Decision to Kick Out Kids Angers Soccer Field Users

Once a pristine, emerald-green stage where U.S. soccer stars such as Cobi Jones drew worldwide attention to the city, the World Cup Center’s fields have deteriorated so badly that the city has temporarily closed the facility and will reduce the number of teams that can use it.

Angry that fewer youth sports teams will be allowed on the fields once they’re restored, youth sports officials are accusing the city of covering up its own ineptitude.

It was poor maintenance by the city--not heavy use by youth soccer teams--that caused the huge patches of dirt in the field, said Alan Gallup, president of the Mission Viejo Soccer Foundation.

“They are pointing their fingers at us and then restricting how many kids can play there,” said Gallup. “This is a very special place, and it means a lot to all our kids. I just want to see it used and not put on a pedestal.”

Gallup said the city failed to properly water and fertilize the grounds, requiring the fields to be resod twice in the past two years at a cost of about $130,000. Wanting to avoid looking bad, city officials blamed overuse, he said.

“It’s basically a cover-up,” said Gallup. “They didn’t want to take the blame.”

With about 1,000 kids using the field throughout the year, overuse is definitely the problem, said Assistant City Manager Dennis Wilberg, who is also the city’s public works director.

“There’s no cover-up,” said Wilberg, whose son belongs to one of two youth clubs still permitted to use the field. “When I go out there and see up to 10 teams on two fields at the same time, it’s pretty plain to see that the fields are being overused.

“There may have been a combination [of poor maintenance and overuse],” he said. “Nobody’s perfect. I don’t want to debate the maintenance issue, but nobody has documented to me that maintenance [was the problem].”

Whether through the pounding of too many feet or inadequate maintenance, the field surface compacted. As a result, water collected on top, stagnated, and fungus infected the Bermuda grass cover.

The result was a far cry from the glory days of the World Cup Center in 1994, when the facility drew praise from the international soccer community that visited the city while the U.S. team practiced here.

“The team coming to Mission Viejo brought us more than we gave the team,” said Bill Irvine, vice president of the Mission Viejo Soccer Foundation. “It brought excitement, unity and pride to the community and it all revolved around the World Cup Center.”

But when the men’s national soccer team was looking for a place to train during a tournament last year, the shaky condition of the field led them to pass on returning to the World Cup Center.

To get the two fields back in their original shape, the city authorized a resodding and reseeding project. Wilberg also decided the city needed to control the number of soccer players using the field.

Three youth soccer clubs totaling 900 members regularly practiced and played games on the World Cup Center last year. Come September, only about 300 players will be permitted on the fields.

Wilberg said the Cosmos and Saddleback Valley soccer clubs are authorized to be there but the city will find another playing site for the third group, the Mission Viejo Soccer Club.

Also, the clubs agreed to send their under-14 teams to other facilities for practices. However, the youngsters will still be allowed to play games at the World Cup Center.

Two landscape experts, including one whose company built the World Cup Center fields, said overuse was not the cause of the fields’ deterioration.

Tom Schy , a local landscaper who watched the fields decline as he visited the World Cup Center twice a week to watch his 10-year-old son play, said “it didn’t seem like there was any maintenance done.”

“The grass was thinning out at times of year when it should have been getting thicker and I saw general thinning, not wear patterns,” he said.

Wilberg said his staff has trained horticulturists who oversee thousands of acres of parks, including several athletic fields.

And Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield, who visited the field just before the renovation began, said, “It was overused badly, literally worn threadbare by all those little feet running up and down.

“We have the funding, equipment and people to do the job,” she said. “It was overscheduling that squandered taxpayers’ dollars [for repairs], not the staff’s maintenance.”

All agree that the World Cup Center fields must be restored.

More than 5,000 youths play soccer in Mission Viejo. The city’s American Youth Soccer Organization league, the second largest in the country, also plays occasional scrimmages and tournaments in the World Cup Center, a practice that city officials will allow to continue.

For them, playing on the same grass where their soccer heroes practiced is like Little Leaguers taking the field in Dodger Stadium, say league officials.

“This is a mecca for quality soccer,” said Kelley. “That’s why we need to keep the center in first-class condition.”