Soccer is a sport that's become increasingly popular with youngsters in recent years. Oak Meadow Park is a popular destination for community residents.
So do the two go well together? We don't think so.
The Los Gatos Town Council was to discuss the issue at its June 6 meeting. The proposal facing the council called for use of the park for soccer practice sessions from 5 to 7 p.m. We hope that the council members deny the request.
It's not soccer that we're against--in fact, quite the contrary is true. We just feel that Oak Meadow Park is too much of a town treasure to give away for such a use.
Participation in youth soccer has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few decades in communities all over Northern California. Because of that rapid growth, there are simply not enough fields to accommodate the many boys and girls teams looking for a place to play.
Los Gatos is not unlike most other communities. There is a need for additional field space here, and soccer officials are frantically searching to find it.
While we agree that soccer teams need more field space, we don't believe that the need is so great that we must forfeit the jewel of our town parks for that purpose.
Soccer teams already utilize most of the grass fields in town for games and practices. To turn the Oak Meadow grass into a youth soccer practice field, even on a limited basis, would be a disservice to the many community members who use the park for other purposes.
And it's not just soccer. We don't believe that the town should allow any organized sports groups to regularly schedule games or practices at the facility.
Oak Meadow Park belongs to the community at large and should be available to all residents for their pursuits of recreation and relaxation.
New appointments
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District board at its June 7 meeting is expected to approve the appointment of Scott Downs as an assistant principal at Los Gatos High School.
Downs will join the administration of newly appointed principal Doug Ramezane, who will replace the retiring Trudy McCulloch at the school in the fall.
We applaud district Superintendent Cindy Ranii and the high school board for their selection of both Ramezane and Downs to their administrative positions at Los Gatos High.
We believe the two will work well with the administrators already in place to provide solid leadership at the high school.
The school has a long history of academic greatness, as well as success in athletics and other extra-curricular activities. We believe that the two new administrators are well qualified to maintain that level of achievement.
