Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Mauro Nobre has 300 kids. He used to have about 400, but he just didn’t have room for all of them so he had to let a few go. He would have loved to keep all of them, even have more, but he had no choice. These are the decisions you have to make when you run a youth soccer league and are working with a limited playing area.

Nobre is the Club League director for the Kaw Valley Soccer Association and coaches four teams in its Premier League. He is also a staff coach for the Olympic Developmental Program and runs a Futsal league, a private indoor soccer league in Lawrence.

He had up to 40 teams in his league before the closing of Sport2Sport late last year. This forced a cut back to 30 teams now that he splits time at the East Lawrence Center and Holcom Park Recreation Center. With around 10 kids per team, about 100 had to find somewhere else to play.

He said the city’s lack of indoor sports facilities is resulting in stiff competition off of the soccer field.

“There’s a lot of animosity and hard feelings about this because there are taxpayers who can’t play,” Nobre said. “You can sense the frustration…in parents. It’s really cutthroat. Imagine a pack of wolves fighting for one little scrap of meat.”

He says that the kids who do have the opportunity to play can never practice because of the limited space. Parents often double as team managers, and if they want their team to practice then they are responsible for finding the area to do so.

“It’s impossible to find a place to practice,” said Lawrence resident Kathy Neet, who has managed her child’s team for three years, begins her search well before the season starts. Despite indoor leagues starting around November, when it gets too cold to play outside, the fight for a place to play heats up as early as May.

“The school board and the city control so much of the open gym space that it’s almost a monopoly. They get to pick who plays, and any program that isn’t parks and rec gets what’s left,” he said. He hopes more space will result in the city not having to cut kids’ opportunities for playing field use.

The City of Lawrence, Douglas County and USD 497 hope to come to the rescue of Lawrence youth coaches not only for soccer, but other sports as well. Officials are working together to bring a new recreational sports complex to Lawrence. Partners for Lawrence Athletics and Youth (PLAY) was recently formed by Lawrence citizens to help the city and county evaluate sports facility needs and then develop an action plan for a first-class sports and recreation complex. They have proposed a feasibility study to assess the city’s need for a complex, and, so far, the first steps toward more playing fields are going well. The school board has agreed to fund 40 percent, up to $25,000, and the City of Lawrence agreed to fund 40 percent of the study’s cost as well. The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce will pay for 10 percent, up to $6000, and the Douglas County Commission has agreed in principle to cover 10 percent.

Not everyone supports the plan. Commissioners Mike Amyx and David Schauner both voted “nay” on the proposal. Amyx said the city has already tied enough of its money up in other projects for the time being, but a facility might be on the priority list somewhere along the way.

“With sewers, utilities, streets and the library we’ve made commitments to, there’s a pretty substantial list. It could be 15 or 20 years before we can consider it,” Amyx said.
Bonnie Lowe, who heads PLAY, hopes to get the project off the ground as soon as possible, that is, if the study finds it feasible.

“We believe we are very much behind,” Lowe said. She said the study was originally going to focus on grades kindergarten through seven, but was expanded to look at the entire community.

Once funds are officially allocated and a “request for proposal” is issued, consultants will bid for the opportunity to put the study together. Lowe expects the study to cost anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000. If it finds that there is a need for a complex, a committee will be formed and a consultant will be hired to specify size, location and cost. Lowe added that this project also has the potential of enhancing the economic development of Lawrence by bringing in more recreational teams from out of town.

Nobre agreed, and said that bringing in large youth events would be a boost to Lawrence's economy. Topeka's Governer's Cup brings 300 teams twice a year. While that is exclusively Topeka's tournament, the State Cup and the Olympic Development State Camp, held by the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association, can be held at a different city in the state each year, he said. The Kaw Valley Soccer Association holds two yearly tournaments in Lawrence; the Kansas Cup, a girls premier tournament held in the fall, and the Kaw Valley Cup, a boys premier tournament held in the spring.

"These two tournaments," Nobre said, "can grow beyond their current size, if we had more and better quality fields." He does have concerns about how the study will be done. For the study to be accurate, it’s critical to talk to coaches who have been turned away, and not just those who already have programs in place, he said.

Soccer is not the only indoor sport in need of a home. Carol McGarity, gym manager at the Lawrence Gymnast Academy, said she even had a person call her looking for a place for pole vaulting. She suggested that the potential facility not only be used for recreational sports, but other activities as well.

“The need…is for junior high and high school kids. There’s just not a lot of things for them to do,” she said. For example, kids who perform gymnastics at her facility used to go to Sport2Sport to hold roller-skating parties.

Fred DeVictor, director of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department, has been appointed as the project manager for the study.

DeVictor agreed that indoor facilities now come at a premium.

“We’d love to have a field house type facility,” he said.

Parks and Recreation Facilities currently in use include the downtown Community Building, the Holcom Complex, the Indoor Aquatic Center and Broken Arrow Park.