Field use rears its sticky head

Pour everything into the filter, drain the liquid and see what sticks

to the bottom.

Turns out a familiar face, or better yet, grime or muck, still

clogs the filter for youth sports in Newport-Mesa.

I began this series with a few ideas in mind.

No. 1 -- How does the population explosion in Newport Coast affect

youth leagues in surrounding communities?

No. 2 -- What role do coaches play in the development of young

athletes?

Hopefully questions were answered on both of these topics. As I

gathered information, the tone of conversations nearly always floated

back to a familiar nemesis in these parts: field allocation.

Too many teams for too little space.

We’ve heard it before, but it was the stories from the families

and administrators that continue to tell more.

Like Pop Warner teams practicing on a field too small that

hindered their ability to conduct kickoff drills, or parents hustling

to make the 20-minute drive across town to get the little one to

soccer practice.

Newport Coast families shuttle children across the Back Bay to

West Newport only to find limited gymnasium space and time to hone a

jump shot.

Nothing riles more people around here than fields and facilities

and rightly so.

Without fields, children will resort to sedentary activities like

watching television or playing video games.

Sports also teach life lessons such as social interaction,

responsibility and overcoming adversity, traits that can’t simply be

learned by playing the next game of Madden 2006.

Ensuring enough field or gym space needs to be a priority No. 1

for city leaders in both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

I believe it is, but it sometimes hard to see by what happens.

It is difficult in both cities to find any open space to generate

additional fields, so thoughts must turn to how to maximize existing

space.

Unfortunately, maximizing space often means two or three teams

sharing a field at once. In the case of Newport-Mesa Junior

All-American Football the last few years, as many as five teams have

practiced at once on the pitch at Bonita Creek Park near the corner

of University Drive.

This creates a safety hazard. Children of different ages, trudging

around in shoulder pads and helmets, could barrel into one another

accidentally from adjacent fields.

Coaches complain that there often isn’t enough space to run

practices that simulate game action.

I can only imagine the matrix involved in either Costa Mesa or

Newport Beach’s recreation department offices. The requests are

lengthy and appeasing everyone is impossible.

Oversight of the fields is another area of concern and contempt

among coaches and administrators.

In Costa Mesa, some fields share a joint-use agreement with the

city and Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The city allocates

field space, but the district has final say on what is done to the

property.

It’s unfortunate when a coach, usually a volunteer who puts in a

glob of extra hours on top of his or her full-time job with a family

to raise, has good intentions, but the end result negatively affects

others.

School district officials stripped a six-foot chain-link fence

that encircled a baseball field used by Costa Mesa American Little

League at Davis Elementary School in 2004. School district officials

said the fence inhibited open space for children to play on during

school days.

Upkeep also went a bit too far when league members brought in dirt

for the outfield and altered the field’s grading, Tim Marsh, director

of maintenance and operations for the school district, said at the

time. The dirt covered sprinkler heads and caused leaks, Marsh said.

This is like staying in someone else’s home for the weekend and

adding a wrought-iron fence in the backyard or changing the carpet

without the owner’s permission.

A valid point, but would someone object to a neighbor, out of the

goodness of his or her heart, watering the flowers while the owners

are on vacation and a heat wave envelopes the city? I think not.

The bottom line in all of this is creating the best possible

playing conditions for the young athletes.

How to accomplish this remains a complicated task that won’t come

overnight, but could arrive sooner if communication between parties

was clearer.

Parents have spent thousands of dollars trying to improve fields

for their children.

The Bonita Canyon Sports Park in Newport Beach has quenched a bit

of thirst for fields and is large enough -- 33.5 acres -- to

accommodate four baseball diamonds, two full-size soccer fields and

three peewee soccer fields, among other areas.

In this area, it seems 10 complexes like Bonita Canyon would need

to arise to soothe this wound.

Another step in the right direction would be reducing the red tape

that league officials must overcome to secure field space for their

teams.

In the cases of Bonita Canyon and the Farm Sports Complex in Costa

Mesa, league officials need only worry about city regulations when

going through the approval process. Consequences and issues arise

when two entities, like the school district and city, oversee the

operation. Each has different concerns and objectives.

Doug Deats and Bob Serven, former baseball and basketball coaches

at Costa Mesa High, respectively, both told the Daily Pilot their

frustrations with the joint-use agreement in a series published last

year following both of their resignations. Serven said he was

confused as to who was in charge of maintaining the gymnasium and

Deats said he was booted off by a field ambassador while mowing the

grass.

Costa Mesa High is a public facility used by many different groups

with different needs, making it difficult to enact any improvements

without affecting someone else.

The crux in all of this is, since there is scant area to create

another Bonita Canyon in either Costa Mesa or Newport Beach, public

facilities are needed to house youth activities.

With that comes the obligation to provide playable conditions.

Conditions at Costa Mesa High’s football field are, at best,

unsatisfactory, while next door at the Farm, surfaces are smooth and

there is hardly any sight of dirt patches.

In an article published in the Daily Pilot July 26, 2004, Ken

Sipes, the city of Costa Mesa’s recreation coordinator in charge of

scheduling facilities, said city-paid workers mow the grass on the

Costa Mesa High baseball diamond once a week. Deats denied that

statement.

Again, conflicts could be avoided with adequate communication.

It seems people on either side don’t know what the other is

thinking.

Are meetings necessary? What point isn’t being made?

The city and school district are considering temporary lights at

Davis Elementary School and at the Fairview Developmental Center,

which would help.

It doesn’t make things any easier in Costa Mesa this year after

teams lost TeWinkle Park for the next season. The park is scheduled

to undergo renovation beginning as early as next month to renovate

the softball and baseball complex.

Once the park is completed, a third softball field will be added

and teams will get the use of the outfield for soccer practices.

For now, teams and players must wait.

Unfortunately for the kids, the point being made now is there

isn’t much room to play.

City officials said league might have to consider capping

registrations with the surge in demand, but little in-roads with

additional field space.

I would hate to be the coach or parent who informs a child he or

she couldn’t play this year because there isn’t o7roomf7 to play.