Family Time -- Steve Smith

“I know we’ve come a long way,

We’re changing day to day.

But tell me,

Where do the children play?’

-- Cat Stevens

On Wednesday, I received a call from my good friend Dave Miller

checking to see whether his Little League Marlins could use the Minor B

division field for their practice. The team I am managing, the Cardinals,

was scheduled to use the field that day but during the Easter -- sorry,

spring -- break, attendance is spotty.

I told Dave that regardless of who showed up, we could practice

together and we agreed to meet at 4:15 p.m.

If our two teams were two businesses, Dave, Marlins manager John

Sullivan and I would not be talking to each other. You see, after the

first four preseason games, the Marlins and the Cardinals are the only

two undefeated teams in the division. Our first official league game is

next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against each other on the same field on which

we just practiced.

I know Dave well and I know John a little, and as competitive as we

all may be, it stops cold once it comes to setting the right example for

our players. What the children saw on Wednesday was two teams playing

together and four coaches -- Larry Hill was with me -- instructing

players from both sides. I bet half the kids thought we were nuts, but

man we had a lot of fun. Dave even managed to shag a few fly balls in

center field, courtesy of his son, Adam.

The problem was not the lack of attendance -- the Marlins offered

eight kids, we had four -- but the lack of available playing fields. It’s

a problem here and in Newport Beach Really By The Sea.

In both towns, one controversy that will not go away is the lack of a

skateboard park. Long overdue for an appearance here in Costa Mesa, a

skateboard park has become a pawn in the petty squabbles at City Hall.

I’m waiting for Chris Steel to offer to trade a job center for a

skateboard park.

While the city searches for the absolutely fantastic, positively

perfect location, skateboarders continue to make use of whatever else is

available. Often, it’s dangerous. Enough is enough, folks. Stop the

bickering and micro-managing and stop injecting your personal feelings

into the debate and give kids the darn park.

There is now another park crisis looming, one of epic proportions

mostly because it will dictate where and when our kids play the organized

sports on which we have come to rely so much.

For the last 14 years, Kim Pederson has worked for the parks

department for the city of Newport Beach Really By The Sea. For the last

two years, he has been a member of the Costa Mesa Parks Commission. Kim

is the guy who helps keep the grass green in Newport Beach. When he’s off

the clock, you can find him at any of the various Little League baseball

diamonds, working to ensure that children have a nice place to play. His

two kids are knee-deep in sports.

Kim’s concern is that we’re running out of places for children to

play. “Soccer has come on like gangbusters,” Kim told me. “And more girls

are playing, which is great to see because now all children are playing

sports.” But all that extra involvement has strained a parks system that

was shallow to begin with.

The answer, Kim believes, is to form an alliance among the various

youth sports organizations and meet with the city and the school district

to provide more places for children to play. “I don’t want kids shooting

each other,” Kim said. “I want them playing sports, whatever it is.”

I’m with Kim. Playing organized sports solves a lot of problems, some

having to do with crime and some having to do with getting the exercise

and social involvement that kids need more than ever. In an age when

sitting in front of a TV or computer screen for hours each day passes for

acceptable childhood behavior, we need to start kicking kids outdoors

more and onto the fields we can provide.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown community center in Lions Park,

the city of Costa Mesa is hosting its second meeting to discuss the parks

master plan. A consultant hired by the city to identify the problems is

conducting the workshops to inform the public of the situation and to

encourage community input and involvement.

This is not a Little League versus AYSO issue or a sports versus city

issue. We’re all facing the same challenges, and I believe we all want

the same thing. I urge all of you to attend, even if you don’t have kids,

and tell the city that we’d like more space dedicated to places where the

children can play.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.