AYSO serving Los Altos since 1968! Region 43 serving Los Altos since 1973!

Everyone Plays ® * Balanced Teams * Open Registration * Positive Coaching * Good Sportsmanship

Field Allocation Problem
in (North) Los Altos, Los Altos Hills

[ Update ]  [ Request to parents ]  [ Template letter ]  [ RC Follow-up letters ]

Well, we eventually made enough noise that the field managers stepped in to resolve issues between the competing youth sports groups this season. This almost 2 months late in a planning schedule that has had a major domino effect in setting up our season. We have fields for this season but not enough and too late to support everyone. More importantly, we see no liklihood of a change in the process of allocation. So Spring fields will still never come. They will continue to be dedicated with no sharing to Boys-only Baseball with less players than want to play soccer. And it is now looking like Fall will not come back either as the school district, principals, and PTA's become sold on an elementary-school based, after-school sports program for 4th - 6th graders. This may be our 37th and last season. It appears those programs servicing a small number of kids are more important than an open registration, gender neutral, everyone truly plays, non- skill binning, K-12 program like AYSO that serves almost 1/2 of the elementary school kids and puts character developemnt in front of a winning total score-board. If you value the AYSO program and its value to your childs youth sports experience (it is the only accredited youth sports program by the professional organization that school athletic directors belong to), then you need to make your voice heard at your school. Otherwise, we will not be back.

Normally we send an email this time of year welcoming you to the season and asking you to check online for your team assignment. While that is imminent, there is a more immediate field allocation problem we need to make you aware of. We are asking you to help bring pressure to resolve the problem by petitioning the Los Altos School District and the City of Los Altos. Please consider taking a few minutes to send an email, facsimile, or letter as outlined in the template letter below. Please do this quickly if you wish to help get the season started by 22nd August.

Sincerely,
Board of Parents, AYSO Region 43

Details:
We made you first aware of our field problems when trying to setup our second Spring season last Winter. The problem of field allocation has now spilled over into the traditional Fall season and threatens to derail it. Without some change, many divisions will have no practices the first few weeks of the season before the critical first game. In some cases, certain age divisions will have no fields at all and their season will be cancelled. AYSO is for all ages and abilities by charter. We would like to continue to provide this program to your youth this season and into the future. To date, we have only been allocated Almond field for the season. This is not enough for even a single division and its full use is threatened by a yet to be announced or planned after-school sports program in the elementary schools. We have received no other permits and only verbal commitments for the additional permits. But even those commitments are being reduced in scope while we wait for the permits to be issued. We need your help to bring the importance of this issue to the leaders of our community.

We might note that a formal request, for the first time in years, has gone to the MVLA High School District (specifically, Monica Lodge, the athletic director at LAHS) to finally open up their fields to outside / AYSO use. They traditionally have not allowed any outside use of their practice or game fields. As there is no established relationship yet, a campaign with their elected board to lobby for field access is premature.

Template letter to send to the Council Members and School Trustees:

For convenience, try clicking here to see if the email header is created in your local email system. If it works, you still have to copy and paste the body of text to complete the letter. If the link above did not create the email header, simply use the template below to generate a US Mail letter, a facsimile, or an manual email to the appropriate parties. You are encouraged to cc: fieldreform@ayso43.org or send a copy to our post office box so we have a record of your submission.

To: Los Altos City Council Members, Los Altos School District Trustees
Subj: Request for immediate action on behalf of AYSO Region 43
cc: fieldreform@ayso43.org

Dear Council Members and School District Trustees,

We request your immediate action to correct the current deficiencies in the field allocation process for Youth Sports. As a result of the problems, the playing season for our child in AYSO Region 43 is in jeopardy. Specifically, we request that you take action to:

• Correct the administrative error made by the Los Altos Parks and Rec Department that is preventing the normal permits to AYSO for Rosita Field,
• Return the use of Egan fields to AYSO as promised when they were closed for construction after our 28 years of previous use,
• Have issued the permits normally afforded the organization so the season can be started, and
• Longer term, make a commitment to address the system of field allocation that is based on unwritten policies, unworkable bartering between competing youth groups, and unfairly rewards those who complain the most.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter so we can enjoy another season of AYSO.

Sincerely,

AYSO Region 43 Family

Background:
------------------
AYSO is the largest youth sports organization in the city of Los Altos with over 1600 city resident players. It has been operating here for over 35 years. Additionally, AYSO is second only to the PTA in being the largest parent-run organization for youth in Los Altos. And yet Region 43 serving North Los Altos and Los Altos School District, with 900 participants in Fall and 500+ desired in Spring, is continually losing access to fields. Region 43 has the largest participation per capita and yet the smallest geographic area to use fields from (roughly the 94022 zip code). We service an equal number of boys and girls in each season. The loss is to other groups outside the region or with significantly less participation. Our Region 43 is simply looking to prioritize the use of local fields for local users.

AYSO Region 43 has the highest per-player field-space utilization of any of the youth sports groups. We only consume 1.5 hours of field time per season per player and generally have at least 50 players per 100 by 100 yard area. Region 43 has been forced into less field time and space each year even though the participation is stable or continues to grow. We are forced into the absolute minimum amount of practice each week (once per team for 1.5 hours using 1/2 a game field or less), require multiple teams share the field for practice, and create tight game schedules from dawn to dusk on weekends. But even with this high utilization and highest per capita participation, we are continually crowded out of the local field space. And now we are faced with the situation where we cannot even meet these minimums for Fall 2005.

AYSO is the founder of many key philosophies now being recognized and promulgated through youth sports. Its five tenets are Everyone Plays®, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Good Sportsmanship and Positive Coaching. As a result, AYSO is the most adopted youth sport activity in school districts and city recreation departments nationwide. AYSO is the only youth sports organization with an accredited coach and referee training program (accredited by the National Council For Accreditation of Coaching Education; a division of the National Association of Sports and Physical Educators). And yet this highly successful program endorsed by so many parents is now in jeopardy of having to severely limit participation or not allow certain age groups to participate at all.

Administrative errors in the Los Altos City Parks and Recreation Department, more aggressive actions by other local youth sports groups, and a general lack of understanding to the problems have lead to this current crisis. We ask for your immediate intervention to help resolve this situation so our AYSO program offering soccer to our children can start on 22 August 2005.

Regional Commissioner Follow-up Letters to the same people

As a part of the above email campaign by the parents, the Regional Commissioner has sent the following letters to the same council members and trustees to explain the situation a little further. The letter was also cc'ed to the appropriate people involved in the offices that handle field allocation. It is provided here merely as background and detail to those parents wanting to understand more.

To: Los Altos City Council Members
Subj: Explanation of request for action from AYSO Region 43

Ref: http://ayso43.org/Main/Fall2005Fields.html#Template

Dear Council Members,

This email is to help explain why we feel forced into initiating a letter writing campaign to you on behalf of the parents of AYSO Region 43. You are likely aware that the field allocation process has become a major problem. It has now reached a breaking point with the AYSO Region 43 Board of Parents and has stopped our ability to start the Fall 2005 season.

AYSO Region 43 pays more for fields that are in poorer condition than any other AYSO organization on the Peninsula. But this is not a money or condition issue we are currently raising. It is an access and allocation one. As the letter campaign outlines, AYSO Region 43 has the highest per capita participation of any youth sports group. We are also restricted in the geographic area we can acquire fields from. While AYSO has no boundaries (part of its Open Registration policy), Regions do define the schools they draw from and thus the fields they can utilize. This is to help parents who want to choose the region that is closest to their home, will have the highest number of classmates participating, and allows games and practices to be local. AYSO Region 43 services the north Los Altos School District and roughly 94022 zip code area.

There has been a change in almost everyone who handles the face to face process of fields this year -- both from the users and field owners. This has led to some of the confusion and tension. Additionally, expanding programs and the "grab at all costs" attitude we saw in commercial real estate during the late 1990's has now worked its way into youth sports groups. Finally, the school district has been faced with budgetary problems which have consumed their attention. Both they and the city are trying to determine how to move forward with more youth groups requesting more space than ever before. Add to this that Region 43 parents of both genders continue to drive the desire for Spring soccer and to push for field allocation reform. This confluence of events have made the process of field allocation more confusing, broken, and tension filled than normal. As a result, AYSO Region 43 is now being told at this late date that even last years allocation is not possible. To date, only one field (Almond) has been permitted.

AYSO Region 43 has participated fully at all field user group meetings every 6 months. We have provided all paperwork and documentation as and when requested. We have submitted the same field request to the city every year for the past few years. And yet, we are now being told in the 11th hour before our season opens, that our traditional field times have been allocated to MVLA Soccer club already and that our use cannot be accommodated. In digging deeper, this is an administrative error in the Parks and Recreation department and not a problem AYSO Region 43 should have to suffer with. We ask that you issue the permit for Rosita starting 22 August and including Sundays as we have requested.

Sincerely,

Randy Harr
Parent and Regional Commissioner, AYSO Region 43 Los Altos

cc: Board of Parents, AYSO Region 43
    Dave Brees, Recreation Director, Los Altos Parks and Recreation Department
    Peggy Ford, Recreation Supervisor, Los Altos Parks and Recreation Department

To: Los Altos School District Trustees
Subj: Explanation of request for action from AYSO Region 43

Ref: http://ayso43.org/Main/Fall2005Fields.html#Template

Dear Trustees,

This email is to help explain why we feel forced into initiating a letter writing campaign to you on behalf of the parents of AYSO Region 43. You are likely aware that the field allocation process has become a major problem. It has now reached a breaking point with the AYSO Region 43 Board of Parents and has stopped our ability to start the Fall 2005 season.

AYSO Region 43 pays more for fields that are in poorer condition than any other AYSO organization on the Peninsula. But this is not a money or condition issue we are currently raising. It is an access and allocation one. As the letter campaign outlines, AYSO Region 43 has the highest per capita participation of any youth sports group. We are also restricted in the geographic area we can acquire fields from. While AYSO has no boundaries (part of its Open Registration policy), Regions do define the schools they draw from and thus the fields they can utilize. This is to help parents who want to choose the region that is closest to their home, will have the highest number of classmates participating, and allows games and practices to be local. AYSO Region 43 services the north Los Altos School District and roughly 94022 zip code area.

There has been a change in almost everyone who handles the face to face process of fields this year -- both from the users and field owners. This has led to some of the confusion and tension. Additionally, expanding programs and the "grab at all costs" attitude we saw in commercial real estate during the late 1990's has now worked its way into youth sports groups. Finally, the school district has been faced with budgetary problems which have consumed their attention. Both they and the city are trying to determine how to move forward with more youth groups requesting more space than ever before. Add to this that Region 43 parents of both genders continue to drive the desire for Spring soccer and to push for field allocation reform. This confluence of events have made the process of field allocation more confusing, broken, and tension filled than normal. As a result, AYSO Region 43 is now being told at this late date that even last years allocation is not possible. To date, only one field (Almond) has been permitted.

AYSO Region 43 has participated fully at all field user group meetings every 6 months. We have provided all paperwork and documentation as and when requested. We have submitted the same field requests every year for the past few years. More importantly, we abided by the request in 1999 to not submit permits for use of Egan until the construction was finished and the fields restored. AYSO Region 43 has been requesting a meeting with Randy Kenyon directly or through his assistant at least monthly since January. We have been continually put off and refused. While we understand assistants changed and the budget has been consuming, we have since learned there have been several direct meetings with other youth sports groups during this period. Ones that have now received access to field permits we feel are owed to us.

For 28 years previous to construction, we had been using Egan as a main field for practices and games, especially for our high school and junior high school players. Steve Brocksen has been on our board since 1993 and part of our region since 1989. He handled fields for us from roughly 1997 through last year. Steve is submitting an affidavit stating how he was asked not to submit permits for Egan until after the construction finished. He was further informed that no permits would be issued. We abided by that request and we stayed off the fields that were only usable for practices.

As a result, for the past 6 years we have been providing less than adequate service to our junior high and high school age groups. The result has been more complaints, a drop in participation, and more injuries. Now that the fields are somewhat restored at Egan and games and practices can begin to be conducted there again, we are being told that the unwritten policy of "historical use" is being granted to the MVLA Soccer Club for the Egan fields. This because they obtained permits during the time period we were told none were to be granted. MVLA also, due to city error, has now received access to Rosita field which we had been using during this time. As a result,our junior high and high school divisions (consisting of 6 boy and 6 girl teams) are without any field to play or practice on. We ask that you restore the use of Egan for the junior high and high school players and other fields normally granted so we may have a season.

Sincerely,

Randy Harr
Parent and Regional Commissioner, AYSO Region 43 Los Altos

cc: Board of Parents, AYSO Region 43
    Tim Justus, Superintendent, Los Altos School District
    Randy Kenyon, Asst Superintendent - Business Services, Los Altos School District
    Sandra Bush, Assistant to Randy Kenyon, Los Altos School District