The city's parks director says it's all about the numbers. Not enough players are using the field for the city to pay to maintain it. For the players and their parents, it's about a long tradition of softball, right in their neighborhood.
Mariana, Celine, and CC are three of the 35 girls who call Deepwater Field in Pasadena their home field. This year, they might not be able to.
League President Frank Martinez said, "We were informed that they were going to shut our league down or that our league was effectively shut down."
Frank Martinez, president of the Deepwater Girls' Softball Association, learned at a parks and rec meeting Wednesday night that his league would not be able to use the city-run field this season.
Parks Director Kirby Cardenas said, "We feel that Deepwater Field does not have enough teams to stay at that location."
Cardenas says the teams that use Deepwater can join another league at a new complex on the city's south side.
"I don't see that we need to pay those expenses out of city taxes just so two or three teams can play on that field," Cardenas said.
Cardenas says the city would instead rent the two fields at Deepwater out.
"It's just bad for the neighborhood," said Ron Johnson, whose great-granddaughter plays softball.
Johnson said, "We've been here too long to just melt into the ground and go away."
But now he and other parents are afraid that could very well happen.
"The kids in the community deserve a place of their own" said Martinez. "This is what we do here for them. So it's just sad to see it go like that."
The parks director told us he might be open to the league renting the fields. The league's president and board of directors are still hoping something might be worked out.
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