‘All Philadelphia kids deserve these opportunities’: Murphy Recreation Center reopens with a Tush Push ribbon cutting

As fans patiently wait to hear about the future of the Tush Push, the Eagles’ signature play was used as a symbol of hope when discussing the future of the Lawrence E. Murphy Recreation Center.

On Tuesday afternoon, members of the Neumann Goretti girls’ flag football team and the E.O.M. Angels youth football team huddled together on the renovated turf at Third and Shunk Streets in South Philly. As they stood in formation in front of the white “Rebuild Philadelphia” ribbon, they waited for former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski to call the play.

“Here comes the reenactment of the infamous Tush Push,” Jaworski said. “I coached them up. This should be perfect. I’m not playing defensive tackle. This is the official ribbon cutting of the Murphy Recreation Center.”

The Eagles legend emceed the event and was joined by Councilmember Mark Squilla and representatives from Rebuild Philadelphia to celebrate Murphy Recreation Center’s $7.5 million renovation.

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“When we were here two years ago to make the announcement that were going rebuild this field, you couldn’t walk out here,” Jaworski said. “You sunk in mud and dirt up to your ankles. It was awful. And everyone who sits on this stage now — who has been involved in this — realized that’s not good enough. It’s not good enough for our kids to play on a field like this.

“And everyone got together, grabbed a bat, and hit a home run. We now have a magnificent field here for kids who are here right now. So, congratulations to those who benefit from this field.”

The turf is unrecognizable for 18-year-old Brooklynne Donohue. The senior cornerback for Neumann Goretti’s flag football team often visited her aunt, Arlene Perez, who lives right down the street from the center.

“I’ve seen this park go from nothing to something,” Donohue said. “It was grass, there wasn’t gates, the courts were not physical basketball courts. The park was dingy. There was like baseball fields and goals but I don’t feel like there were actual sports being played here.”

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It was a much different look when the Saints hosted their senior night on the turf earlier this month.

“It’s actually nice, obviously, and it shows that people do care for places to give kids opportunities to play sports and have fun at a place that is a better environment,” Donohue added.

As part of the City’s Rebuild initiative, the center will have an upgraded infrastructure to support community programming — including synthetic turf athletic fields for baseball, softball, football, and soccer.

There’s also new baseball and softball backstops, ball control netting, new LED site lighting, team benches, and spectator bleachers, combination soccer and football goal posts, new chain link fencing, new concrete sidewalks, and a new outdoor basketball court.

The Murphy Recreation Center was just one of the 72 rebuild sites under former Mayor Jim Kenney, as part of a goal to invest half a billion dollars in parks, recreation centers, and libraries.

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“It’s such a community hub,” said Aparna Palantino, director of the city’s capital program office. “We want to create a positive experience for kids and families where they feel safe and comfortable. There’s also the recreation center, of course. If you don’t play a sport, you want to do other things, there’s the building. They offer a ton of after-school programs. This is just creating a great community hub.”

Palantino knows firsthand just how far Murphy Recreation Center has come — her daughter played sports there, including soccer in the basement. But those days are no more.

“It was more like dodgeball,” she said. “But we survived and persevered. All Philadelphia kids deserve these opportunities.”