandalism and theft at the current structure, and the mayor believes that a better facility is a priority. The council will be accepting estimates for a basic garage-type structure, as well as for some alternates such as an attached overhang for batting cages.
The next Pinson Council meeting will be held July 16 at 10 a.m. at Palmerdale Homesteads Community Center.