By Brian P. Nanos
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 02, 2008 @ 02:51 PM

Scituate — Earlier in the day that he would be killed in a car accident, Ryan Flannery was playing lacrosse.

And he was playing it well; the Scituate resident and Boston College High School Student scored five goals.

The honor student had a strong interest in sports, especially lacrosse. Soon after Ryan’s death in 2003 at age 16, then-Scituate lacrosse coach Chris Weber remembered that Flannery often went out of his way to coach younger players of any age from any town.

“It was lacrosse; he didn’t care,” Weber said at the time. “He just wanted to help out.”

So, when Ryan’s friends and family raised $50,000 in a memorial fund, it didn’t take long to figure out what to do with the money. The newly renovated Ryan Flannery Memorial Field, near Hatherly Elementary School, will be dedicated in his name Sunday, April 6, at 11:30 a.m.

According to Scituate Recreation Director Jennifer Vitelli, the field, which in past year was used by youth soccer leagues, was in desperate need of repair.

“You really couldn’t call it a field,” she said. “It was more of an open space.”

Now, it’s a regulation soccer and lacrosse field. The renovation was paid for with money from the Community Preservation Committee and Ryan Flannery Memorial Fund.

Ryan’s father Sean said the decision to help renovate the field was made for a simple reason.

“Ryan just loved sports and we wanted to give back to the community that had shown us so much support,” he said.

That support has resurfaced, he said, as friends of the family worked together on planning and coordinating the renovation. The final result made his family “very excited and proud and honored,” he said. While raising athletes in town, Flannery said he learned just how much the town was in need of decent field space.


If you go:
Ryan Flannery Memorial Field dedication
Where: Hatherly Elementary School, 72 Ann Vinal Road
When: Sunday, April 6, 11:30 a.m.
For information, call Scituate Recreation at 781-545-8738