Shortage Of Soccer Fields A Challenge For Dover, New Jersey
Courtesy of the Daily Record
Written by Maria Armental and Miguel Riera
September30, 2005
For 15 years, Anne Marie Bocchino has been building the soccer program to the point that today her Dover Strikers has more than 500 children involved in the spring and fall seasons.
Demand was such that she even started a traveling club that will have four teams in the spring.
The problem is that while involvement in the sport has been growing, the town recreational facilities haven't.
Today, approximately 22 recreational teams and at least five traveling teams have to share the same three fields --two in Crescent Field and one at King Field, which is used for soccer in the fall and softball and baseball in the spring.
The overuse of the turf in Crescent Field, built over an old pond, is a concern, officials said.
Hard decision
On Sept. 8, the seven-member recreation commission voted 3-1 to shut down spring soccer.
Jerry Hoffman, the commission's vice chairman, Halashon Sianipar and Víctor Rodríguez voted for the program's closure while Thomas Iwicki, the commission's chairman, voted to keep it going.
By town ordinance, organized games have to apply for a permit from the recreation commission and pay the required fee, which is waived for the commission-sponsored teams.
Under the recommendation approved by the recreation commissioners, only traveling teams registered with the commission will be allowed to play in Crescent Field.
Violators could be prosecuted.
"We want to reduce the amount of games that take place on the field in an effort to maintain" it better, Iwicki said.
"We are in such a quandary here for lack of field space that the recreation commission made a decision that we don't want to stifle soccer but decided to support the traveling teams," Iwicki said. He noted that the decision to only allow traveling teams to play on the field was based on the fact that there are fewer teams involved in that league.
In any case, he said, the decision is not cast in stone.
Meeting today
The recreation commission, the soccer league and a representative from the board of aldermen will meet today to discuss the issue.
But soccer representatives said they are not too sure what the meeting will bring about.
"The decision is already made to close Dover soccer," Bocchino said. "So, I don't understand what I'm supposed to do."
"I can't imagine in any other part of the world where they'll tell you, 'You can't work there any more, you are shut down, but by the way, come talk to us,'" said Robert Mains, vice president of the Dover Strikers Soccer Recreational Club.
Mains complained that the recreation commissioners never talked to them about shutting down the field.
The soccer organizations, Mains said, "were never contacted until they voted, three people voted, to shut down the spring soccer.
"I just don't understand, I honestly don't understand, how the recreation commission can in a snap cancel the most successful program that Dover has," Mains said. "Voting on a meeting without announcing it just seems very undermining and underhanded."
Vote delayed
Barbara Sperry, the commission's secretary, said the issue had been on the agenda for discussion since June. But the vote had to be postponed twice, first at the request of a commissioner and later due to a lack of a quorum.
The agenda for the September meeting when the issue was finally decided could not be distributed well in advance because Sperry was on vacation. Instead, the commissioners had it sent to them electronically, Sperry said.
"It was not intentional that the liaison from (the board of aldermen) didn't get the agenda," Sperry said.
While praising Bocchino's work with the soccer program, Sperry said the recommendation to shut down spring soccer and restrict the use of the park was purely a safety concern.
"We just want a safe place for the kids to play," Sperry said.
But some question what the real effect of the field restrictions will be.
"Why do you have (the field) if we can't use it?" asked Michael Bartek, a volunteer soccer assistant coach.
Bartek complained that the recreation commission eliminated mini bikes last year. This year it's spring soccer, he said.
"You take all their toys away, pretty soon they'll be doing drugs rather than soccer,"he said.
Year-round soccer
Iwicki said in the past that soccer was a seasonal sport. Now, he said, it has become a year-round activity.
"That puts a lot of strain on the (town) resources," Iwicki said, "and your fields never get a chance to recuperate."
Bill Inglis, another volunteer soccer coach whose daughter plays soccer in the fall, said he understands the position adopted by recreation officials. On the other hand, he said, the demand for soccer is still there.
"To some of these kids, soccer is life, and that's all they want to play," Inglis said.
"I think the problem is more the lack of fields than the use of one," he said.
The bottom line, he said, is "are we in for the fields or are we in for the kids?"
The use restrictions would remain in effect "until such time as the Town of Dover has artificial turf installed at the Crescent Field Complex or until the Town obtains additional playing fields which would warrant year-round soccer," according to a letter sent by the recreation commission to soccer officials.
Overused, but ...
Bocchino concedes that the fields are overused, but she said her teams would, as they have in the past, work with the commission to minimize or eliminate the number of games played in Crescent Field. Her concern, she said, is the decision to eliminate spring soccer altogether and to do so without talking to them.
"I believe (field maintenance) is a problem, and by shutting down a field that's not the solution," Bocchino said.
"Yes, we do need to maintain a soccer field, but a child is not going to break a soccer field," she added. She said children's body weight would not be sufficient to damage the field.
The damage, she said, comes mostly from adults regularly playing on the field. The solution, she said, would be for town officials to designate separate locations.
"You give us a spot for the children; you give us a spot for the adults, and everybody will be happy and your field will be maintained," Bocchino said. She said sports, and soccer in particular, give children and adults alike an outlet.
Town officials are exploring the use of alternate surfaces, such as clay or artificial turf, to maximize the terrain endurance.
Plea for money
Iwicki said the recreation commission already has sent a letter of intent to file a $325,000 grant application with the U.S. Soccer Foundation. The grant would fund the installation of artificial turf and lights at the larger field in Crescent Field.
In addition, town officials will study possible agreements with the board of education, Morris County and other municipalities for usage rights to their recreational facilities.
The recreational space shortage "is a problem," said Mayor Javier Marin.
"We've recognized that there is a problem (and) we have been addressing the issue. (But) the options are limited."
Chuck Latini, of Heyer, Gruel and Associates, said that as part of the town's master plan update his firm has prepared a list of parks and recreation areas in and around Dover. He said his firm explored ways to maximize the usage by redesigning some of the facilities or by fostering partnerships, especially with the board of education.
Arsenal alternative
In the past, Alderman Richard Newman said, town officials had attempted to broker deals to use the fields at Picatinny Arsenal, but the usage rights were exclusively given to Rockaway Township.
Today, he said, the most viable options are county parks and reaching an agreement with the board of education regarding Hamilton Field.
"The county is rich, R-I-C-H, not only in monetary figures but also in land," Newman said.
Alderman Scott Miller said the county park commission had conducted surveys about having various municipalities share fields, and had prepared a long-term plan to open fields at Hedden Park. Nothing has materialized so far, he said.
"Certainly, as we look at redeveloping the town, we need to make sure that we have the right balance of recreation for our children and our adults," Miller said.
Recreation spending
Miller, a volunteer soccer coach, said one of the problems toward meeting the growing recreational demand is the fact that the funding allocated for recreation in the municipal budget has remained the same since the 1980s while the town's population has been growing.
Town officials have brokered a deal to allow soccer pickup games on the outfield of the Second Street Park. But even that is not enough to meet the growing demand, officials said.
Installing synthetic fields was one of the options discussed, but the price tag would reach $400,000 per field.
That could be a hard sell for taxpayers already hurting from a double-digit increase in the tax rate.
"If money grew on trees, you could get artificial turf," David Sgalia said on Thursday as he watched his son, Andrew, practice on Crescent Field.
"But expenses are expenses. I don't know how possible it would be."
Hamilton the answer?
Miller, the aldermens' liaison to the board of education, said school officials had discussed installing artificial turf and converting the running track at Hamilton Field into an all-weather track. The lights and bleachers would have to be moved and reconfigured and the parking shortage would have to be addressed.
Alderman Jim Dodd, who characterized the installation of artificial turf as a Band-Aid solution, said he also favored looking for additional field usage, setting his eyes on Hamilton Field.
Dodd said Hamilton Field, owned and operated by the board of education, "is one of the most underutilized fields in town." He proposed that it be developed into a multi-use field in partnership with the board of education.
He also suggested fostering corporate partnerships and using the fees recently imposed on new developments in town to help meet the recreational need.
"But I think it's important that we don't let the price tag scare us," he said.
