Playing space deteriorating

Stephen W. Rasch

First of all, I must compliment the Daily Pilot on covering a major

problem facing our school district, cities and athletic teams ranging

from youth sports through high school and adult sports. Costa Mesa

and Newport Beach are two cities with little open space remaining.

The major emphasis has to be placed on improvement and maintenance of

existing facilities, as well as better administration of their usage.

Your Saturday report on field conditions in the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District only deals with a portion of the problem

(“Difference in fields called ‘discriminatory’”). As a parent and

administrator in AYSO, I have long dealt with “field problems” in

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Before the joint-use agreement, AYSO

dealt directly with the school district in securing fields for youth

soccer practices and games. (Kaiser Elementary School was the first

joint-use facility in Region 97’s area, established several years

before the current agreement.) We consistently asked for help from

the district as to field maintenance and repair.

To my knowledge, during my three years as Region 97’s regional

commissioner and four years as field director, district funds were

used only for irrigation system repair and for mowing and watering

the fields. Needless to say, the school district irrigation systems

are in dire need of repair, as most of us know. Our fields contain

several “swamps” from over-irrigation or leaky sprinkler heads, as

well as “desert” patches from lack of irrigation. Region 97 used its

own funds to repair sod, aerate and fertilize several of the fields,

spending more than $40,000 since my involvement began. In the past

two years, AYSO has not contributed funds to field repair, mainly

because of a recent financial setback.

The major problem facing the Newport-Mesa region has always been

lack of fields and over-usage of the best fields. Yes, as your

article stated, Newport Harbor High School has fine fields on campus

facilities. However, there has always been too little field space for

the several athletic teams fielded by the high school. Over the

years, girls field hockey and boys and girls soccer teams have used

Harper School athletic fields for games and practices. Newport Harbor

High School, to my knowledge, has not contributed a penny to field

repair over the years of usage. Adult soccer leagues use the

facilities on Sundays, and AYSO has use of the fields after 5:30 p.m.

on weekdays and for games on Saturdays.

The fields get no rest, even in the summer, when sport camps and

other adult groups use the facilities. AYSO has consistently paid to

repair field damage, even though field usage and damage is skewed

toward the high school athletic teams. AYSO has asked for help in

field repair from the high school, but there has never been money

available. This year, another of AYSO’s most-used facilities, Monte

Vista High School, has also been reserved by the boys lacrosse team

from Newport Harbor High School on two weekdays, putting additional

wear on the site with little hope of assistance in field repair.

The last two years have seen the implementation of Proposition A

funding. Though providing much-needed repairs and improvements to our

local schools’ buildings, nothing has been done for our fields. To

the contrary, fields at Ensign School, Newport Heights and Woodland

Primary are unavailable for use because of construction damage. Even

at Mariner’s Park, where half of the area is maintained by the city

and half by the school district, the school district side is in

horrific shape, with no repairs scheduled in the near future because

of the long-anticipated library construction.

The facilities operated separately by Newport Beach and Costa Mesa

are some of the finest around, with new and lighted fields at the

Bonita Creek and the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex. There are no

lighted fields on the west side of Newport Beach, nor on the east

side of Costa Mesa. AYSO has sought to have temporary and/or

permanent lighting installed at several facilities but has usually

run into the “not in my backyard” response from residents. We have

had temporary lights at Kaiser Elementary in the past, but once

again, the area residents are opposing this year’s request to the

city.

In short, while the number of Newport-Mesa children playing AYSO

soccer has increased, the playing space has decreased, and the

conditions of the fields have deteriorated. While your article says

school district plans for field improvements are in the wings, it is

with real skepticism born of past experience that I await any change

in the school district and Costa Mesa’s concerns for our local

schools’ fields.

* STEPHEN W. RASCH is a resident of Newport Beach.