Parents express concerns about safety of Glendale middle schools’ fields
Local parents made a plea to school officials recently to improve the quality and access of school fields by adding lighting and growing more grass to soften students’ falls and help prevent injuries.
Iain Blackwood, a Rosemont Middle School soccer coach and AYSO region 88 board member, said he’s found it challenging over the years to coach young soccer players on the fields at Rosemont, Toll and Wilson middle schools.
After surveying the fields at those schools, he said 40% of each of the fields is not covered in grass.
He told the school board earlier this month that as a result of the uneven ground, he counted six ankle injuries among local players over a six-week period during the last soccer season.
Two more students injured their knees, and one of them was “a very good female player” who had to sit out the rest of the season.
All of the injuries were due to uneven fields, he said, and did not occur after player-on-player contact.
“We’re constantly dealing with kids tripping, falling. It’s very difficult and we’re finding it more and more difficult to keep the kids safe,” he said. “In many places, particularly Rosemont, aggregate rocks have risen to the surface and kids are getting cut when they slide or fall. It’s just not a very safe environment.”
Fellow parent Leslie Dickson said her 12-year old daughter plays soccer at Scholl Canyon fields on Thursday nights from 8 to 9:30 p.m., and she usually doesn’t get to bed until 11 p.m.
Her late nights are due to a lack of lighting at other local fields, which remain closed off to soccer players on weeknights.
“She gets up and goes to school on Friday morning. Friday’s not a great day,” she said.
Dickson asked if school officials could open up weeknight access to fields at other locations such as Clark Magnet High School, Rosemont Middle School or Mountain Avenue or Monte Vista elementary schools.
“[The players] need more places to play. They need more places to exercise … and they need to be able to get to bed on time, and right now, that’s not happening,” she said.
Alan Reising, director of facilities for Glendale Unified, said there are no current plans to upgrade the school fields.
The district may explore improvement options in the future, particularly in terms of adding lighting to open up access, he added.
“The district appreciates the important role schools serve in the community and will continue to work with our community partners to explore ways to increase the availability of our school facilities,” Reising said in an email.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan