Jim Wolf is president of the Westport Soccer Association. A star and 2-year captain on the Staples High School team (Class of 2001), he has perspective on local athletic fields as both an athlete, and now a sports organization leader.
He hopes this piece brings heightened community awareness to the capacity and condition of Westport fields, while explaining the current and expected impact on local youth sports programs.
The Westport Soccer Association delivers the town’s youth rec and travel soccer programs. Its enrollment exceeded an average of 1,700 players during the most recent fall and spring seasons, making it the largest youth sports organization and one of the largest 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations in Westport.
The WSA is driven by the community. More than 200 parent-volunteers generously donate their time, with oversight from a board of 9 volunteers.
Similar to other youth organizations in town, participation levels have increased significantly in the post-COVID years.
As our fall enrollment grew 30% compared to 2020, our need for fields expanded as well. This fall we will field 31 travel teams, and anticipate that number to increase as the current pre-K and rec players filter up into the travel program.
Our youngest age group for travel currently has a record number of 6 teams on the boys’ side, underscoring the growth.
Each additional travel team requires an incremental 4 to 5 hours of field time per week on average. At this time, current field capacity does not accommodate future levels of enrollment. Many Westport kids unfortunately will not be able to participate unless field capacity increases.
This dynamic has been shared across the town’s youth sports programs, and existing fields have become over-utilized and unrested. As a result, conditions on the grass fields deteriorated significantly over the most recent spring season.
The WSA has ongoing discussions with the town focused on our growth and concerns. Town officials and the Parks & Recreation Department have been supportive, collaborative and creative as field constraints have become more pronounced. They continue to dedicate a considerable amount of time to field allocation and maintenance, and communicating with the programs.
The collective understanding is that there are currently limited opportunities to bring new fields on-line, and inadequate financial resources provided for by the existing Parks & Rec budget to combat the impact of the current levels of usage.
Despite these challenges, P&R is putting forth a tremendous effort, given a suboptimal set of circumstances. The WSA appreciates their time and attention.
Hundreds of young athletes march in the Memorial Day parade.
Matters are further complicated by the Long Lots Elementar School construction project. The WSA is in the early stages of planning with the town for the fields at Long Lots to go off-line during the school’s construction period.
The WSA will use Long Lots fields for a combined 60+ hours per week this fall. Losing these fields will make an already unsustainable dynamic much worse. But the WSA will be solution-oriented, and do what it can to maintain our enrollment levels and ensure that no other town program is disproportionately impacted.
We acknowledge that much of the public discussion regarding the Long Lots School project has focused on the future of the Westport Community Gardens. But it is of equal importance to consider the effect on hundreds of families and children who will be affected not only during construction, but in perpetuity if adequate space is not allocated to safe, maintanable fields.
The Long Lots School construction will have a temporary but very meaningful impact on field availability for the WSA, as the primary users. Fields are a semi-fungible resource allocated by P&R. Time slots will need to be shifted, and other programs will be impacted as well. All opportunities to expand field capacity and improve quality (ranging from lighting to turfing to irrigation) should be quickly assessed and acted upon.
Among many other more important factors, including education specifications, cost and timeline, it is appreciated that the criteria for the Long Lots School Building Committee’s decisioning is in part based on the “impact to current site elements,” and fields are being assessed with P&R’s involvement.
That said, the hope is that (i) the approval committees will appropriately consider opportunities to improve field capacity and quality on the Long Lots campus post-construction along with any trade-offs, and (ii) the town begins planning/allocating budget now to enhance its field inventory in anticipation of the Long Lots fields going off-line during the construction period.
The WSA is hopeful that all interested parties will bring a spirit of collaboration and a willingness to compromise to discussions. Any solution should not be a win/lose situation for groups, but about what works best for the entire Westport community.
(Full disclosure: “06880” executive editor Dan Woog is a co-founder of the Westport Soccer Association, and non-voting emeritus member of its board.)
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Build a second story on the school. Reduce the footprint and make everyone happy
My son is a senior at Staples who played rec soccer last year and loved it. This year I enrolled him to play again and the team has been unable to field 18 kids who want to play (9-12). Looks like a lot of kids have lost interest when they don’t make travel or later
Varsity teams.
Every school 🏫 should have rooftop soccer 🥅 fields — solution
Jim, thanks for this. Dan, thanks for bringing awareness to this side of the issue.
As a fellow WSA board member, I support Jim’s message. It has been so exciting to see our town’s soccer program grow these last few years. But the influx of families since Covid has posed challenges to our program, the biggest of which relates to the town’s lack of fields. It has become increasingly difficult to accommodate all the children who’d like to play soccer.
There is a very public debate regarding the Long Lots Elementary School project with the focus being on the impact to the Westport Community Gardens / the gardeners’ viewpoint. But there is another point of view that many residents seem to share, namely that Westport’s children deserve safe and sufficient places to learn, play, and grow.
There are some residents complaining that the town would even consider building another athletic field (and I suspect these folks do not realize that we currently do not have enough fields for the number of children in the town). Sports fields are vitally important. Research shows that participating in youth sports can lead to immediate and long-term benefits for youth, their families, and their communities. Kids who participate in youth sports enjoy an increased level of physical fitness and are less likely to develop chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. They also derive mental health benefits such as reduced levels of anxiety and depression. Young athletes also tend to display a healthy level of self-confidence, which leads to healthy relationships with friends and other people in their communities.
To those same dissenters, I remind them that Westport is a family town. People move to / live here for its public schools and town-supported youth programs. Taxpayers have a reasonable expectation that schools and youth programs will be supported and maintained with their tax dollars. To that end, many residents favor building a new school and adding athletic fields where kids can safely learn and play. The general understanding is that the Westport Community Gardens will be relocated to another part of town. This allows the children to learn and play in a safe environment and the gardeners will continue to have the opportunity to participate in community gardening. It is not without discomfort for all involved while the new building/sports fields/gardens are rebuilt, but everyone’s needs will be considered and addressed.
Given my WSA involvement, I’ve seen firsthand that Westport officials are working tirelessly to find the fairest possible resolution that benefits the largest number of residents. I remain hopeful the adults of Westport will come together amicably and find a solution that prioritizes our children, now and for the many generations to come.
I’m sure it all depends on ones perspective. I don’t think that people object to athletic fields. People object to our one single Community Garden being destroyed because some in Town want to see a seventeenth or eighteenth athletic field.
The last Community Gardens were destroyed so athletic fields could be put in. Maybe another group should be asked to make the sacrifice this time?
It is an issue of fundamental fairness.
“The general understanding is that the Westport Community Gardens will be relocated to another part of town.”
That’s a jarring and presumptive statement.
Mrs. Mccarthy
“Westport is a family town.” Thanks for that reminder?
Are you saying ‘if you don’t have school-age children who play sports, you don’t count?’ For real? I moved to Westport 23 years ago largely for the natural resources in this town and its reputation as a safe, diverse, artistic, intellectual community. Today I pay a ridiculous amount of property tax to support the schools and recreation options for your school-age kids. Please know just how offensive your comments are.
An appreciation of the environment, nature, gardening, growing food are equally if not more conducive to a child’s universal development and well being.
I write as an individual parent but also happen to be the Westport PAL Basketball president and support the issues and position raised in Jim’s post. I grew up in Westport and moved back a few years ago. The schools, town amenities and commitment to youth sports were all attractive reasons to move back to Westport. With two kids in WSA travel soccer along with a behind the scenes perspective on sport facilities in Westport, Jim touches on a number of important points. With the volume and passion of youth sport participants, I think the town should strongly consider town field/facilities when undertaking a project as large as constructing a new school.
Jim well said…again another view with valid points for those on the soccer and travel sports train….personally speaking, I wish the country would get off the “travel sports money grab” that is causing kid burnout and draining parents check books….Another story all itself.
To the topic at hand, everyone needs to understand, the volunteers who are your neighbors and friends are all doing the best job they can to come up with a resolution that will work for the Long Lots School, Playing fields, and Garden.
With all three (3) parties, there is definitely crossover participation, and interest in a win, win, win conclusion.
The word “compromise” I hope is a word not lost by any of the 3 groups as this process moves forward.
Jimmy Izzo
RTM 3
Personally I’m a big soccer fan. All three of my daughters played Rec and travel growing up in Westport – It taught them many things, for instance team work and persistence (among others) and kept them in shape – they also officiated games as well. They played mostly at Wakeman and occasionally at Long Lots.
However I don’t see how pitting soccer moms and dads against gardeners is helpful here – a bit of creativity and less secrecy from Town Hall and we should be able to arrive at an answer that accommodates everyone.
It would be helpful if Parks and Rec could make the public aware of historic field usage but they seem unable or willing to do that.
While I understand that youth sports is an important issue for Westport I would just point out that we have twenty baseball fields and softball fields alone (not all Babe Ruth Sized of which there are four today) together with all the soccer fields and plenty of better alternative sites to build new ones, such as the back part of Winslow Park or at some of the other elementary schools.
By contrast we have one beautiful community garden…let’s not crumple up this gem and just throw away twenty years of sweat equity until we have thoroughly thought this through.
Jimmy Izzo hit the nail on the head the “travel sports train/travel sports money grab” has been the destruction of youth sports & has been the driving force that has destroyed youth participation in baseball. Unfortunately Westport Baseball would rather collect $1350 per player per SEASON (spring, summer & fall) from the 30 kids who play travel baseball beginning at the absurd age group of 8U rather than $250 from 110 kids playing little league per season (spring & fall).In addition to the $1350 for the privileges’ to play travel the parents are shelling out hundreds if not thousands of $’s for clinics & private lessons. That has been the recipe which has reduced little league participation in the majors (grades 5-7) from 110 to 45 in 10 years. Lack of participation has it’s consequences & in this case it should be not replacing the Long Lots baseball field while keeping the beautiful Westport Community Gardens in tact for the 125 families that have toiled this soil for decades.
Forget the fields the kids are better off in the garden so they can learn to grow their own crops because when the proverbial poop hits the fan they’ll need the skills.
Why all the organization? Some of best soccer teams in Staples’ history came from the 60’s & 70’s when soccer was not really introduced to players until 10th grade. We played for fun & not a ride to college. We have dumped more and more money into the game with little world wide results. I believe the late great Frank DeFord would agree: time to look at lacrosse vice futbol.