It was standing room only during the June 13 meeting of the Salisbury Youth Association. More than 50 people crammed into the library at Salisbury High School to attend the meeting where nominations and elections were set to take place. Up for grabs were director positions for basketball, football and the concession stand director. An interim treasurer seat was also on the docket.

The nominees were: Josh Gercie who had expressed his desire to run for the basketball director position during the May meeting; Arnaldo Lopez, who had run the program the prior two years; Juan Turner, who put his name in to run as the new SYA football director; Connie Turner, who asked to be considered for the concession stand director position and Jen Boandl, who successfully ran the stand during the spring baseball season.

Additionally, Brittany Williams was the sole nomination for interim treasurer and as such she will hold the seat until the former treasurer’s term is up at the end of the year.

The meeting began by opening the floor to additional nominations, which is when a surprise second nomination was made for the until then uncontested football director position. SYA Vice President Bryon Cramsey nominated Lopez for football director, as he had been instrumental in getting a new flag football program up and running.

Each of the nominees gave impassioned speeches ahead of voting, explaining how they wanted to do whatever they could to ensure the programs better served the children of Salisbury and the surrounding communities.

After voting closed, the executive board tallied the entries, where it became clear each of the nominees had a lot of support in the room. While the race was tight, Gercie ended up with more votes, securing his seat as the new basketball director.

Boandl was elected concession stand director.

Lopez ultimately won the football vote, and was named as the new director of the program. However, after some careful consideration, he sent the board an email stepping down from his newly elected seat just days after winning it.

“It has been a pleasure to be involved with the SYA community for the past five years,” he said in a separate email to The Press. “Being able to play a role in the development of our young athletes has been an absolute honor for me. I am grateful for having had the privilege of contributing in the form of assisting, coaching and directing. From bringing back the banquet, to introducing our first ever spring flag and basketball summer leagues - it has been an amazing ride to provide our children the opportunities they highly desired.”

Lopez concluded his email by saying he has decided to step down to make room for someone else to “continue to improve our community athletics,” and signed off by wishing everyone in SYA his best.

Even with the way things turned out, Cramsey said he’s still bolstered over the obvious enthusiasm coming from the community these days. “Fifty-four people showed up to vote on the positions of football, basketball and concession stand director,” he said. “That shows the level of interest is growing in the association.”

Cramsey said now SYA is eager to harness some of that momentum by finding more ways to bring the community together, including a charcuterie building night and a cornhole tournament sometime this summer.

The next SYA meeting is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at Salisbury Elementary School. You can learn more on the association’s website or their public Facebook page.