Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Five Sports Leagues Lose Field Priorities

FOLLOW THE RULES, OR...
Today the City of Costa Mesa announced that four adult and one youth sports league will have limited access to Costa Mesa fields beginning in the fall of 2016 after they failed to meet the city's new local residential participation guidelines.  Those groups are:
  • Newport-Mesa Friday Night Lights Flag Football (youth)
  • Newport Beach Women Soccer
  • Word Athletic Kickball Association
  • International Soccer League
  • Surf and Sun Softball
RESIDENCY QUESTIONS
According to the press release, the City Council adopted a new Field Use and Allocation Policy (FUAP) last July to provide a clear and concise set of rules and regulations regarding field usage.  As those who have followed this issue know, many youth sports leagues have long-bemoaned what they perceived as a severe shortage in playing fields in our city.

AUDITS
As part of the process for the new FUAP the City conducted an audit of the sports leagues.  Apparently the paperwork submitted by these five sports leagues failed to meet the guidelines set forth by the new FUAP.  Inconsistencies involved residency issues and the percentage of the league participants that met the requirements of the FUAP.

COSTA MESA KIDS FIRST!
According to Travis Karlen, Manager of Parks and Community Services, "The policy was created to ensure that Costa Mesa residents and children who play in recreational programs are at the top of the list when it comes to who gets to use our fields and resources."

TIME TO FIND OPTIONS
The field use changes become effective next fall, so the groups have sufficient time to find other options.  According to Karlen, "We are letting these groups know they are out of compliance now so that they have enough time to look for other fields for their participants to use."

TIME EXTENSION
The City extended the deadline for two months to provide more time for the leagues to meet the requirements.  They didn't...

ENFORCEMENT AND AUDITS WILL CONTINUE
City staff and ambassadors will continue to enforce the Field Use and Allocation Policy and audits during the spring 2016 season and in subsequent seasons.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Mike McNiff said...

That ought to clear things up for Leinart nicely...

12/15/2015 07:51:00 PM  
Blogger zennymoon said...

I was thinking the same thing, clear the decks.....make room for Leinert.

12/16/2015 06:17:00 AM  
Anonymous Arthur Nern said...

Yeah, those USC people, even those who never graduated, stick together.

12/16/2015 11:36:00 AM  
Anonymous Mike McNiff said...

Friday nights at the Farm had gotten completely out of hand as far as parking with both FNL and Leinart leagues going at the same time. Something had to be done, and not surprised Leinart's side apparently 'won'; once again, though, a lot of kids lose.

12/16/2015 11:55:00 AM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

"Tis a tangled web..." Not so sure it was a competition between the two, but Friday Night Lights apparently, although having been given more time to comply, mislead the city as to the demographics of their players. The disparity was so wide that it's unlikely it was simply a "mistake". Anyhow, they're out next fall, along with the other four adult groups that also didn't make the demographic cut.

12/16/2015 12:17:00 PM  

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