The Kingwood Service Assocation is giving all sports leagues 90 days to renegotiate their contracts.
Kingwood groups battle over soccer fields
KINGWOOD, TX
The Kingwood Service Association, which makes up more than 30 neighborhood associations, met Thursday night and decided to terminate its lease with the HeatWave.
"We fill them up on game days, the field here at Deer Ridge," said HeatWave board member Charlie Childs. "We have people here every night Monday through Friday practicing."
They even helped build some of the fields where kids kick the ball around every afternoon.
"The fields are key," Childs said.
While the HeatWave plays at two parks, Deer Ridge and North Park, the third park, River Grove, is home to Kingwood Alliance Soccer Club. While just five years old, parents say it's still growing.
"These fields are very large, but they're always crowded, packed," said Kingwood Alliance Soccer Club parent Nick Portonova. "It's almost like they're making extra fields that aren't here so people can fit in."
The Kingwood Service Association owns the parks, and while Texas HeatWave says they still have five more years on the lease, KSA decided to change that, claiming some fields are overused, while others are under-utilized.
"But I've never seen, in this lifetime, that you'd take it away from kids," said Texas HeatWave Soccer Club parent Yvette White said.
But HeatWave parents aren't exactly cheering on change.
"Unfortunately, it seems to be taking on the spin of being more about the adults and the process rather than turning it to the kids and letting the kids have fun," Texas HeatWave parent Scott Davenport said.
Kingwood Alliance says they just need more space.
"We've grown rapidly," Kingwood Alliance coach Scott Ahrendt. "We've gotten to the point right now that we've overgrown our space, and we're needing more fields for our kids to practice on during the weeknights and also to play on the weekends."
