Mass and Cass spillover leads to dismantling of Boston pop-warner football program

A dozen children from Roxbury participated in drills Saturday morning, preparing for what they hope is another football season with the Boston Bengals pop-warner program.

Unsanitary conditions at Clifford Park, where practices are held, has led Domingos DaRosa to begin dismantling his program. If he doesn’t receive enough funds to purchase new equipment by Aug. 1, his players will have to find an opportunity somewhere else.

DaRosa created the Boston Bengals 24 years ago, when the program attracted 300 children, ages 3 to 15, to Clifford Park. But that number has dwindled to just a couple dozen as of last year.

DaRosa points to the needles, human feces and other trash that litter the 8-acre park as the driving factor behind the increasing lack of interest from players and parents to participate in the program.

“I would rather let our children participate with other programs which is going to cause disruption because they’ll have to travel outside the neighborhood,” DaRosa told the Herald. “I just want these kids to have the opportunity to play the sport.”

A GoFundme that DaRosa organized Friday to raise funds to replace old equipment had accumulated $925 by Saturday afternoon, still a ways away from its $15,000 goal.

City Council President Ed Flynn stopped by Saturday’s practice, letting DaRosa know he’d like to recruit children from the neighborhoods he represents, Chinatown, South End and South Boston. He also donated to the cause.

“It’s critical we support youth sports in every neighborhood of Boston,” Flynn told the Herald. “Youth sports are more important than ever for kids’ mental health. Everyone in Boston deserves to play sports in a park that is vibrant, clean and safe.”

Clifford Park is a few blocks from the heart of Mass and Cass, where crowds of people roam the streets, visibly buying, selling and using drugs. The close proximity has led to a spill over into the park, with people seen injecting needles during practice.

As practice continued Saturday, Boston police responded to a triple stabbing on the corner of Atkinson Street, a half mile from Clifford Park, close to Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.

The three victims received treatment at nearby hospitals, with one suffering what police described as life-threatening injuries.

The city says it’s taking steps to clean up Clifford Park.

Neighborhood residents noted they’ve seen a slight improvement in park maintenance after the city partnered with the Newmarket Business Improvement District last August to enhance cleanup efforts. BID crews come by the park three times each week day and from 6 to 8 a.m. on the weekends.

Compared to other parks, Clifford is receiving more clean up services due to an increased need, city officials say.

“The City understands the urgency of addressing the crisis in this area through equity-focused, public health-led policies that address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, substance use disorders, and behavioral health issues,” a spokesperson said.

But residents say that’s not enough. Marla Smith and her husband have lived near Clifford Park for 30 years. She stops by to clean the park every Saturday morning, and during football season, it’s an everyday task for her and her husband.

Smith highlighted how the city proposed a renovation in 2019, but efforts came to a halt due to a lack of funding. Officials say the Parks and Recreation Department will soon undergo a community engagement process to redesign and renovate the park, but they didn’t provide a timeline.

“It is dispiriting to the kids,” Smith said of Clifford Park’s conditions. “This is what they’ve seen every day of their life; to feel like the city doesn’t care about you, you don’t matter as much as the user community up at Mass and Cass.”