AYSO proposes buying field lights

Here’s one way to solve Newport-Mesa’s shortage of lighted sports fields: buy some lights.

That’s what one Newport Beach region of the American Youth Soccer Organization is proposing to address not only the field shortage, but also an expected increase in AYSO teams this fall.

Lights are most critical during the fall and winter, when it gets dark earlier. AYSO teams have increasingly had to compete for fields as lacrosse has grown in popularity and adult and club soccer leagues have flourished, said Gary Wright, a board member for AYSO Region 57.

“It’s no secret that more people are competing for the limited amount of fields,” he said. “We wanted to do something because the city seems gridlocked, and we have the money, so we just said, ‘Hey, why don’t we light a field?’ ”

Region 57 — one of three regions that serves the Newport-Mesa area — reports nearly 3,000 kids playing in 2006-07. But a new AYSO-wide policy beginning this fall will shrink team sizes to allow kids more playing time, and that will mean more teams — and more competition for fields, Wright said.

His board is offering to spend $150,000 to permanently light a field at Lincoln Athletic Center in Corona del Mar. Board members are seeking approval from Newport Beach’s parks commission, which will hold a public hearing on the plan in May, and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District has to agree.

In the meantime, Wright said he’ll reach out to area homeowners in case they have concerns about the lights. The project was designed so as little light as possible spills out of the field, and no homes directly abut the athletic center, but the Spyglass neighborhood overlooks the fields.

“If we can find places for lighted fields where they work, I think it’s a great idea,” city parks commissioner Debra Allen said. She and other commissioners liked what they heard from Wright at a meeting Tuesday, but they want to hear from neighbors.

“Obviously the most important thing, for the school district at least, was going to be to find out how the community felt,” Allen said.

Wright said if everything goes smoothly, the lights could be installed over the Christmas break this year, but realistically they probably won’t be available until September 2008.

Costa Mesa officials also are looking to create more lighted fields, with the council expected to vote in the next few months on a contract to put lights on two more fields at the Farm Sports Complex.