(Editor’s note: This letter was e-mailed by Thomas Pincince, a three-sport athlete at Woonsocket High School, to Woonsocket Mayor Susan D. Menard and the City Council. It is being published as part of today’s sports section.)

Dear Members of the Woonsocket City Council, Members of the Woonsocket School Committee and Mayor Menard.)

My name is Thomas Pincince.  I am an Assistant Athletics Director at Central Connecticut State University, a 1993 graduate of Woonsocket High School, and a former team captain of the football, boys’ basketball and baseball teams.  I am a Villa Novan, and growing up, it was all I ever wanted to be.
In 1991 I was forced to make a decision.  My father, Roger, and older brother, Christopher, had both starred at WHS in several sports, and I grew up wanting to do the same.  But because of budget issues I was forced to make this decision.  
Like several other of my classmates, I had to decide if I wanted to remain at Woonsocket High without sports or go somewhere else and play.  I was fortunate enough to be able to look elsewhere, because I had parents who were willing to sacrifice to make sure I received the complete education I deserved.
After spending three weeks at LaSalle Academy, a decision by the School Committee to reinstate the athletics program brought me home.  It was the only place I ever wanted to be, the chance to be a Villa Novan again, and I was grateful.
Several of my classmates decided to remain at LaSalle, and our teams suffered for it.  Our football team won two games in the next two seasons. LaSalle played in the state championship twice, with my teammates playing a large role in their success.  
But saddled with the same decision again, I wouldn’t change a thing.  I had the opportunity to wear maroon and white, and I know I made the right decision.  I received the complete education I deserved, and I learned life lessons that I carry with me to this day.
It was more than a chance to compete that I remember about my days as a high school student-athlete at Woonsocket. I learned about teamwork, perseverance, the importance of organization and how winning and losing is not always the most important thing.  I had coaches, several of whom remain involved at WHS to this day, who taught me how to be a better man, and that making the best choice is not always the most popular one.
Sport plays a significant role in my life to this day.  I played four years of college football at Stonehill College in North Easton, MA.  There, I received an education that may have never happened without the role sportsplayed in my life.  I playedon championship teams and met lifelong friends while attending one of the best liberal arts colleges in the Northeast.
From there I have forged ahead in my career as an athletics administrator on the collegiate level.  At the age of 26, just four years out of college, I became an Assistant Athletics Director at Division I Central Connecticut State University.  CCSU is the same school former WHS All-State basketball star Derek Scurry attended from 1986-90.
When we were going through the struggles of learning our fate in 1991, the Providence Journal ran a story about our situation on its front page. On a Sunday morning, former teammate Jason Lafferty and I were featured under the headline: “THE HAVES AND HAVE NOTS.”   
The story dealt mainly with budget cuts across the state, and how they were affecting high schools in our region.  To this day I have a copy of that story in my home, and I am reminded of the sacrifice that many made that year to make sure this type of decision would not have to be made again.  My teammates and I were the HAVES, but for three weeks we were the HAVE NOTS.
I write to you today to ask you to do all that you can to make sure that none of the student-athletes at WHS are forced to make the same decisions that I did in 1991.  Sports can do so much for a community, and WHS has shown that in the last few years.
 The girls’ basketball team’s state title this past winter is the most recent example.  We saw the same during the winter of 1992, when our boy’s basketball team lost in the state title game, only to be greeted on our ride home by several hundreds fans who had made the trip to Providence to cheer us on.  The citations and awards from city leaders following that magical run during my junior season remain in my house to this day.
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, and for considering what I have to say.  I am what I am today because of the complete education, friendships and life lessons that I received as a student and a student-athlete at WHS.