Garner Sports League urges council to renew field agreement after 90‑day termination notice

Mike Paul, vice president of the nonprofit Garner Sports League (GSL), asked the Town Council during petitions and comments on April 15 to restore or renew a field-use agreement after the league says it received a 90‑day termination notice days before its spring season.

Paul said GSL — a volunteer-run youth league with a 34‑year partnership with the town — runs baseball, softball and flag football and that the organization’s spring season includes many Garner-area players. He said roughly 219 children ages 3 to 15 are playing recreational baseball and softball this spring and that about one-quarter of rec players are female; he also said about 80% of participants come from Garner ZIP codes (as stated in his remarks).

Paul urged the town to avoid eliminating long-standing community offerings. He asked the town to consider targeted field changes — for example, cutting larger infields on Creech Road Park and Mark Massey Field to create 90‑foot fields that allow older age groups to play without displacing GSL’s younger teams. He said the town’s newly announced field request process already reduces historic field access by about 20% and that Garner Elite Softball (GBI) is requesting nights on fields GSL historically used. He also said GSL was told to vacate South Garner Park’s concession-stand premises, which will raise equipment-storage costs for the league.

Town staff told Paul the administration would contact the league this week to discuss concerns. Council members asked staff to provide the terminated agreement and related emails to the council; one council member asked that nothing be omitted in the packet. Council members and the manager said staff would follow up with the league to try to resolve scheduling and storage concerns.

Paul closed by asking the council to “renew the agreement with our league” and to preserve alternative field space for the Garner community’s youth programs.