Saugus equipment theft stuns program

SAUGUS – The Saugus Youth Soccer season gets under way next weekend, but things may not go according to plan after president Kellie Nickole said thieves stole a pair of goals from the Anna Parker Playground.?We believe they were stolen on the 22nd of August at night,” said Nickole. “The next day we came down to the field and saw the nets on the field. At first we thought the DPW came and moved them ? then we realized the nets were actually cut. That?s when we put it together that somebody stole them.”Nickole said the goals were for ages 10 and younger, are the most used, and the remaining ones are old and falling apart.?That?s probably our biggest population of kids,” said Nickole, who has a 10-year-old daughter in the league. “The only nets we have are so old and have been repaired so many times, they?re almost dangerous.”Nickole said she?s holding an emergency meeting with youth soccer board members tonight to figure out if they can come up with $2,500 to replace the goals before the season starts Sept. 9.?We need new nets to put on them, too,” said Nickole. “Our field is fenced in and locked. To do that would have been really hard. Our fences are like 8 feet tall.”Saugus Youth Soccer has about 300 kids participating this year, and Nickole said it?s the first time the league has had to deal with theft of equipment.?We?re not sure what to do,” said Nickole. “That?s part of our meeting, one to address it and then maybe put up some motion sensor lights. We?ll have to do some sort of a fundraiser or something.”In the meantime, Nickole said, they?ll have to use the larger sized nets for the younger kids, even though it will make it harder to block shots.?They look so tiny inside that net,” said Nickole. “They could never actually be successful as a goalkeeper in a net so large.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].