Playing ball not always easy anymore

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The days of playing a pickup game of stickball in the

street or a vacant sandlot are over.

Today, youth sports are well-organized, complete with team moms and

team banners. But some residents say the city does not have enough parks

to accommodate the recreational needs of the city’s children.

Costa Mesa resident Kim Pederson said field time at the city’s 27

parks is hard to come by because there are not many alternative playing

fields. The Farm Sports Complex, although providing a great venue for

children to play, is often overbooked, he said.

The need for more sports fields is especially crucial with the growing

Latino population and the possibility of even more houses with the Home

Ranch project, he said. With more children comes a need for more

recreational activity, or the kids will get into other things, Pederson

said.

“We need more fields. The most important aspect is our children, and

we need to find them a place to play rather than in the street,” Pederson

said.

Stacia Mancini, in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, agreed

the city needs more fields, but said it is doing everything it can to try

to maximize field space. Although there are not many city-owned fields --

such as the Farm Sports Complex -- the city partners with the school

district to use its fields as well, she said.

“There is definitely more need than we can supply,” Mancini said.

“It’s an extremely complicated process, but we are trying to deal with it

as best we can.”

The city has four city-owned parks where it schedules athletic

programs and has access to nine other parks, for a total of 44 fields,

said recreation supervisor Ruth Raheb. There are various organizations,

such as AYSO, Costa Mesa Little Leagues, Pop Warner football, softball

leagues and club soccer leagues, Raheb said. Additional school sites may

be used in the future, but the fields must be improved for the city to

use them, she said.

“We are working with the school district to get those fields up to

par, so we can offer that space also. That’s part of our long-term plan,”

Raheb said.

In addition, city staff has created a field allocation system that

outlines priorities for field use, Mancini said. Every six months, city

staff members sit down to determine who should get first dibs, she said.

Priority is given to city-run programs, then school programs and then to

Costa Mesa-based nonprofit organizations, she said. The time of the year

is also taken into consideration, giving priority to the sport that is

traditionally in season, she said.

Not only are the youth in need of fields, but also those who are young

at heart, Mancini said. The increase in adult leagues poses yet another

variable for the city to add to the equation, she said. The Farm Sports

Complex was designed specifically for children and cannot be used for

adult recreation, she said. Adult leagues are scheduled for Sundays, when

youth sports are traditionally not played, Mancini said.

Recognizing a lack of park space within Costa Mesa, the city is in the

process of trying to buy a parcel of land from Southern California

Edison, said Bill Morris of the Public Services Department. At less than

a half-acre, the land at Monte Vista Avenue and Monaco Terrace would be

too small for a sports field but could help with general recreation, he

said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .