No place to play ball No place to play ball (May 07, 2004)

Shortage of fields may leave some youth, adult teams out in the cold

By Grace Rauh

Finding enough space for everyone to hit a home run has been an ongoing challenge in Mountain View, and it's not getting any easier.

Last spring Little League and Babe Ruth Baseball players fought for field time and although they resolved their dispute, there will be even fewer baseball diamonds to go around come summertime. The diamond at Graham Middle School will temporarily disappear to make way for an underground reservoir in June.

"We just have to cut back on how many times the kids can practice," said Paul Cunningham, a Babe Ruth board member. Seven Babe Ruth teams and two Little League teams share McKelvey field for games. Babe Ruth teams practice batting at the middle school.

"Boy, if we didn't have that as an overflow," Cunningham said, trailing off. "We are trying to squeeze everyone onto" McKelvey.

Marauders versus the Spartans

But baseball diamonds aren't the only fields in short supply. Youth sports teams are calling for more soccer and football fields and lighting so games and practices can run after dark. Adult athletes say there is not enough space for their sports teams, and everyone is hollering for more bathrooms, according to a recent city survey.

The Mountain View Marauders, a Pop Warner football organization, is also hunting for more field space and organizers have been hard pressed to find regular, affordable turf ever since Mountain View High School stopped allowing the youth program to touch down in its end zone. About 250 kids participate in the local football and cheerleading program.

Pop Warner used to pay the high school roughly $200 to use the high school's field on Sundays during the fall season, but the offer was withdrawn after renovations at the school were completed last year.

"That's been our home field for years," said Magie Cordero, vice president of Pop Warner and a cheer coach.

She doesn't understand why Mountain View High School stopped sharing its field, although she added that some neighbors near the school were upset by noise from early morning practices on the weekend.

"Gosh, if it's a matter of residents, we'll start a little later," Cordero said. "As far as I'm concerned, we cleaned up their field pretty good."

However, Mountain View High School Principal Pat Hyland said the constant use was destroying the school's fields and she's received more complaints from surrounding neighbors.

"It's time for us to take a break," Hyland said. "The neighbors are freaked."

Pop Warner begins setting up at 7 a.m. on both weekend days and doesn't finish until 7 p.m. Hyland doesn't think having a long-term commitment to one particular community organization would be healthy for the newly laid fields.

"We will continue to allow community use, but let's spread it around," Hyland said. "I'm not sure a long-term commitment is a good thing to do. You just expedite (ruining) the fields."

City weighs in

Yet despite the crunch felt by these sports groups, city staff touts the recent survey that they say indicates most field users in Mountain View are generally satisfied. The survey does highlight some specific needs among certain athletic groups -- specifically Pop Warner's search for a football field for the fall.

After reviewing the survey results, city council members called for the Parks and Recreation Commission to begin scouring the city for additional field space at a council meeting last month.

The field crunch is also coinciding with a local rise in popularity of lacrosse and rugby, according to city staff.

"I don't think we have the assets to meet that demand," said Mayor Matt Pear.

The surveys were distributed to youth sports groups, adults who play on local teams, and they were available at city buildings, parks and athletic fields.

Council member Greg Perry warned that the surveys might not accurately depict the need for more field space since new teams that have been turned down in the past have "learned not to ask." Groups aren't forming because there aren't enough fields, he added.

Perry suggested the city consider developing 18 acres in North Bayshore into a large sports complex. But previous councils have indicated they would like a hotel to be built on that property.

Staff writer Julie O'Shea contributed to this report.

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

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