North Vancouver RCMP are looking for the vandal or vandals who celebrated the start of the school year by tearing up the sports field at Handsworth secondary.
Someone drove onto the field in the early morning Sunday and spun their tires and did doughnuts, dealing damage to the grass field where the Handsworth junior and senior Royals play. The Handsworth junior and senior Royals are both to due to host their home openers at the field this weekend.
Disappointing as damage was, the school’s tight-knit football community formed a huddle and devised a game plan within hours.
“A group of parents and students, along with staff, came together and they took sand and filled in all of the divots to be able to make it safe again,” said Deneka Michaud, North Vancouver school district spokeswoman.
“It was actually pretty amazing how the community came together so quickly,” she said.
The cost of the damage hasn’t been calculated yet, according to Michaud. However, the price of the vandalism will be covered by the school’s maintenance budget.
Handsworth’s principal David Overgaard and the RCMP’s school liaison officer addressed the school’s students at an assembly Tuesday morning.
There is no surveillance footage of the damage being done but there was at least one witness, according to De Jong.
“A neighbour there heard the revving of engines at about 5:40 a.m. and observed an older, dark-coloured SUV leaving the field,” he said.
Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to contact North Vancouver RCMP who are looking to get a flag on the play.
“Somebody knows something. There could have been more than one person in the vehicle, and usually they tend to brag about these things as well,” De Jong said.
Mountainside secondary was also the target for mischief over the long weekend, with someone spray painting the school.
RCMP members were called to disperse a group of teens who had gathered there around 11:30 p.m. Monday and discovered the damage.
Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet long weekend for “grad party” mayhem, according to De Jong.
RCMP had not been alerted to any kids being taken to hospital and there were no reported assaults, De Jong added.
“Compared to other years, it was significantly lower in calls for service. Our officers were really just chasing kids around from park to park and school to school,” he said.
In June 2012, North Vancouver RCMP arrested a 22-year-old man for doing “drunken doughnuts” in his Ford Bronco on the soccer field at Ray Perrault Park.
