Pasco: Little Leaguers find fields off limits

Little Leaguers find fields off limits

At issue is league zoning. With fields only 4 miles away, Meadow Pointe kids now must travel 18 miles to play in the correct zone.

By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer

WESLEY CHAPEL -- As a Little Leaguer in Tampa and later at Jefferson High, Richard Piazza always had a place to play ball.

Never did he imagine that his 6-year-old son, Richie, would have to search for his field of dreams. Especially after father and son spent the past two seasons as members of the Land O'Lakes Little League.

The ball fields at the Land O'Lakes Recreation Complex off Collier Parkway, however, might no longer be an option. Even though residents in Meadow Pointe, a Wesley Chapel community, have been allowed to play there in the past.

Meadow Pointe is zoned by Little League for District 4, with the nearest ball fields at Sam Pasco Recreation Complex in Zephyrhills. The Land O'Lakes fields are 4 miles from Piazza's home, while the Zephyrhills fields are 18 miles away.

All of which left Piazza wondering why boundaries are now being enforced.

"This is all Pasco County," Piazza said. "I'm a taxpayer. How come I can't utilize the field most accessible to me and that's most convenient?"

That answer stems, in part, from Little League's stricter enforcement of rules since a national controversy in the summer 2001. That season, 14-year-old Danny Almonte was caught playing on a New York City all-star team with a 12-year-old age limit.

Nonetheless, the Piazzas probably could still be part of the Land O'Lakes group had not several ballplayers from Meadow Pointe been good enough to make all-star teams last spring. That left Land O'Lakes board members in a bind: The players could not be part of all-star teams because Land O'Lakes is in District 13 and the Wesley Chapel kids would have had to represent District 4.

"Basically, there are about 60 kids in Meadow Pointe who played in Land O'Lakes who are no longer allowed to play there," Piazza said.

Land O'Lakes president Joe Garrison plans to meet with District 13 administrator Darrell Cann to resolve the issue before Jan. 1. In the meantime, Garrison placed names of five Meadow Pointe players who came to Saturday's registration on a waiting list.

The issue goes beyond Meadow Pointe, Garrison contended.

"When you're dealing with Wesley Chapel, you're dealing with Angus Valley and Quail Hollow also," he said. "Our boundaries stop going to the east at Bruce B. Downs (Boulevard). Most of the kids in question are from Meadow Pointe. Those kids are zoned for Zephyrhills."

Jan Spivey, a Zephyrhills coach and that league's former president, would welcome the Meadow Pointe boys and girls with open arms.

"We definitely want those kids," Spivey said. "We have to walk the streets and post up signs to get 500 kids."

By comparison, Garrison has seen Land O'Lakes' league grow from 700 participants to 900 in his three seasons as a board member.

Harry Olsen, vice president of the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association and a Land O'Lakes coach, can empathize with all involved.

"They've got nowhere to put their own kids let alone add others," Olsen said of crowding at Land O'Lakes.

"Zephyrhills is the district for Wesley Chapel. Is it fair? No, but (Little League zoning) has been in place for years."

Some say the problem could be solved by laying out ball fields in Wesley Chapel.

Within the next couple of years, the county plans to develop as a park 144 acres it has contracted to buy on Boyette Road. Although the park will eventually sport a gymnasium and swimming pool, the county's priority is soccer and baseball fields.

Another solution comes from Beat Kahli, developer of the New River community on State Road 54 between Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills. Kahli has suggested land to the county for sports fields.

"In another two or three years it's going to be a moot point because Wesley Chapel should have its own facility," Garrison said. "Once that happens they can . . . charter their own Little League."

Added Olsen, "Wesley Chapel kids should be playing in the Wesley Chapel Little League, and it should be supported by the commissioners."

-- Staff writer James Thorner contributed to this report.