Brownsville youth soccer fields damaged by ATVs, officials say

The Brownsville Youth Soccer Association scheduled the opening of its fall soccer season for the weekend of Saturday, Sept. 12, but it now faces a significant setback in its preparation.

Rob Miele, the association's president, found multiple tire tracks across three fields at Patsy Hillman Park in Luzerne Township on Sunday afternoon. He then alerted park officials and Luzerne Township police after taking photos of the damage.

Shortly after, another supporter visited the complex and found three riders on all-terrain vehicles riding through the fields and took more photos and videos. Those were shared on the association's Facebook page.

"That's where we were able to see the faces and some video, and we were able to identify at least one of these individuals," Miele said. 

Miele told KDKA-TV that he believes the same people found on Sunday were the same ones who caused the initial damage.

"The response yesterday in just sharing and helping us identify the one individual was great," he said.

Since posting the videos and photos online, Miele said the response from the community has poured in between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, with people offering to help restore the fields.

"We have multiple fields we have to get laid out and painted," he said. "We have to get goals moved, and then, obviously, with what happened over the weekend, we have to identify, you know, are those fields usable, and if they're not, then that will change the layout of that space up there."

But despite the list of things that need to be finished before the season begins, Miele said he believes they'll be prepared.

"We just want to get the fields ready to go for our players," he said. "They're excited. This is just another additional thing that we're asking a lot of our volunteers to do, but I'm confident that it'll get done because everybody wants to make sure it's ready for our kids."

KDKA-TV contacted Luzerne Township police for more information on the investigation, but has not received a response.