Coaches dream of improved field use
Deepa Bharath and Rick Devereux
It was supposed to solve problems and be a compromise between needy
youth sports teams and the cityâs high schools.
Instead, some argue, an agreement between the city and the
Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which demands that the high
schools share fields with other groups, became the catalyst in the
resignations of coaches and an athletic director at Costa Mesa High
School.
The so-called joint-use agreement between the city and the school
district has been in place for more than a decade. But in the past
months, it has found a new place at the center of debate and
controversy after boys athletic director Dave Perkinsâ July 1
resignation and boys basketball coach Bob Servenâs decision to step
down on April 3.
Nevertheless, the joint-use agreement is here to stay, Assistant
City Manager Steve Hayman said.
âThe idea is to maximize the use of resources in the community,â
he said.
It is essential to ensure that the cityâs policies and rules
relating to field use are obeyed, officials said.
The agreement, in its current format, has been in existence since
1992, Hayman said.
âWeâve had some version of it for many years,â he said.
It was renewed in 2002, without any significant changes, Hayman
said.
The agreement dictates that any high school, community group or
league secure a permit from the city to use a field. Joined at the
hip of the joint-use agreement is another document called the Field
Allocation Policy, which spells out how fields are allotted and the
rules governing allotments.
Schools first in
The main purpose of the joint-use agreement was to set parameters
on how the city and the school district can use fields without
conflicts, said Jaime Castellanos, assistant superintendent of
secondary education.
There is a three-tier structure when it comes to who gets the
first shot at booking fields, he said.
âThe schools come first,â Castellanos said. âThe resident leagues
and groups come next. And then finally, there are the nonresident
groups.â
He called the agreement a âconventionalâ document.
âA lot of cities have a similar agreement, and this one is not too
different from what other cities have with their school districts,â
he said.
In January 2003, the city appointed five part-time workers and
gave them the title of field ambassadors. Their job is to monitor the
fields and enforce those rules and regulations.
But this program has been of very little help and has, in fact,
added to the bureaucracy, said Amy Stephens, Costa Mesa American
Little League commissioner.
âIt creates five more people to talk to,â she said.
But Stephensâ biggest complaint against the ambassadors is their
âlack of common sense.â
âWeâve had situations where we have people working on the field,
and [the ambassadors] hassle them,â she said.
Estancia boys soccer and track coach Steve Crenshaw agreed with
Stephens.
âYou have field ambassadors and park rangers ticketing coaches,
coming out with police officers and embarrassing you when all youâre
trying to do is run a youth program,â he said.
The ambassadors âoverreactâ and have shown âa lack of discretion,â
Crenshaw said.
Whose fields are they?
The high schools have a problem with lack of maintenance on the
cityâs part, said Sharon Uhl, Costa Mesa girls athletic director and
softball coach.
âThe fields are being destroyed because the city has not done
anything to maintain them,â she said. âThey say coaches think they
own the fields. We do, because we buy the things for the fields. The
cityâs not buying me dirt or buying goals for the soccer fields.â
Coaches also end up cleaning up trash left on the field from the
previous user, Uhl said.
âThatâs my classroom, and I have to see dirty diapers and empty
beer bottles there,â she said. âCoaches are cleaning up that mess,
not the city.â
Doug Deats, former Costa Mesa basketball coach who also resigned,
said itâs ânot a very good dealâ for the coaches.
âThe [agreement] is bad, because the only one who maintains the
field is the coach,â he said. âThe coach is left scraping out
sunflower seeds in the dugout, picking up trash and taking care of
the field.â
But Jana Ransom, the cityâs recreation manager, said when it comes
to complaints about the field ambassadors, âthereâs more to it than
meets the eye.â
âI donât want to slam anyone,â she said. âBut it takes a certain
number of violations and a certain number of steps over the line to
get to a ticket or citation.â
Itâs the coachesâ noncompliance with the joint-use agreement
thatâs causing all the problems, Ransom said.
For example, a coach complained that he got kicked off of his
field at 5 p.m. because of bad weather, she said.
âAfter 5 p.m., the fields are the cityâs responsibility,â Ransom
said. âAnd if the ambassador feels that using the field in that
weather is going to cause damage to it, he or she is going to stop
them from using the fields. We donât do things for no reason.â
But ambassadors seem to show little or no discretion, sometimes
even kicking people off of fields in the middle of games, said Kirk
McIntosh, AYSO Region 97 board member and tournament director of the
Daily Pilot Cup.
âThere should be some discretionary authority here,â he said. âI
canât tell you how many times park administrators come out when
one-hundredth of an inch of rain [falls]. More water comes out of the
sprinkler systems, but they shut down the fields citywide.â
Pointing a finger at an ambassador would amount to blaming the
messenger, Ransom said.
âThe city has a municipal code,â she said. âWe donât make the
rules. We only enforce them.â
Change as an answer
One solution to the recent brushes with coaches may be to be more
lenient with the high schools, said Parks and Recreation Commissioner
Wendy Leece, who as a school board member in 2002 voted in favor of
renewing the joint-use agreement.
âThe rules and guidelines are necessary because they give
structure to an idea,â she said. âBut high schools have different
needs than, say, a Little League or AYSO. So maybe itâll help the
high schools if we revisit the agreement and let them manage their
own fields.â
But the joint-use agreement itself is vital to maintain a sense of
balance and fairness to the process, Leece said.
âItâs forced different groups to be more organized in their use of
the fields,â she said.
Neighboring Newport Beach has had a joint-use agreement with the
school district for 20 years, but that agreement does not encompass
the high schools, said Andrea McGuire, the cityâs recreation
superintendent.
Another major difference between the two citiesâ agreements is
that Newport Beach does not issue permits for any of the fields owned
by the school district, she said.
âThe main reason for that is we canât maintain their fields,â
McGuire said. âWe donât have the personnel or the capacity to do
that. All fields owned by the city are contracted out for
maintenance, so we never had the desire to change the joint-use
agreement.â
Newport does have its own version of Costa Mesaâs field
ambassadors, but their roles are different. The two part-time park
patrol officers monitor everything from the cityâs fields to picnic
areas and playgrounds.
Costa Mesaâs problem boils down to a lack of fields, said city
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Byron de Arakal. The joint-use
agreement is invaluable to the school district because it saves them
the burden of dealing with the permit process, he said.
âThe high school looks at the joint-use agreement as a burden
because it takes time away from their practice,â he said. âThereâs
more to the high schoolâs issues with the coaches than the agreement.
The joint-use agreement just got hauled into the issue and was used
as a pinata.â
The system of having field ambassadors makes sense because they
are âgood intermediaries,â de Arakal said.
âThey are a lower level of authority versus a badge,â he said.
The city could do a better job of making people aware of its
policies, de Arakal admitted.
âBut the bottom line is: People need to follow rules,â he said.
âHigh school teams are not favorites over AYSO, and AYSO is not
favorites over high schools. Everyone has an even shot.â
* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.
She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at
[email protected]. RICK DEVEREUX is a sports reporter. He may
be reached at (949) 574-4225 or by e-mail at
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