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Council OKs city feasibility study to find more space for youth sports

By Monica Heger

Sports leagues long frustrated by the shortage of athletic fields in San Jose may finally get some space. The San Jose City Council has unanimously approved a request from Councilwoman Nancy Pyle to look at ways to use more city space for sports.

At the Oct. 17 meeting, the council directed the city manager to submit a plan to the council for hiring an outside consultant to conduct a community sports field feasibility study. Pyle initiated the memo in response to continuous frustrations expressed by soccer leagues over the lack of available fields.

"Some of the neighborhood parks have been so overused because of the demand, and they weren't built for that kind of use," Pyle said.

The proposed study will include inventories of available fields and sports groups to try to identify the best locations to add new sports fields, as well as opportunities to form partnerships with schools and other groups to maximize the use of existing fields.

Pyle said the closure of school fields for renovations, along with an increase in youth soccer enrollment by 150 percent, has contributed to the squeeze for space.

"I know this is a problem throughout the entire city," Pyle added. "We need to think outside the box. There are sites that with a little attention and help, could become sports complexes."

Pyle said that Measure P bond money could be used to build the complex.

"I've been frustrated because Measure P was passed in 2000, and we haven't spent that money yet [on sports complexes] because we haven't identified the space."