Flap May Jeopardize Pony League Season

Officials with the Newbury Park Pony Baseball league say the youth organization’s spring season is in jeopardy because they have not been able to reach agreement with Thousand Oaks school officials on the use of ball fields.

Dozens of angry parents and players jammed Tuesday night’s board meeting of the Conejo Valley Unified School District, although the issue was not on the agenda.

The school board last month decided to move half of the 500-player league’s activities from Sequoia Intermediate School to Newbury Park High School to alleviate the concerns of homeowners next to Sequoia. The neighbors complained of traffic and noise from the league’s six-day-a-week activities.

But after the board made its decision, league officials learned their games would conflict with the high school’s own athletic teams. The district since has offered to let the league use Cypress Elementary School, but league officials say there is not enough parking.

Now, the league has just two weeks until registration is supposed to begin for the spring season, officials said.

“Right now, our membership is concerned,” said Mike Harrison, president of the Newbury Park Pony Baseball league. “They don’t know where to sign up, when to sign up or if they’re going to be able to play.”

Some parents threatened to vote the school board out of office if a solution was not found.

“If these 570 kids are not playing baseball next spring, then 1,040 parents will be playing hardball at the voting booth next November,” said Paul Turk, whose son, Steven, plays in the league.

The parents’ comments drew the ire of board member Richard Newman, a former youth baseball coach and supporter of the Pony league’s cause.

“Talk like that makes this a very thankless job,” Newman told the crowd.

The two sides met on Wednesday to discuss the predicament, said Assistant Supt. Sarah Hart. No decisions were made and another meeting was scheduled for Dec. 6.