Defends merger concept; smoking on field must be stopped

I was very happy that Cherise Cannici ("Why Should One Team Continue To Suffer?," Your Turn, Suburban, Oct. 19) agreed with my recent guest column regarding the combining of Pop Warner football teams here in Old Bridge ("Time for Old Bridge Pop Warner Teams To Merge," Suburban, Oct. 5). However, in her recent column, she asked me to explain why I thought the Raritan Bay Cougars should not be included in a potential Old Bridge Rams/Rebels merger.

The reasoning behind this conclusion is simply that both the Old Bridge Rams and Rebels draw from the same general location in Old Bridge. Their fields are less than a mile from each other, and parents can easily reach either location quickly. On the other hand, the Raritan Bay Cougars draw from Madison Park, the Cliffwood Beach section of Old Bridge and surrounding areas. They are just too far a distance from where the proposed Phillips Park field will be and where the Rams and Rebels now play.

To have many of these children (and parents) traveling as long as 20 minutes to get to daily practice and weekly games simply would not be fair to them, especially when they already have a team in the area (the Cougars) that will also benefit from a Rams/Rebels merger.

With the above scenario, the Cougars will surely pick up many more potential coaches, players, cheerleaders and volunteers for their team, and that will keep them competitive.

Ms. Cannici also brought up a valid problem that I also wanted to address - a problem that not only affects our children in the Pop Warner football program but youth sports in general.

As a former chief of staff for two New Jersey Assembly members and with many years working with the American Heart Association, I have spent long hours in Trenton fighting for a smoke-free New Jersey.

I believe that smoking in front of a child for any reason negatively influences that child and can also sustain long-lasting physical effects on that child as well. Second-hand smoke statistics are a nasty fact of life, and many people (many of whom were children) have died from exposure to it. To allow this to continually happen (and I see it almost everywhere I go) when children are present simply sends the wrong message to our youth from the people they admire the most.

If a coach, volunteer or parent in any youth organization needs to smoke, then I say do this far away from impressionable children. Like Ms. Cannici, I believe this is something that needs to be seriously addressed, and I challenge our mayor and Township Council here in Old Bridge to come up with stronger legislation in order to curtail tobacco use around our youth. Unfortunately, right now what they have on the books simply lacks the necessary teeth to be very effective toward that end.

Pete Trabucco

Old Bridge