Jeff Mitchell has been a Westport resident for over 30 years, and a Westport Baseball and Softball volunteer for more than 20. For the last decade, he has scheduled baseball games and practices in town, and worked with the Parks & Recreation Department on reserving and preserving baseball field space. He writes:
For the upcoming spring season, Westport’s youth sports programs will schedule hundreds of teams for games and practices on our scarce few athletics fields.
This process is complex, time-consuming, unrelenting — and apparently completely misunderstood.
Every field in Westport is considered multipurpose. Like rooms in a house, some are obviously more suited for one purpose than another. But very often it boils down to which location is available when you need it. It therefore makes the most sense to make every location as multipurpose (flexible) as possible. In simple terms, that means drawing as many different lines on them as feasible.
The Wakeman Fields adjacent to Bedford Middle School are used for soccer, lacrosse, baseball, football practice, school sports, frisbee and more. The “B” field (center left) is artificial turf. The rest are grass.
At the start of all 4 seasons, schedulers of all the youth sports meet with Parks & Rec to make their case for who gets priority on which fields on what days, and at what times.
There is no such convenience that soccer gets to use all the soccer fields, baseball all the baseball fields, etc. That’s because field space is so tight in Westport that no town-administered field can afford to be deemed single use.
For example, even the wonderfully renovated Staples baseball and soccer terraces are used seasonally. The 2 sports have shared the same field since 1958.
Youth sports has exploded lately. Kids not only play on Westport’s recreational teams, but also on our many travel teams. Sports are no longer seasonal; they are year-round. Girls now play sports such as lacrosse and rugby that traditionally were played by boys. Just because there are fewer girls playing a particular sport doesn’t mean they don’t deserve equal access to field space. How else can they grow their sport?
Westport PAL lacrosse players, at Paul Lane Stadium.
Schedulers never know until after our registration deadlines how many kids we’ll need to accommodate, hence how many fields of what size we’ll need to reserve. Even once we know, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to reserve that number of fields.
Worse, our travel team schedules are beholden to whatever external leagues we enter them in. The result is often one sport calling another asking if a field primarily reserved for that sport’s use might miraculously be free. That’s the benefit of fields being as multipurpose as possible.
Parks & Rec’s maintenance staff schedules athletic field maintenance for when the sun comes up, so that our kids can use them when they wake up.
Their schedules are based on what else they need to do the rest of the day. How many guys they have on call on any given day in the morning varies with how many fields need prepping, which we schedulers try to give them a reasonable idea on as long in advance as possible.
Because Little League uses the baseball fields at Town Farms and Coleytown Elementary School almost every daylight hour school is not in session, we pay a third-party landscaper 6 figures specifically to assure as little downtime as possible.
Westport Baseball and Softball outsources some maintenance to third party vendors. (Photo/Eric Bosch)
The problem with having such a demand for field space is that the wear and tear on fields is horrendous. When it rains, baseball fields turn to mud. If the clay is not immediately properly raked, it gets rock hard in the sun.
One tournament on a grass field can destroy it for an entire season. For example, in the summers of 2022 and ’23, a well-attended lacrosse tournament damaged the Staples soccer field so badly that the boys and girls varsity soccer teams had to move all their remaining home games to Wakeman.
A private organization rented Staples’ Loeffler Field in the summers of 2022 and ’23. It rendered the field unplayable for the varsity boys and girls soccer teams for those fall seasons.
Parks & Rec has asked us to please keep a field free for just one season so they can remediate it. That’s sadly not feasible in Westport.
Why do so many kids play sports these days? Of course, for fun — but also for opportunity. A recent Fortune Magazine article cites a 2003 book, Reclaiming the Game: “athletes are twice as likely to be admitted to an elite college as legacies and four times that of under-represented students. Since this study came out, the number of recruited athletes has increased 45%, compared to overall college growth of 33%.”
Parents know this. Parents see that Staples High School has won numerous state championships in a wide variety of sports. Staples baseball just had one player, Hiro Wyatt, sign for $1.5 million with the Kansas City Royals right out of high school.
The list of top schools our student-athletes have gotten admitted to is mind-boggling. These kids began their sports careers playing youth sports. People even tell us they moved to Westport because we are such a phenomenal sports town.
Yes, we are. But we have the ability to be even better.
(“06880” covers youth issues, sports, town politics — and much more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Jeff, Thank you for your letter. Field time, fields a huge issue not only for our community but surrounding ones as well.
Who knew the explosion in both boys and girls sports would explode to the numbers today.
I know our Parks and Recreation team is doing a very good job trying to juggle field quality, and allocation of play in this time of extensive demand.
40 Years ago growing up here, we didn’t have this travel nonsense. Yes it is nonsense, a huge money grab, and drain on our kids mental health and parents.
Unfortunately this argument I will not win, as our country is drunk on sexy words like “premiere, elite, Super A, etc etc.
That is a discussion for another day! Our problem in Westport is land. I know there has been a lot of controversy over the field at Long Lots.
The original 8-24 plan proposed of “moving the baseball field” to a new location on the property was the best option for our kids.
Now we will have even more “shuffling” and “lack of field time” for all our youth sports, as “sharing space and time” of fields will be tough task for our Parks and Recreation Commission moving forward.
As a community we have to work together to prioritize a plan moving forward on how we can find new field space, maintain what we have, and “share” field time of fields available with civility.
Public – Private funding may be our best approach to solving the problem.
OK — I’m an old lady, and I no longer live in Westport. But it seems to me, that there’s a lot of vacant land on the Baron’s South property that could be used for playing fields. Some of it’s hilly, but much of it’s flat.
Jeff, first of all, kudos on all of your volunteer work.
Re your discussion of college opportunities for Staples athletes: I would be curious to know the actual or even rough percentage of athletes who end up getting recruited by a college program today because I imagine it is very small due to the increased competition for varsity slots. In other words, while there’s no question about the advantages elite varsity athletes have today in the college admissions process, I think the odds of achieving that success are relatively slim. Hopefully most parents are encouraging their kids to explore playing different sports purely for the fun and healthful benefits of engaging in them.
One question I have re the shortage of fields: why was the field at the old Saugatuck El on Bridge Street abandoned as a youth field in town?
My wife and I had an apartment overlooking the field and the only people we would ever see using it were occasional dog walkers. A former neighbor told us that the field had been used for some years for, I think, girls’ baseball and that some of the residents at the Saugatuck would go watch and cheer on the young players. So it sounded like a win-win situation to me.
At the very least, that field seems like a nice flat field that could be used for practices in a variety of sports for very young kids.
I know there is not a huge amount of guest parking there but surely it’s a convenient location to drop off kids for practices.
As a resident of the old Saugatuck Elementary School (now The Saugatuck) neighborhood I can tell you the history and (confirm) the reasons for the field’s use.
It is an odd shape and its dimensions are tight for games. For years a local contractor maintained a diamond, and there were youth practices. Both soccer and lacrosse goals were, at various times, on the field. During COVID young athletes from the neighborhood used it for practice.
There are guest parking spaces at the head of the access ramp near the front of The Saugatuck, but no parking on the field… no water, no facilities, no trash receptacles.
Drop off for practices was tried for a while and found inconvenient. Of course, now with a WAZE assist, one can sit in traffic on Bridge Street for a long time… dropping off is sometimes problematic.
The former school playground is mowed by the town, cared for, and open to the public as required by stipulation since 1988.
Hi Fred,
That’s a fascinating and important question that Dan and I have been discussing for years. From what I read, just 2% of college athletes receive NCAA scholarships, the vast majority covering only a fraction of related expenses. Most likely parents will spend way more on private lessons and teams than they’ll ever get back in the form of a scholarship for their child. But, then again, we parents also spend a fortune on test prep services and tutoring, many with the (albeit faint) hope of our kid getting admitted into an Ivy. In the end, it’s really all about giving our kids the best possible chance to develop to their potential. After that, it is what it is.
Do we all think Staples HS would be as wildly popular with Westporters if graduates were perceived as not getting into a school at least commensurate with their academic and/or athletic abilities? After all, there are plenty of private schools in Connecticut. And what good is a top notch HS if the kids we send to it are not adequately prepared by our elementary and middle schools and/or our youth (sports, etc.) programs? That’s why building the best possible schools with the best possible teachers in a town with the best possible facilities (not just athletics) is not really an unreasonable expectation… given our resources, of course!
– Jeff
I well remember my long ago Little League days – I’m sure it takes a mighty collective effort from the volunteers to run things smoothly.
I don’t quite understand the use of “private organization” (in assigning responsibility for field damage) when Westport Baseball and Softball and the Westport Soccer Association are obviously private sports organizations.
Was it a different private sports organization (like a travel team or an adult league) or a non-sports function?
What is the rental cost to WB&S, WSA, and PAL for the municipal ball field use?
Does Town hold a deposit from all groups who use the fields, in case they are damaged (beyond anticipated wear and tear), to cover the cost of repairs?
What is the reason that Parks & Rec didn’t repair Loeffler Field? That simply seems like a poor job by P&R, without more context. It also seems like poor maintenance is an excuse for more fields, but now I’m getting off-topic.
It was a private sports organization.
Plentiful high quality playing fields should be top-of-the-list priority for Westport. When a child takes the field, Westport becomes a magical world where anything is possible. If the field looks like s..t, the kids subconsciously feel that no one cares. If the field is perfect, children get the idea that they are important. Its like a musical instrument. Buy a high quality instrument for a little kid. Once they get older they can learn how to make bad instrument sound good but when little these things send a message.
I thought the health and safety of our children in the schools was the top-of-the-list priority in Westport?
It sure seems that one thing is certain – if you don’t have children, you are the bottom of the list priority to a lot of Westporters! Even if you are contributing a disproportionate amount of your taxes to underwrite the lifestyles of those who do have children.
I worked for Parks & Recreation Maintenance 2007-2014 as a seasonal employee. I LOVED this job and learned so much and can tell you first hand there has been a field shortage issue since.
It is paramount that field space be expanded and saved, especially around learning institutions for purposes of youthful education, exploration and development.
What is great about Westport is that there is no cut. All kids in town growing up can try out and find themselves on a team and feel a sense of belonging, while making friends, and exploring/discovering their unknown talents. More importantly, it could lead to a promising and fruitful future in academics and financial support.
Development in town will most definitely lead to increase in residents, which means more people, traffic, use of services, and kids. Our town is still growing exponentially since Covid.
With that being said, our top quality and cared for fields by our talented Parks and Recreation Maintanence Division are out at 5-6am cutting grass, sowing seed, aerating in the fall and sometimes early spring, inspecting and improving irrigation practices, edging baseball fields, and line striping grass fields for multipurpose play sports. They work until 3pm usually depending on when they start (the earlier in the sooner out, typical 8 hour shift).
In the past, a field was able to “rest” for 1-2 weeks…if that. The gap between school breaking for the summer and school starting is a short window for a small crew to get ALL grass fields ready. That is obviously not the case here as enrollment for athletics, new sports being introduced to the program, and private coaching focused athletics have been added.
Field space is paramount in a town that entices newcomers based on amenities, location and most importantly…education.
Respectfully… I offer a counterpoint.
Do we really need newcomers? Do we really need to grow as a town? We have no more land to develop. We don’t have infrastructure for more people and cars. And, to the point of this Op-Ed, our sports fields are tapped out.
Affordable housing is underrepresented. Old houses need to be torn down in order to build new houses. Old schools need to be torn down to build new ones. Property values are inflated; higher property values only serve those who make money flipping houses.
The town is busting at the seams. You cannot change the laws of physics. We can’t grow unless you start building high rises. We do not need to grow. What is wrong with just living our best lives within the constraints of our town’s natural and limited resources. Make it great for Westporters. Stop worrying about bigger. You want bigger: Stamford, White Plains, New Haven, Norwalk, Hartford, NYC.
I for one am happy with the small, enriching, diverse town that we are.
“Do we really need newcomers?” Wow.
“diverse” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Bill, you are right. Newcomers was a very bad choice of words. Newcomers welcome, just not MORE people.
I don’t know about you but I have very diverse friends, neighbors and acquaintances in Westport, from around the world, of different cultures, ethnicities, faiths, and ages.
Umkay
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/cerc-pdfs/2023/Westport.pdf
Toni,
If the town does not invest in itself like you are advocating, it will not take long before it withers into one of the bigger towns you have listed.
So short answer to your questions is that yes we do want Westport to grow, evolve, and yes that means spending money to keep it beautiful.
Those who advocate not spending money as a short term gain are only looking for their own self interest, and not what is best for the town as a whole. Board of Finance as well RTM members know that it is not possible to run the town without spending money.
Joe you got it wrong. I never said “Don’t invest in the town.” I did say, “make it great for Westporters.”
As someone who just put a new roof, new paint, new
windows, new garage door, and soon a connection to a new sewer line that I advocated for, I am all for investing in the town.
My point is: We don’t need population growth. There is only so many people that can fit comfortably in 20 square miles that is already overdeveloped. There’s a housing shortage. To get a new houses, you have to tear down something, with a net zero change in housing. Or you go up and increase the density. It’s physics.
Toni,
Can you elaborate on why you think Westport has a population growth?
As you have mentioned, there is a limited number of houses in Westport, and there isn’t many lots to develop. How do teardowns increase the population? If anything, it increases the town’s grand list which then reduces your share of the taxes.
The only way the population can stay the same or decrease is if new families don’t move into town, and the children of Westport residents move out of their parents’ house. If this is what you mean, I am curious how you plan to achieve that, and what consequences does it have on the demand to be in this town?
And more importantly, what does the population growth has to do with the fields? Is the implication that there are more people in town, so there is more demand for the fields? Because maybe you missed the point that Jeff made that youth sports has a much higher participation rate than ever before.
Toni never said the town should not invest in itself. In fact those of us paying for the new school wish the town had had the forthright to invest in its assets a long time ago ! They didn’t and now we will all pay 100 million for which I’m sure you won’t be even a slight bit grateful. But that’s ok Joe.
Anything for the Childers. That just goes without saying. Even yours Joe.
You are welcome !
Great case for why the Long Lots multi-purpose field must be a priority since taking away an entire field from the town’s capacity would severely curtail participation.
So the Long Lots project isn’t about the health and safety of our children, but about ball fields. Thanks for clarifying.
We have 20+ ball fields. Make due with creative scheduling while you have a TEMPORARY problem due to the school building project.
27k people don’t care about the long lots field.
Once the precious darlings get what they had before ! Outside of that go find new land.
Concerns as the Middle East burns, Ukraine crumples and this country is totally divided;
(1) My neighbor complains about the cost. “I need to get a part time job to pay for my four boys;
(2) I grew up here in the Wonder Years when Little League was basically the sport of choice but very prevalent were “sand lot” pick up games. If you got in an argument, there was no adults to break it up. You fended for yourself;
(3) The best athletes from this area (Valentine, Murphy, Young) played in the 60’s-70’s (they also played multiple sports) and I surmise the coaches were not as good as now?
Westport is a town that is best appreciated by families that take advantage of world class public schools and all of the adjacent amenities that support them.
Most of the snarky comments in all these threads are from the older crowd whose kids are long gone, or the childless crowd who never had kids to begin with.
We sold our Westport home when our last kid was out of the public schools – to a lovely family that has since re-populated that amazing community with their new family.
I was on both the Westport Soccer and Westport Little League boards – and field access is and always be an issue.
Support the kids. Build new schools. Long Lots way outlived it’s usefulness, there have been “temporary” classrooms behind KHS for 25 years, both that school and SES should be next on the demo list.
Wepo has gotten by for way too long on the cheap, time to replace the aging academic facilities.
No dude ! My kids are still in school ! Just in private school.
You are welcome.
Great at that rate we will be in for 500 more million.
I wonder will they blame the next few hundred million on the next democrat taking office. Cos I cannot imagine tooker Moore surviving.
This has been a shit show.