When a group of residents realized the ballfield at Tommie Barfield Elementary School on Marco Island was closed and could be down permanently, they took action. First, they went to city council to ask what happened and for help. Then they decided to save the field themselves.
Led by Joey and Doreen Oliverio, their family and some other parents and grandparents of children on Marco, they created a nonprofit called Marco Island Youth Baseball Inc. They have raised more than half a million dollars and are hoping for $1 million or more, Joey Oliverio said. Improvements the group plans for the field are estimated at $1.5 million.
Working with City Manager Mike McNees and City Councilman Rene Champagne, the group took a proposal to the board of Collier County Public Schools to lease the space. The field had been operated by the City of Marco Island through an interlocal agreement.
“We want our kids on the field playing, not on the streets or the iPads,” Joey Oliverio said. “I’m more concerned about the middle schoolers. That’s really where things can go bad. We want to give them things to do.”
Negotiating the city out of the lease with its support
The new organization, which has its nonprofit status in Florida and is waiting on federal approval of its 501(3)(c) designation, created a board of directors, a website, did its homework and signed a 10-year lease with a 10-year option with Collier school system in April. Some of the board will attend the next the school board meeting on Wednesday, May 14, to ratify the contract, Oliverio said.
The City of Marco Island held the lease previously but ended it last year, in September, along with an agreement with Marco Island Academy charter high school. The field had fallen into disrepair, even as Marco Island Academy used it during its 2024 season, when it won the Paradise Coast Athletic Conference championship.
It was named Tyler Beck Memorial Field after an 11-year-old boy who was killed while riding his bicycle on Jan. 6, 1995.
The school board in February invited Marco Island City Council to come back with plans for a new interlocal agreement by March 3, with a three-year agreement with an option for a five-year agreement after that. Oliverio worked with McNees and Champagne on the local group plan.”We negotiated the city out of it,” Oliverio said. And in turn, the city gave the group $200,000 toward the field’s refurbishment. Champagne also donated $200,000 and is honorary chairman of the organization’s fundraising committee.
What’s the plan for the field?
The nonprofit group wants to resurface the field with a natural turf, replace the foul ball fencing, the lights, the dugouts and everything else that needs to be updated, Oliverio said, who is chairman of the group’s fundraising committee.
“We want to do the whole field this year and not part,” he said. And the field will just be for youth baseball and softball, he said. No adults and no multi-use activities. Plans are for the field to be open 3:30 p.m.-11 p.m. on school days and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on non-school days, he said.
The group held a fundraiser at one of Oliverio’s three Marco Island restaurants that raised $20,000. Champagne also made a donation – of $200,000. As did the Marco Island Women’s Club – $10,000. The group is calling the fundraising effort the Field of Dreams.
Oliverio received a random check in the mail for $10,000 from Matt DeSoto, CEO of Harrisburg, Pa.-based MITER Brands, the parent company of MI Windows and Doors, which began life as Metal Industries in a Florida airplane hangar in 1947. However, neither the company no DeSoto have any connection to Marco Island.
“The CEO just mailed it without his name on it,” Oliverio said. “We had to track it down.”
Building a community field of dreams
“We want community involvement,” Oliverio said. “We want everyone in this community to have a piece of this field.”
That includes the Oliverio family. Joey and Dorreen Oliverio not only are donating their time but also $50,000.
Granddaughters Monroe, 10, and Talulah, 8, both play softball. Their dad and the Oliverios’ son, Vince Gentile, is president.
The Field of Dreams fundraising includes baseball- and softball-themed donation levels:
- Hall of Fame – $200,000
- Single – $5,000 to $9,999
- Double – $10,000 to $24,999
- Triple – $25,000 to $49,999
- Home Run – $50,000 to $99,999
- Grand Slam – $100,000 to $199,999
Construction is expected to begin in June with the field re-opening in August.
Oliverio gave City Council an update on the project and the lease at its meeting Monday, May 5.
“We will make the city proud,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Marco Island FL residents take over ballfield, raise money for kids
When a group of residents realized the ballfield at Tommie Barfield Elementary School on Marco Island was closed and could be down permanently, they took action. First, they went to city council to ask what happened and for help. Then they decided to save the field themselves.
Led by Joey and Doreen Oliverio, their family and some other parents and grandparents of children on Marco, they created a nonprofit called Marco Island Youth Baseball Inc. They have raised more than half a million dollars and are hoping for $1 million or more, Joey Oliverio said. Improvements the group plans for the field are estimated at $1.5 million.
Working with City Manager Mike McNees and City Councilman Rene Champagne, the group took a proposal to the board of Collier County Public Schools to lease the space. The field had been operated by the City of Marco Island through an interlocal agreement.
“We want our kids on the field playing, not on the streets or the iPads,” Joey Oliverio said. “I’m more concerned about the middle schoolers. That’s really where things can go bad. We want to give them things to do.”
Negotiating the city out of the lease with its support
The new organization, which has its nonprofit status in Florida and is waiting on federal approval of its 501(3)(c) designation, created a board of directors, a website, did its homework and signed a 10-year lease with a 10-year option with Collier school system in April. Some of the board will attend the next the school board meeting on Wednesday, May 14, to ratify the contract, Oliverio said.
The City of Marco Island held the lease previously but ended it last year, in September, along with an agreement with Marco Island Academy charter high school. The field had fallen into disrepair, even as Marco Island Academy used it during its 2024 season, when it won the Paradise Coast Athletic Conference championship.
It was named Tyler Beck Memorial Field after an 11-year-old boy who was killed while riding his bicycle on Jan. 6, 1995.
The school board in February invited Marco Island City Council to come back with plans for a new interlocal agreement by March 3, with a three-year agreement with an option for a five-year agreement after that. Oliverio worked with McNees and Champagne on the local group plan.”We negotiated the city out of it,” Oliverio said. And in turn, the city gave the group $200,000 toward the field’s refurbishment. Champagne also donated $200,000 and is honorary chairman of the organization’s fundraising committee.
What’s the plan for the field?
The nonprofit group wants to resurface the field with a natural turf, replace the foul ball fencing, the lights, the dugouts and everything else that needs to be updated, Oliverio said, who is chairman of the group’s fundraising committee.
“We want to do the whole field this year and not part,” he said. And the field will just be for youth baseball and softball, he said. No adults and no multi-use activities. Plans are for the field to be open 3:30 p.m.-11 p.m. on school days and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on non-school days, he said.
The group held a fundraiser at one of Oliverio’s three Marco Island restaurants that raised $20,000. Champagne also made a donation – of $200,000. As did the Marco Island Women’s Club – $10,000. The group is calling the fundraising effort the Field of Dreams.
Oliverio received a random check in the mail for $10,000 from Matt DeSoto, CEO of Harrisburg, Pa.-based MITER Brands, the parent company of MI Windows and Doors, which began life as Metal Industries in a Florida airplane hangar in 1947. However, neither the company no DeSoto have any connection to Marco Island.
“The CEO just mailed it without his name on it,” Oliverio said. “We had to track it down.”
Building a community field of dreams
“We want community involvement,” Oliverio said. “We want everyone in this community to have a piece of this field.”
That includes the Oliverio family. Joey and Dorreen Oliverio not only are donating their time but also $50,000.
Granddaughters Monroe, 10, and Talulah, 8, both play softball. Their dad and the Oliverios’ son, Vince Gentile, is president.
The Field of Dreams fundraising includes baseball- and softball-themed donation levels:
- Hall of Fame – $200,000
- Single – $5,000 to $9,999
- Double – $10,000 to $24,999
- Triple – $25,000 to $49,999
- Home Run – $50,000 to $99,999
- Grand Slam – $100,000 to $199,999
Construction is expected to begin in June with the field re-opening in August.
Oliverio gave City Council an update on the project and the lease at its meeting Monday, May 5.
“We will make the city proud,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Marco Island FL residents take over ballfield, raise money for kids
