The room was full beyond capacity as supporters of softball, and youth sports in general, came out in force to the Stansbury Park Service Agency meeting last Wednesday.
After a public comment period that lasted for more than 90 minutes, the service agency board unanimously voted to ratify a contract to redevelop two softball fields at Village Park into a third football field.
Softball players, coaches and parents argued that the board should have created an alternative location for youth softball to practice before tearing up the only softball fields in the community.
But the service agency board contended that the redevelopment was in the current budget and discussed the changes in several meetings during the current year.
Melanie Diderickson said she first heard the softball fields would be replaced with another football field last fall but was told it was only a rumor when she spoke with someone at the service agency. She said she only noticed the plan was moving forward after she saw a request for bids in the Tooele Transcript Bulletin to sod over the softball fields.
“I feel like we’ve been overlooked,” Diderickson said. “I feel like things were done without letting everybody know.”
With the first youth football game on the new field set for Sept. 12, Diderickson questioned whether the freshly laid sod would simply be torn up by players.
“I don’t know why you couldn’t have waited until next spring so we would have somewhere to play softball in the spring and then maybe do the sod then,” she said.
Youth softball competes in games across three seasons: spring, summer and fall. Stansbury Park does not have a softball league or host any games on the community’s fields.
Mike Merritt said he doesn’t have anywhere to take his daughter to play with the fields being torn up. A number of parents argued that it made it difficult to get their daughters to practice if they had to use fields at Deseret Peak Complex or in Tooele.
“To me, the girls losing the softball fields is a big deal,” Merritt said. “It tells these young ladies that they’re not as important as these boys.”
During the public comment period, board members acknowledged they gifted land to Stansbury High School to create practice fields for softball and soccer with the understanding youth sports would have access to the fields. The high school does not currently allow any youth sports on their fields and the board agreed to find the language of the contract gifting the land to the school.
The youth baseball fields in Sager’s Park were offered as a possible place for softball to practice during the fall. The pee-wee field has a dirt infield that could be used for fielding, and batting practice could take place on the other fields.
The room emptied after the public comment period ended and the service agency board ratified the contract and discussed putting funds for two new softball fields at Parkview Park in next year’s budget. Board member Jamie Lindsay said she wanted to ensure the fields would be installed by next spring so they could be used.
“I just want to be able to say we’ll get this done for them,” Lindsay said.
Softball supporters complained about marshy conditions at Parkview Park, but Stansbury Park Service Agency manager Randall Jones and board chairman Neil Smart insisted drainage issues have been mostly resolved in the field.
“Is it perfect all the way around right now?” Smart said. “No, but it’s better.”
Depending on the severity of the winter, the fields could be in by March or sooner, Jones said.
“We can put together bids to get everything ready while the snow’s on the ground,” he said. “As soon as the weather breaks, we can start putting up fence and then digging out an infield.”
After ratification, Jones discussed purchasing the 22,000 square feet of sod required to cover the softball fields. Board member Mike Johnson, who is also the president of Little League football in Stansbury Park, offered volunteers to install the sod any evening in the coming week.
Jones praised the board for moving ahead with the decision to convert the field. He said that he visits Village Park several times a day and has seen very few people using the softball fields since the spring.
“No one is slighting these girls,” Jones said. “It’s just they don’t need the field in the fall and football does.”