It's a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. However good the intention, the decision of the Soccer Club of Los Gatos to hold a fundraiser for the renovation of the high school soccer field before getting the go-ahead from the school board was ill-conceived.
The project makes sense. The plan calls for a turf surface to be installed on the soccer field at Los Gatos High School. It would be a facility that could be shared by the high school and the soccer club.
The idea, though, is a costly one—the price tag is close to $1 million. So the club set out to raise funds and publicized the event with a flier.
Trouble was, none of it—not the flier, not the fundraiser, not the field itself—had ever been approved by the Los GatosSaratoga Joint Union High School District. That was a big mistake.
Board members voiced their concerns at an April 2 meeting. They were unhappy over a line printed on the flier that said, "the Los GatosSaratoga District supports the not-for-profit," and they were not pleased that a fundraiser was being held before the board had granted approval for the project.
Soccer club official Mike Karr should have gone to the school board before embarking on this project. His intentions were good, but he didn't follow the proper process—or did he?
We believe that Karr may have received mixed messages from school officials. He made no secret of his intent to raise funds for a new soccer field. In fact, he said he had the blessing of the high school. The athletic director and principal at Los Gatos High were well aware of the project prior to the board meeting, as was district Superintendent Dr. Cindy Ranii.
Ranii even said in a March 24 article in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that it is not unusual to see fundraising efforts held before the board takes an official position on a project, adding, "I think it's wonderful that people get excited about a concept but then they need to bring it to the board."
That's exactly what Karr did, but now the board's not happy about it. Maybe that's because this is the wrong group presenting the right plan. Karr's proposal, while great on paper, is designed to create a field to be used by competitive-level teams, to the exclusion of recreation-level players. The statement on the invitation to the group's fundraiser that states, "Coach Mike Karr never wants to turn another kid away because there's no place in Los Gatos to play," is misleading because most youth soccer players in town would be turned away.
There is little doubt that there is a need for a soccer facility in town, but in our quest to make that happen let's not hasten any decision by allowing one group in at the exclusion of another.
When Karr takes his proposal to the board on April 20, there are a couple of stipulations that must occur before the plan is approved—the high school must retain first priority to use the field, and the facility must create more playing space for players of all ability levels. Then, and only then, should the board give the green light for this project.
