By Abby Cambiano
Northeast News

Northeast High School’s (415 Van Brunt Blvd.) long-awaited brand new football field is nearly complete. After receiving a grant in 2015 from the NFL,  Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the Kansas City Chiefs, the school started construction on a new field, track and bleachers.

Mary Cincotta, a 1969 graduate and president of the Northeast High School Alumni Association, wrote a letter of support to the NFL Grassroots Program for her alma mater.  Cincotta was not surprised that the school won the grant.

“It was a wonderful way for the NFL to show that they cared about the inner city and it’s one thing for a suburban school to have a nice sports field,” Cincotta said. “In the inner city or low income area, they are going to benefit more from it in the long run. We were all ecstatic.”

The school has not held sports competitions on site in many years, and has been playing on Bryan Field at Interscholastic League Stadium, located at 3500 E. Meyer Blvd. There has always been an interest in sports at Northeast High School, as people “see it as a way for poor kids to be successful,” Cincotta said, crediting sports for building a sense of community and teamwork.

“We still have trouble getting parents to the games and things because nothing is on site,” Cincotta said. “We’re talking about working parents who get off at five, six, seven o’clock at night and they don’t have the time or the ability to drive across town to go to something. This will help alleviate that and make it a more community event gathering place.”

The Northeast Alumni Association fought to keep the school open when it was faced with potential closure. The alumni wrote letters and attended meetings in order to keep the school, originally opened in 1914, in business. After the decision was made to keep the school open, KCPS invested $22 million to refurbish the building, in addition to the $225,000 grant.

“I think that shows a vote of confidence in the Northeast and what the school district and the administration, the teachers and the alumni association are doing,” Cincotta said.

She said the new field will not only benefit Northeast students, but will bring the community closer together and parents will be able to be more active within the school.

“I think it makes (the students) feel that there are people invested in their success; lots of people,” Cincotta said.

Northeast Middle School (4094 Independence Ave.) will share the field with their high school neighbors.

“This is going to be a major, huge impact on our students,” Northeast Middle School Vice Principal Bryan Shaw said. “Words cannot describe how elated they will be to see something new. I look out my office window, and I see the players practicing and they carry themselves with pride.”

Greater Kansas City LISC partnered with the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs to provide a $200,000 Grassroots Program Grant to Northeast High School, which accompanied a $25,000 ESPN Amenities Grant to install a new scoreboard.

“Safe outdoor spaces serve as tremendous community assets by offering opportunities for recreation, education, and relaxation that contribute to the local quality of life,” the LISC website reads.

“A new community asset like this is exactly the kind of leveraged opportunity that LISC works to promote every day in our NeighborhoodsNOW areas,” Stephen Samuels, executive director for Greater Kansas City LISC, said. “Bringing the Chiefs together with the Kansas City Public Schools and their neighborhood families builds the necessary pride and resiliency that can lead to lasting, positive change for our residents.”

Northeast High School’s field is the 13th local project funded by the LISC, the NFL, the Chiefs and the NFL Grassroots Fields Program in the past 17 years.

James Sanders, KCPS assistant athletics director, said the dedication of the new facility will be celebrated at an all-day event to be scheduled early in the fall semester. The celebration will include a parade led by Northeast athletes, followed by a jam-packed athletic schedule, a dedication and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.