20 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Community members say Far Rockaway
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
For almost 20 years, the Rockaway
Ravens, an all volunteer nonprofi t youth
sports organization that off ers cheerleading,
soccer and football programs,
have been part of the Far Rockaway
community.
Without a single recreational football
fi eld on the peninsula, its football team
had to shuffl e between Far Rockaway
High School and Beach Channel High
School football fi elds for practice for
years. Th en, with the support of then-
Councilman and current state Senator
James Sanders, the Ravens petitioned for
a fi eld.
And when Rockaway Parks, a $30
million investment in recreation areas in
Far Rockaway, opened on Aug. 6, 2012,
the team fi nally had a gridiron they could
call home.
Located on Beach 32nd and a mere
“Hail Mary” pass away from the Atlantic
Ocean — with the boardwalk serving as a
divider — the players got to practice and
play against other teams on their “fi eld of
dreams.”
Only a few months later, on Oct. 29,
2012, Superstorm Sandy hit New York
City. Th e Category 1 hurricane battered
the Rockaways, and a 10-foot storm
surge fl ooded the peninsula, demolishing
homes and leaving many residents without
shelter.
Sandy’s wrath also destroyed the football
fi eld.
Dexter Archbold, president and founder
of the Rockaway Ravens, said the ground
was covered in about three to four feet of
sand aft er the surge moved out.
“You couldn’t see the green top. You
couldn’t see the benches — nothing.
Everything was completely covered,”
Archbold said.
Archbold said that the New York City
Department of Parks and Recreation
(DPR) did a great job removing the sand
from the fi eld.
But the saltwater eroded the shock
padding — a layer below the turf that
provides safety during athletic activities
— and turned the turf, which
should feel like a shag carpet, into a
matted, sandpaper-like flat rug sitting
on concrete.
Even though the synthetic grass was
still under warranty, the company that
had installed the turf refused to replace it
because they claimed the hurricane was
an “act of nature.”
Archbold said from what he understands,
there was a lot of back and forth
between DPR and the builder, and that
they went to court.
Almost nine years later, the fi eld —
the only public recreational football fi eld
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
on the Peninsula — is still in the same
condition.
Looking at the fi eld and the players
practicing tackles and blocks, he said, “I
don’t know what the outcome is. But this
is what we have to play with until better
can be done.”
“So, we are talking to anybody who is
willing to listen,” Archbold said.
He admitted that it would be bittersweet
to fi nd a temporary home once the fi eld
undergoes a complete renovation, but that
it needs to be done for the safety of his
players and other teams. Archbold shared
that some opposing teams don’t even want
to play on the Ravens’ home turf because
it isn’t safe and rather petition the commissioner
to change the location or forfeit
a game.
“I’m tired of kids coming up with turf
burns and scrapes and marks. Th e kids
are getting hurt … scrapes to the white
meat,” Archbold said. “Th ey’re engaging
Rockaway Ravens football players have been practicing on the damaged fi eld.
One of the volunteer coaches talks to his players. The scoreboard has been out of order for a long time, according to Rockaway Ravens coaches.
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