Youth Sports Association Seeks Funding for Ball Park Lights

RISON - The Cleveland County Youth Sports Association, a non-profit organization under Kickstart Cleveland County, is looking to replace the old field lighting system at the ballpark in town with a new costeffective LED lighting system. "With our current lighting system, it costs us approximately $900 a month in electricity fees," said CCYSA President Jason Price. "New LED lighting is projected to cut that cost by 70 percent." The association is looking for assistance funding the project through sponsorships. The small field has 16 lights on five poles and the big field has 28 lights on five poles. Price estimates the cost for each light will be around $600. "Lighting is definitely our largest project to tackle," he said. "Some of our poles are rotten and need completely replaced. Our current lights put off just enough light to play ball games in but in all honesty, we need more lighting." Travis McDaniel, project manager for Evers Electric Company out of El Dorado, has volunteered the electric company's services to install the new poles and lights. CCYSA has been operating for around a year and serves over 120 children in the area by giving them an opportunity to play softball, baseball and T-ball. The association also has just as many children playing basketball. "Our focus is to build up the youth sports program in Cleveland County so the kids who don't get the opportunity to play travel ball have a chance to play locally," said Ashley Taylor, CCYSA secretary. "My kids play travel ball. It's not about that. It's about the kids in their class who's mom and dad can't take them to Conway on the weekends to play. We want them to play." Taylor said CCYSA has done a lot of work to the field already, but the lighting situation is what holds them back at the moment. The CCYSA board asks that any businesses or individuals that would like to be a part of the change and become a sponsor for this project or assis...