Monday, March 21, 2011
Why is Quincy Treated Differently!
At other high school stadiums the fields are designated for youth sports requiring a permit to play on them. As evidenced by this photo of Greenbrier Softball complex at Yorktown High School.
Quincy Park, though home Washington-Lee High School Baseball and Softball as well as youth baseball and softball is not affored the same equal provisions. Instead of field monitors, the dugouts are used by homeless as shelter.
When Arlington County Parks and Recreation who managed the facility were asked to comment, the response was 'they must keep the park open to all!' When will the programs at W-L be afforded the same accomodations as their sibling schools?
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This is truly inequitable if this is true.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog! My daughter is a softball player for Washington-Lee High School and this field can be SCARY!! Dogs run free on the fields; homeless people use the dugouts for shelter; drug paraphernalia has been found on and around the field. The differences between this park and Greenbrier is like night and day. Why can't the school board team together with parks and recreation to make this field a SAFE place for our players?
ReplyDeleteIf the county has run out of money and have no current plan for the field next to the stadium, then have APS lease the field next to the stadium to the boosters club and develop it with private capital. Put a retractable bubble on it for the cold weather months and rent it out. Have the boosters or girls softball run it like any other concession, like the Gunston Bubble, until the financing is paid and then have it revert to APS.If the girls softball team spearheads the effort, they should have first dibs. This idea has been shared with the current PTA president and the AD, both of whom liked it.
ReplyDeletewhat was the decision making process that lead to rebuilding cages in "needle park?" Presumably, the girls dress out for games and practice in the school. Why not relocate the cages next to the stadium and stake a claim to the rightful location of the varsity softball field, next to the school where the lonely backstop stands. Keep them locked or unlocked.The girls can use the buddy system, stop for PB on the way out of the school and then head over to the field.
ReplyDeleteWhat would it take to skin that field next to the stadium, roll it and put up a snow fence and play day games or establish temporary Musco lighting for the balance of the season. We are the home of the "Generals." I elect our retired General to tap some community spirit (and strong backs) out of Fort Myer to come out this weekend and take the high ground, Pickets charge style! Take no prisoners!
Realistically drastic improvements would be: pitching lane for warm ups and practice, pressbox, pa system, permanent flagpole, locked facility since this is our 'satellite campus'- it should be SAFE, cages should be locked, regular field maintenance should occur , better drainage and perhaps the field should have fencing to make it the usual size of HS softball fields. There should be signage that says 'Washington-Lee Softball' the girls leave their home fields to go to Quincy Park - nothing there says Generals - they are visitors at their home field.
ReplyDelete"Keep the park open to all" Then the county wouldn't mind if we moved the outfield fence to line the right field line of the field next to the stadium. That and a skin infield are the only things necessary to play a day game there.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that I can take my kids to Quincy and they can play on a cool field when it's not in use. It helps them feel like they can sometime attain a spot on the W-L team. If the school players want an private field...please pay for it. My tax dollars covered this one.
ReplyDeleteIf there are issues wiht vagrants or needles or whatever, call the police. We don't want those issues ANYWHERE in arlington.
i heard what you're saying. but i can assure you - when your kids actually DO attain a spot on the W-L team, you'll probably understand better what we're going through
ReplyDeleteI think we need to seperpate what is County and what is APS. Quincy is a communtiy park and is designed through a public process and paid for by communtity tax dollars for the community. Maybe its time to ask the County Board to update the plan through a public process. That's how Greenbrier (Yorktown) got so great.
ReplyDeleteAPS has a different process for planning. They get tax dollars to fund things exclusive for the schools.
If we want to fix Quincy it has to be a community process with community concensus...it can't just be because W-L teams have issues with it.
Maybe the Arlington Public School System can work with Arlington County to improve the situtation? WOW what an idea?
ReplyDeleteWL and the students are all a part of Arlington County - I believe both the County and Schools have mission statements that contain goals that support the improvement of this situtation.