Consider all the children

Pam Garrett

The problems American Youth Soccer Organization Region 97 faces are

no different than those of many other youth and adult sports leagues.

There is too little space and too many groups competing to use

this space.

There are actually three AYSO regions in the Costa Mesa- Newport

Beach area. These regions are roughly divided along high school

attendance lines. AYSO Region 57 serves players in the Corona del Mar

High School attendance area.

AYSO Region 120 serves players in the Estancia and Costa Mesa High

School attendance areas. AYSO Region 97 serves players in the Newport

Harbor High School attendance area. The soccer players in Region 97

are split between the cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

This has created some unique problems for our region, as we must

work with both cities to gain access to fields. The area covered by

Region 97 has almost no undeveloped areas available for construction

of new fields. We have upwards of 1,700 players and 170 teams each

fall.

Although we have access to several fields, we share these fields

with school teams and other youth and adult sports leagues. AYSO

Region 97 is ready and willing to work with the cities of Costa Mesa

and Newport Beach to help create and maintain fields.

Since many of our families have multiple children playing AYSO

soccer, keeping these fields reasonably close is an important

consideration. There has been some discussion of creating a park with

sports fields on the bluffs above Coast Highway at Superior.

Others have suggested creating a similar complex on the Balboa

Peninsula where the mobile homes are now. There may be other

possibilities, and clearly there is a need for more sports fields,

lighted and not.

The next time you see a patch of empty or underused land, picture

a green soccer field with 7-year-old soccer players running across

it. Picture their smiling faces and exuberant high fives. Families

line the sidelines cheering and smiling.

Many of these players may never make a high school team, but as

long as we have organizations like AYSO and fields for them to

practice and play on, they will not miss the opportunity to

participate in sports. As a community, we need to support the

maintenance and development of more playing fields for our children

and adults. Costa Mesa and Newport Beach were not planned

communities, so we did not set aside space for sports fields like

those in Irvine. We can start planning for the future now, however,

and work together to look for the possibilities.

I am one of the older volunteers in AYSO, so I grew up in a

different time. One of the rites of spring in my neighborhood was

clearing a baseball field in the abandoned orchards behind our

neighborhood. Each child came with a rake or hoe and cleared base

paths and leveled the fields. Those days are gone. Most vacant fields

today are either construction sites surrounded with fences for

liability reasons or protected areas. Our children can no longer

build their own fields. We must build these fields for them.

Unfortunately no one seems to want these fields in their

neighborhood. Most of us would love to live in the perfect place, but

I doubt one exists. I have lived in several areas in my life, but

each had its challenges. Gilroy is surrounded by beautiful green

hills, but you have to adjust to the smell of garlic, as it is

processed there year round.

Fresno will win no beauty award, but life was pleasantly slower

there, and living in Fresno was a little like living in the more

relaxed atmosphere of the Midwest. Currently I live on the Balboa

Peninsula. It is beautiful, but it too has drawbacks. I live an arm’s

length from my neighbors, so I must learn to cooperate and get along.

Newport Beach depends upon tourism as a major industry, but

sometimes tourists just have too many cars and make too much noise.

There are days and times when I try not to leave my home because I

know the traffic will be incredible. On the other hand, I fall asleep

to the sound of waves crashing on the beach and have learned to

forgive the over- zealous partyers returning from bars at 2:00 a.m.

and calling out to fellow bike riders as they pass my bedroom window.

There is no perfect place to live. We share this planet with many

other people and must often provide for the greater good of all,

setting aside our selfish interests.

* PAM GARRETT is a Newport Beach resident and an AYSO volunteer.