Youth Sports Clubs Protest Fees to Use Fields

A decision by Thousand Oaks school officials to charge $3 an hour for the use of athletic fields has outraged some youth leaders, who say the fees will add up to thousands of dollars for Little League teams.

Youth club leaders said the new fees will force them to raise and, in some cases, double their registration fees. That, in turn, will cause many youngsters to drop out of Little League and youth soccer programs, they said.

“I see this as something that is going to be taken on and challenged,” said Bruce Singleton, president of the Thousand Oaks Little League. “The community at large is going to rebel against these kinds of charges.”

The fee schedule, which takes effect July 1, was approved last month because the financially strapped Conejo Valley Unified School District needs money to maintain fields that are heavily used by outside organizations, business manager Sarah Hart said. More than a dozen organizations use school fields.

“With our fields being used five days a week and part time on Saturday and Sunday, the wear and tear is really extensive,” she said.

School officials also believed that the action was necessary because clubs from other areas were traveling to Thousand Oaks to use the fields because there was no charge, she said. Several school districts in the county, including Moorpark and Oak Park, already charge field fees.

Hart said the school board approved the fees May 13 and received only a few complaints.

But Singleton said some clubs did not learn of the fees until they met with school officials May 27 to discuss plans for the year beginning July 1.

“We were unaware this was an issue at the school board meeting, otherwise we would have been there,” Singleton said. “We received no prior notification.”

Singleton said his organization, which includes 62 teams and about 800 players, uses fields at nine school locations. He said the league already shells out thousands of dollars each year to maintain the fields.

Last year, the league spent $15,000 to build a new baseball field at Colina Intermediate School. Singleton said volunteers donated more than 1,600 hours to grade the site and install a new sprinkler system, fence and retaining wall.

He estimated that the school district’s fees will cost the league more than $50,000 next year in added expenses. He said that would force the league to double its registration fees for the season beginning next spring. The fees now range from $55 to $70.

Singleton said his league has already canceled its winter ball season, which has 120 participants, because of the new fees.

However, Hart said such clubs as the Thousand Oaks Little League would be credited for time and money spent on maintaining and upgrading fields. She estimated that the league would probably end up paying $10,000 to $12,000 next year.

Still, Singleton said he is concerned that the league will not be reimbursed for all of the volunteer hours spent working on field improvements.

“I suppose it’s going to be difficult” to get credit for those hours, he said.

Meanwhile, Roger Lazar, president of the Conejo Valley Little League, said his organization will be facing about $17,000 in additional expenses next year as a result of the new fees.

The league uses only two school fields for games. But Lazar said his club, which includes 60 teams and about 800 players, relies heavily on school fields for practice sessions. Lazar said the league will probably have to raise its $70 registration fee by at least $20 to offset the new expense.

He said the school district’s fees are particularly upsetting because the league has spent about $20,000 during the last 10 years for field improvements at Thousand Oaks High School.

Hart said she did not know how much credit, if any, the league would receive for those improvements.

“Obviously, we’re not going to go back 10 years,” she said. “They have to be able to document the work.”

Hart said she sent letters to some organizations Thursday to explain the fees.