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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- An anonymous flier circulated through neighborhoods around Ogden High School calls to a halt to the noise from the Ogden Outlaws soccer team, which rents the school's stadium for games.
This is the first year for the Ogden Outlaws Premier Development League team, which plays in the United Soccer League Western Conference Northwest Division. Players are generally ages 18 to 23.
The team has had eight home games since May 5. The last home game was July 8. The season ends this Saturday, against the Southern California Seahorses.
Random interviews by the Standard-Examiner this week with residents near the high school found few people upset about the noise.
Rex Greenhalgh, who has lived near the school for 52 years, said he closes his doors and windows during games, but the soccer noise bothers him when he is working in his yard.
Mitch Halverson, who has lived near the school for 14 years, said the high school football games are noisier than the soccer events because there are more people. He said the football games go later into the evening. "The soccer games aren't disruptive at all, I feel," he said.
Janice Staley, who has lived near the school for 23 years, doesn't mind the noise.
"That's just something that we put up with around the neighborhood," Staley said. "It's a high school. We knew it was a high school when we moved here."
Mike Hickman, head coach and owner of the Ogden Outlaws, is especially irked by the fact that the fliers are anonymous.
"He's chicken not to put his name on the flier. If he had issues with us, he could have contacted us and expressed his concerns," Hickman said.
Assistant coach Ryan Robinson, who lives near Ogden High, said there are only a few announcements during the game, not a play-by-play. There are no fireworks or music, except for the national anthem, he said.
The soccer games run from about 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. As many as 500 people attend each home game.
Ogden noise ordinance allows exceptions for athletic activities on school grounds if the athletic contest takes place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The Outlaws are paying Ogden High $600 per home game to use the stadium. The Outlaws keep profits from ticket sales and concessions.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
