Alpharetta Rec Commission Wants Union Hill Boosters to Have Time

The Alpharetta Recreation Commission voted to ask City Council to leave alone for 12 months to give parents time to form a roller hockey booster club intent on making city program's sustainable.

Rec Commission Chairman Jim Cregge not only made the motion during the Thursday night meeting to give the booster club time, he also volunteered to be the body's liaison and help them organize.

Supporters will meet Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at the parkto start formation of the booster club.

Board member Ben Easterling said the administration committee met with some of the parents organizing the booster club.

"We're going to go down the path seeing if we can make a go of it," he said.

The committee was supplying the Union Hill boosters with copies of the Ambush Soccer association's bylaws as a model. Discussions with Paul Bello and other Union Hill supporters discussed the proposed booster club being responsible for supporting the city's roller hockey program and recruiting players.

Easterling said much like the Ambush program, the cit would take on registration responsibilities.

Lisa Cherry, assistant director of the Recreation and Parks Department, said the roller hockey program was listed in the recently printed program guide, which covers September 2011 to February 2012. The guide is posted online also.

 Cregge said what the Recreation Commission is trying to do is support a booster club.

"The program is dying because it didn't have any impetus behind it," Cregge said.

Three or four years ago when renovations were made to the park's covered arena, the Recreation Commission tried to get parents to form a booster club, he said. This time supporters are following through.

Recreation Commission member Bo Reese said, "one year is certainly a generous time. I'm wondering if there should be a periodic checkpoint."

Cregge agreed with that suggestion, and took the opportunity to get more involved.

"I'd like to work with this new organization, try to help it get off the ground. I'm volunteering myself for that one," he said.

Recreation Commission member Ann Maynard said she think its important that they give a show of support to the parents forming the booster organization.

"I think something has to be put on the public record," she said in support of the motion asking City Council to leave things be for a year.

"We want to show them we heard them. We listened, we support," Cregge said.