Ballfields loaded

The growing population and the popularity of Little League make space precious.

By JOEL POILEY
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 26, 2002

CROSS CREEK -- Two teams leave a field, two more file on. Three T-ball games are being played at the same time in the outfield on makeshift diamonds to accommodate six teams instead of two.

Yet complaints are few in a league that turned away 30 to 40 children this season.

[Times photo: Mike Pease] New Tampa Athletics T-ball player Justin Mackler, 4, looks for some direction as he prepares to bat during a game against the Red Sox earlier this month.

With New Tampa growing steadily, neither the city of Tampa nor Hillsborough County can supply enough recreational fields to meet the needs of area sports. New fields and complexes are being built or are planned for the next several years.

Despite the chronic space crunch, the New Tampa Little League, formerly Northeast Little League, has thrived.

With 40 to 50 sponsors, plus a concession stand that serves everything from soft drinks to buffalo chicken rolls, the league uses its solvency to support others in the area.

Sponsors such as Outback Steakhouse, Kraft Foods and Pepsi pay to have banners on the outfield fence and their names displayed on the back of a team's shirt.

"Kraft Foods came to us with 10 sponsorships," said Steve Glantz, in his second year as league president.

"Then I started thinking, 'That's great for the league, but I don't need that.' I found another Little League locally that I know needs the money and I gave them half the sponsorships. There's no reason that we have to be the taker of all. Let's spread the wealth."

Add in funds from registration fees and New Tampa is self-sufficient. It owns all of its equipment, working with an annual maintenance budget of close to $70,000. An additional equipment budget near $40,000 provides uniforms, balls, and bats; pays umpires; and provides year-end trophies.

Space, as with other leagues, is the biggest challenge. With a record 650 kids playing baseball and softball on 54 teams ranging from T-ball to senior league, the three-field park is pushed to the brink.

Games and practices run every night of the week, with nonstop action Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Despite the space crunch, the complex gets high marks from area families as well as hundreds of volunteers.

"These fields are much nicer," said Kraig Kujawa, who moved to Arbor Greene from Chicago two years ago. "Better infield, better grooming, better kept."

Kujawa coaches his daughter's 7-9 age bracket softball team and said the New Tampa fields are several cuts above those in his hometown.

"Chicago fields were hard, with lots of gravel," he said. "These fields are made of clay. They're in great shape for the amount of play they get. You have more seasons here, playing in the spring and fall. In Chicago they only play in the spring. The quality is great here, you just need more quantity."

Craig Welti, who returned to Tampa in December after a stint in Fort Wayne, Ind., is also pleased with the management. His son Austin, 14, plays.

"I was concerned about getting Austin into a league because we moved back kind of late. But it wasn't a problem," said Welti, who lives in Richmond Place.

"I'm very pleased with how the league is run. The games are on time, the umpires are always here, the field is kept up. Rainouts are made up usually within a week. It isn't like this everywhere."

Welti added that more kids playing in the league increases competition. And the 20-game regular season schedule permits ample opportunity for development.

When the league started as Northeast Little League in 1991 at Mort Park on Bearss Avenue, New Tampa was largely undeveloped. By the time the league moved to its present 10-acre, $1.35-million home in Cross Creek in 1998, it was drawing from Tampa Palms north to Pebble Creek and West Meadows.

"A lot of folks suggested changing the name to give this league a home identity," said Glantz, who has been involved with the league since 1995.

With growth came the need for more fields. The league gets some relief when the older baseball and softball divisions travel to games against leagues in other communities. Glantz said some league games are played at Nathaniel Park in Hunter's Green.

But the search for more fields continues.

The county is building a 12.6-acre multiuse park across from Pride Elementary in Cross Creek that will have one diamond available this fall for softball, T-ball and coach-pitch leagues.

Two youth league diamonds should be available this fall when the rec facility serving Liberty Middle and Freedom High opens on Commerce Park Boulevard. Original plans for the 40-acre school complex called for four adult softball fields. Under the current plan, two of those fields will be convertible for Little League softball and baseball.

"We talked with people there and re-evaluated how to use the fields better," said Wayne Papy, deputy director of Tampa's recreation department. "We still want to accommodate adult softball. But this should also help the youth leagues."

A 40- to 60-acre regional park has been discussed for the proposed Live Oak housing development at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and County Line Road. But that could be several years away.

Papy said one reason New Tampa is behind the curve with recreation facilities is that residents originally wanted private parks in their own developments. They then asked for public facilities for more space and to avoid paying fees for the private parks, Papy said.

A different kind of complex

Board member Pete Semlitz echoed the thoughts of many league parents when he questioned why New Tampa doesn't have a facility like the 49-acre Land O'Lakes Recreation Complex on Collier Parkway in Pasco County.

But the Land O'Lakes complex is a full-service facility that accommodates baseball, softball, youth and adult soccer, youth football, tennis, an indoor gym and junior-size Olympic pool. It has six Little League fields alone.

Opened in 1992, the park was paid for through a bond referendum approved by voters in 1986. County residents paid $25 a year through 1997 to pay off the park, which cost $2.8-million to build and $652,000 for the land.

Pasco also has similar 40-acre parks in Holiday and Hudson, with another 143-acre park in the works for Wesley Chapel. That park will include bike and nature trails with space for camping. "It's cheaper to operate one huge park with everything there than 10 or 12 with different things in each one," said Jim Slaughter, Pasco County director of recreation and parks.

Slaughter added that the parks came about because new residents moving to the county voted for the improvements. "Those people made sure their voices were heard by elected officials," Slaughter said.

Another difference, Glantz noted, is that Pasco County not only lays out those tracts of land, it maintains them. Hillsborough County builds the fields but the leagues must maintain them.

So as Glantz drags another infield and prepares another mound for play, he asks parents such as Sarah King to have patience with the growing pains all rec leagues in New Tampa face.

"We don't lack in rec facilities in New Tampa," said King, watching her 6-year-old son, Charlie, go through his paces.

"Between the Y and each community having their own facility, they seem to offer a wide variety of activities. But the population is so great that it's hard to keep up. It's sad the league has to turn away kids. But for what they have here, they really make it work."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright