MISSION VIEJO : New Sports Complex to Open Saturday

To say that this city is sports crazy is probably an understatement.

In a city of 80,000, about 12,000 people are involved in organized sports, with hundreds of others on waiting lists because of a playing field shortage.

That’s why Saturday’s opening of a 12-acre athletic complex featuring six baseball diamonds and two soccer fields is being greeted with much enthusiasm in the community.

“We’ve lived all over Southern California, and we’ve never seen a sports-minded, family-oriented community such as Mission Viejo,” said Linda Parker, a board member for the newly formed Rancho Viejo Little League. “We’re all real excited about these parks opening. These ball fields are absolutely beautiful.”

Named James G. Gilleran Park after the Mission Viejo Co. president, the sports complex opening Saturday features a snack bar, restrooms, lighting, picnic shelters and parking for 231 cars.

It is located along Felipe Road, between Oso Parkway and La Paz Road. Opening ceremonies begin at 10 a.m.

Gilleran Park is the first of three adjacent athletic facilities scheduled to be built by the Mission Viejo Co. for the city. The other two unnamed parks, which will have five baseball fields between them, are expected to be completed this spring.

Gilleran Park will be home for the Viejo Little League, which will hold a pancake breakfast fund-raiser there Saturday from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m.