Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Sports Fields topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Green Baseball and Softball Federation warns parks board of shrinking field capacity, urges action
Summary
At the April 2 Parks and Recreation Board meeting the Green Baseball and Softball Federation said loss of school and leased fields, heavy evening use and limited storage are squeezing youth baseball and softball programs and urged the city to prioritize more fields, storage and parking.
Smanky Raymond, president and umpire-in-chief of the Green Baseball and Softball Federation, told the Parks and Recreation Board on April 2 that the organization faces an immediate shortage of playable fields and operational space as schools and leased properties reduce availability.
"We have 21 baseball and softball fields in the city," Raymond said, outlining fields on city property, city-leased sites and school grounds. He said Greensburg's four lit fields logged roughly "700 hours of play under the lights" in 2024 and that GBSF currently fields 55 teams this spring.
GBSF representatives described several concrete strains on the program: the loss of three school-owned fields during 2023 school construction, uncertain long-term access to three fields at the Greensburg Road Youth Sports Complex (leased from the airport), limited evening capacity where unlit fields effectively host only one team per night, and split storage that forces staff and volunteers to shuttle equipment between locations.
"We spend about $25,000 annually on winter training," Raymond said, and the group also budgets roughly $13,000 a year for outfield weed control and fertilizer. He said the group carried two $2,000,000 liability policies to indemnify partner sites (schools and the chapel) when they permit use of their fields.
Board members and GBSF discussed trade-offs between building new fields and installing lights on existing fields. A board member (S3) estimated construction on undeveloped land can exceed $500,000, while installing lights on an existing field typically runs about $250,000–$300,000 depending on the level of lighting.
Raymond urged the board to consider new fields sized for younger players, additional parking at Creekbaum and consolidation of storage into a single, larger facility. He also outlined programs that depend on the fields, including a Challenger adaptive program for players with physical and intellectual challenges, travel teams formed by open tryouts and a coaches clinic run in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance.
City staff and board members acknowledged the problem and highlighted near-term steps already planned: restroom improvements and a proposed parking expansion at Creekbaum in the capital program, and continued conversations with field owners. Staff also noted the city had built new fields in recent years but said land, cost and site constraints make additional field construction difficult.
No formal board action was taken at the meeting; GBSF said it would return to continue coordination with parks staff.
