SCOTT ANDERSON/Courier-Post Nick DeMaio, 10, takes a practice swing before entering the batting cage at Recchino Complex on Crystal Lake Avenue, Haddon Township.

School officials are proud of the more than 600 students in grades 7-12 who participate in soccer, football, field hockey and several other sports year-round.

Recreational activities bolster school spirit and are an outlet for releasing energy and staying fit, they say. But a need for extra fields - for practice and games - is dire.

"We like kids to be kept busy, and recreation is a part of that," Superintendent Mark J. Raivetz said. "It's something that we believe is important and needs to be promoted in the community."

But, he added, "The problem has occurred over time that we just don't have enough fields to get it done."

During the spring, every day during the week and all day Saturday, the fields at the Recchino Complex on Crystal Lake Avenue are packed with township athletic teams and school teams.

Youth baseball teams can be found regularly playing on weekday evenings starting around 6 o'clock.

And township schools offer an array of sports, including softball and track and field, for freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams. In recent years, the superintendent and township athletic association officials say they are particularly pleased with the increase in the number of girls participating in sports.

In the past two decades, the number of girls participating in sports has increased so much that it is one of the main reasons for the overcrowding on fields, athletic officials said.

According to the Haddon Township Athletic Association, sports registrations have more than tripled over the last 20 years.

The overall number of school-age children has increased in the township since 1990.

The number of children ages 5 to 9 rose 13 percent and children ages 10 to 14 rose almost 30 percent, according to the U.S. Census.

"This is largely due to the women's sports and growth in soccer," said Chuck Albino, the president of the association. "We definitely need more fields."

Albino and members of his organization, which boasts more than 850 participants in about half a dozen sports, use fields owned by the school board when school sports teams are not occupying them.

"The changes have been one of growth in the number of participants, the downside is the number of fields," said Dennis St. John, the community activities coordinator. "As things grew, we had to use our fields more than we'd like to and it's been wearing them out."

To relieve the overcrowding and overuse of the fields, the athletic association is awaiting approval for the construction of two more fields on the MacArthur Tract on MacArthur Boulevard.

Township residents are waiting for the commissioners to make a final decision on how many fields will be built on the 25.8-acre tract.