UPDATE: Milton Cross Country Boosters Given Voice on Disc Golf Course

UPDATE

Milton High Principal Clifford Jones and Athletic Director Gary Sylvestri have met with representatives of the Milton Cross County Booster Club Board and the disc golf course designer.

“The most significant item that came out of the meeting is that the Mr. Jones stated that the specific disc course hole locations have not been established and that the School and disc course designer will offer choices and flexibility in the hole locations,” according to the board's message on the Booster Club's website.

Jones also told them the disc course plan is still in the early stages of gaining approval from the various Fulton County School Board levels that are required for work on School property for these types of project. The cross country team will have direct input into the selection of these locations – with the goal that the hole locations and any trail running will have minimum “cross curricular” activity, the board reported Jones told them.

A few of the points made at the meeting include:

• All disc baskets will be removable.
• Mr. Jones said that scheduling for athletics is a priority over clubs.
• The disc golf course will be designed for high school students and is only for the use of high school students.
• The course design will include minimizing the environmental impact. The course designer told the board representatives that there should be very little removal of trees.

The next steps are for the course designer to propose a formal course plan layout with additional hole choices to share and review with Principal Jones, AD Sylvestri and the XC Board among others.

ORIGINAL STORY

Milton High School's Cross Country Booster Club isn't happy about a proposal to add a disc golf course to the running trail its members have spent nearly $100,000 to develop and maintain.

In a message to booster club members, the organization's board said they learned on Oct. 18 about a plan by to place a disc golf course over portions of the current running trails that are used for daily practice. "As your board we strongly oppose this installation on the course due to the obvious safety, environmental and potential adverse recreational use consequences," the board wrote in its message.

Read the entire message to booster club members on their website.

More than  1,070 people had responded with their signatures.

Principal Clifford Jones sent a letter to the boosters and the parent who proposed the disc golf course and plans to fund it.

The school's principal said the letter sent by the cross-country boosters raised many questions.  "Ultimately, these questions will need to be answered before moving forward," he said in his response.

Jones pointed out that while he wouldn't support installing a disc golf course basket hole on the 50-yard line of the football field, that field is shared. Football, lacrosse and soccer each use that same field.

"Due to the nature of the limited facilities and a multitude of activities, the sharing of facilities is not easy, but it is a must for all organizations – large or small. This is the Milton philosophy," he said.

Read the complete letter from Milton High Principal Clifford Jones that accompanies this article as a pdf image.

The request to expand the six disc golf holes on Northwestern Middle School's campus by adding 12 holes at Milton High was made in the spring. Since then, two different disc golf clubs at Milton were combined and the expansion was discussed with a parent of a Milton student who is a disc club member. More recently Athletic Director Gary Sylvestri met with cross country club members.

The cross country club board told its members they learned in that meeting on Oct. 24 that the disc golf course baskets would not be placed directly on the trail. However, discs would be thrown over sections of the course the team trains on daily. A nine-hole course was being proposed.

A fundraiser was even planned on the trail in November 2013 for the disc golf course.

And the board's message said that Sylvestri told them that disc golf is being proposed for the school curriculum next year as part of the recreational offerings, which prompted the need for the additional course.

"Just as the school supports the cross country boosters in their support of their children’s pursuits, the administration supports the expansion of disc golf on Milton’s campus. This does not mean that we support the current plan for its expansion," Jones said in his letter.

The school isn't interested in using facilities for adult activities, he said. The school is interested in serving all of its students.

"As we work together for an answer, we need to meet to discuss how to move forward," Jones said at the end of his letter.