Way to Go! East Islip student improves sports complex

An East Islip High School student recently helped to improve the facilities for a soccer club he has played with since he was 4.

James Kelly, a senior, spearheaded a project that included refurbishing a sign for the East Islip Soccer Club at the Westbrook Sports Complex in Great River as well as re-mulching garden beds and repairing and repainting picnic tables.

Kelly, a Boy Scout, pursued the project as part of his Eagle Scout Award, which is the highest achievement attainable within the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of Troop 205.

“I’ve been on the club’s soccer teams my whole life, and I wanted to do my project for them, so I just looked for things that needed a little bit of help,” Kelly said. “The club is very important to me; I’ve made lifelong friends and the coaches that I’ve had over the years have become mentors to me.”

To complete the project, Kelly solicited donations from family and friends that reached roughly $500 and used lumber that was already in the possession of the soccer club to repair the tables. He received assistance from family, friends and fellow troop members to carry out the work, he said.

Kelly, 17, is president of his school’s Math Honor Society and a member of the National, Science and Tri-M Music honor societies. He also plays trumpet and is a member of the robotics and winter and spring track teams.

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.