The shame of the Masich Place Stadium vandalism incident was eased by Kelly Road secondary school's football team yesterday.
The KRSS football program was referenced in the graffiti scrawled on the walls of the city's main sports stadium, and although there is no evidence anyone on the team had a finger on the paint can, the head of the program could not stand idly by.
Ryan Bellamy, one of the city's top football organizers and the head coach at Kelly Road offered his entire team's services to repaint the facility when spring arrives.
"We were associated and we by no means want to be linked to that sort of stuff. It could negatively impact our program," he told The Citizen.
"The reason we offer such activities is to keep kids away from that kind of stuff, keep them out of trouble and off the street. You'd think they'd realize that those facilities are there for their use and community enjoyment, not what they were used for over the weekend."
When city official Sean LeBrun heard the news, he was touched. He told The Citizen that the damage was done through no fault of the football club, yet the members were offering massive help before the proverbial paint had dried.
"That is one of the best parts of this job, for me, is dealing with the user groups," he said. "There are good honest people out there who do a lot of work to respect our facilities. For Ryan and the team to step up, that's huge. This is a great offer from one of those groups who work so hard to look after the public facilities they use. These people are valuable assets."
The words had hardly gotten out of LeBrun's mouth when he caught his breath again.
"Just as we're talking here now an email came through to me from Duchess Park's football team saying they would be willing to volunteer in spring to repaint at the stadium, and they weren't even mentioned in the graffiti. But they're jumping on board too. And that's what P.G. is all about, as far as I'm concerned. People stick together around here."
KRSS has between 40 and 50 players, add in Duchess Park's squad and any other supporters and a pretty sizable work bee is taking shape, but it is all just a proposal right now. City officials have to see if user groups can do the volunteer work, and still comply with union parameters, safety codes, etc.
LeBrun said he saw no obvious reason why this volunteer labour force couldn't be used but they had some time to study it, since the weather would not allow paint to stick to the walls until it was consistently warmer.
Bellamy said the effort to repaint was not just to restore what was broken, it was to show all the kids what the value of public facilities is, and what the right thing to do is when things go wrong for the community.
"We will assist the police, the city, the school, the kids in the program in any way we can," he said.
There are four local schools, plus one each in Quesnel and Vanderhoof that take part in the high school football program KRSS is involved with. Prince George Minor Football also uses the stadium, many community groups, schools, and individual walkers and runners utilize the track and grounds. It is most notably the headquarters for the Prince George Track and Field Club led for decades by the facility's namesake, Tom Masich, who was the first to find the vandalism on Sunday and call police.
In a written statement to the city, Bellamy pledged the following:
"I hope that the [city can] please pass on to Tom Masich that we will be assisting in fixing this issue as we know how hard he has worked to make a facility of this nature available in Prince George. We are disgusted at the thoughtless actions of a couple people and realize the negative reflections these actions leave on so many people that are greatly appreciative of the facility, Tom Masich, the P.G. Track and Field Club, School District 57 and The City of Prince George who help make this venue available to the groups in the northern communities."
