Soccer and the City
Soccer is easily one of the most popular youth sports in the country, let alone the city. In San Francisco, our soccer fields are booked solid in the after school hours and the weekends are equally as popular. I should know. My daughters are avid soccer players whose teams use our city’s fields every week.
While a 2004 assessment of our city athletic fields found that we needed an additional 35 soccer fields to meet the growing demand for available play fields, we have made great strides in the past six years.
Through our partnership with the City Fields Foundation, we have renovated fields at Garfield Square, Silver Terrace Playground, Crocker Amazon Park, Kimbell Playground and South Sunset Playground, and installed lights at Franklin Square. There are also proposed field renovations at Mission Playground, Minnie & Lovie Ward Recreation Center and the Beach Chalet in Golden Gate Park. In all, these efforts have resulted in an additional 66,000 hours of available play time on our fields.
I’m also happy to report that the Polo Fields, one of our most popular sites for ground sports, is also undergoing a renovation, thanks to a $1 million grant from the state. The project includes the installation of a new irrigation system, new sod, improved drainage and gopher elimination.
When it’s complete, soccer players will have yet another world-class soccer venue to call home.
Update: After some severe weather in November, January and February, the original completion target of mid-March has been delayed. Our staff is currently working to accommodate all youth soccer teams and is working to find alternate venues for adult leagues. If you have a question about your existing field reservation, please call our Permits and Reservations Office at (415) 831-5500.
A Vision for Sharp Park Comes Into Focus
Last week, a working group of land managers, including Dave Holland (San Mateo County Department of Parks); Steve Rhodes (city manager of City of Pacifica); Dawn Kamalanathan (San Francisco Recreation and Park Department Director of Planning and Capital); senior staff from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; and Amy Meyer, co-chair for People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area and a former Recreation and Park Commissioner, released its findings on Sharp Park in Pacifica.
The group found that the short-term restoration of the Laguna Salada wetlands at Sharp Park will be the first step in the recovery of the endangered San Francisco garter snake and the threatened California red-legged frog. Restoration efforts would triple the current amount of habitat available to those species by moving built up sedimentation in the wetland area and by forming a connecting channel to nearby Mori Point by moving the 12th hole of Sharp Park’s golf course.
A long-term plan to naturally manage the coastal areas of Sharp Park was found to be the most sustainable and cost-effective approach to creating additional habitat and breeding opportunities for the protected species. A technical study, followed by development of a range of alternatives to be set forth in an environmental document, will explore viable ways of transitioning from the current seawall to a more natural beach and lagoon barrier system.
The working group noted that with consideration of the needs for sustainable species habitat and the more natural function of a barrier beach and lagoon system, the 18-hole golf course could be redesigned to coexist with viable populations of sensitive species in the long term. Any long-term solution would need to address periodic flooding of the residential area.
I want to thank the members of the working group, who all worked intently over the past six months to develop a vision for this beloved park space.
Spring and Summer Registration
Let's get ready to register! Spring registration begins this Saturday, March 5, at 10 a.m. Rec and Park has a wide range of classes available for you and your family, including Adult Boot Camp, youth baseball, Spring Break camps, Caribbean Drumming and more! Sign up online or in person at these 11 locations throughout the city:
McLaren Lodge @ 501 Stanyan Street, (415) 831-6800
Eureka Valley Rec Center @ 100 Collingwood St., (415) 831-6810
Hamilton Rec Center @ 1900 Geary Blvd., (415) 292-2111
Mission Rec Center @ 2450 Harrison St., (415) 695-5014
Moscone Rec Center @ 1800 Chestnut St., (415) 292-2045
Palega Rec Center @ 500 Felton St., (415) 468-2875
Randall Museum @ 199 Museum Way, (415) 544-9600
Richmond Rec Center @ 251 18th Avenue, (415) 666-7020
SOMA/Gene Friend Rec Center @ 270 6th St., (415) 554-9532
Sunset Rec Center @ 2201 Lawton St., (415) 753-7098
Upper Noe Rec Center @ 295 Day St., (415) 970-8061
Also, Summer Day Camp registration begins March 19. Check our website for the new Summer Camp guide coming out in a week. To find out more about how to register, call (415) 831-6800.
Parks 94124
On Saturday, February 26, I visited Joe Lee Rec Center for the kickoff of the new Parks 94124 community group, an effort led by Geoffrea Morris to build community around the parks and recreation centers in the Bayview/Hunters Point area.
The formation of this group has been a long anticpated and I’m proud that we can continue our work to improve our park spaces in the 94124 zip code by working with Geoffrea and her group.
Parks 94124 has upcoming park cleanup days scheduled, including Hilltop Park on March 5, Gilman Park on March 12, Bayview Park on April 9 and Youngblood Coleman on April 16. Those interested in helping clean our parks or joining Parks 94124 can contact Geoffrea at (415) 573-7854 or parks94124@gmail.com.
Soccer is easily one of the most popular youth sports in the country, let alone the city. In San Francisco, our soccer fields are booked solid in the after school hours and the weekends are equally as popular. I should know. My daughters are avid soccer players whose teams use our city’s fields every week.While a 2004 assessment of our city athletic fields found that we needed an additional 35 soccer fields to meet the growing demand for available play fields, we have made great strides in the past six years.
Through our partnership with the City Fields Foundation, we have renovated fields at Garfield Square, Silver Terrace Playground, Crocker Amazon Park, Kimbell Playground and South Sunset Playground, and installed lights at Franklin Square. There are also proposed field renovations at Mission Playground, Minnie & Lovie Ward Recreation Center and the Beach Chalet in Golden Gate Park. In all, these efforts have resulted in an additional 66,000 hours of available play time on our fields.
I’m also happy to report that the Polo Fields, one of our most popular sites for ground sports, is also undergoing a renovation, thanks to a $1 million grant from the state. The project includes the installation of a new irrigation system, new sod, improved drainage and gopher elimination.
When it’s complete, soccer players will have yet another world-class soccer venue to call home.
Update: After some severe weather in November, January and February, the original completion target of mid-March has been delayed. Our staff is currently working to accommodate all youth soccer teams and is working to find alternate venues for adult leagues. If you have a question about your existing field reservation, please call our Permits and Reservations Office at (415) 831-5500.
A Vision for Sharp Park Comes Into Focus
Last week, a working group of land managers, including Dave Holland (San Mateo County Department of Parks); Steve Rhodes (city manager of City of Pacifica); Dawn Kamalanathan (San Francisco Recreation and Park Department Director of Planning and Capital); senior staff from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; and Amy Meyer, co-chair for People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area and a former Recreation and Park Commissioner, released its findings on Sharp Park in Pacifica.
The group found that the short-term restoration of the Laguna Salada wetlands at Sharp Park will be the first step in the recovery of the endangered San Francisco garter snake and the threatened California red-legged frog. Restoration efforts would triple the current amount of habitat available to those species by moving built up sedimentation in the wetland area and by forming a connecting channel to nearby Mori Point by moving the 12th hole of Sharp Park’s golf course.A long-term plan to naturally manage the coastal areas of Sharp Park was found to be the most sustainable and cost-effective approach to creating additional habitat and breeding opportunities for the protected species. A technical study, followed by development of a range of alternatives to be set forth in an environmental document, will explore viable ways of transitioning from the current seawall to a more natural beach and lagoon barrier system.
The working group noted that with consideration of the needs for sustainable species habitat and the more natural function of a barrier beach and lagoon system, the 18-hole golf course could be redesigned to coexist with viable populations of sensitive species in the long term. Any long-term solution would need to address periodic flooding of the residential area.
I want to thank the members of the working group, who all worked intently over the past six months to develop a vision for this beloved park space.
Spring and Summer Registration
Let's get ready to register! Spring registration begins this Saturday, March 5, at 10 a.m. Rec and Park has a wide range of classes available for you and your family, including Adult Boot Camp, youth baseball, Spring Break camps, Caribbean Drumming and more! Sign up online or in person at these 11 locations throughout the city:
McLaren Lodge @ 501 Stanyan Street, (415) 831-6800
Eureka Valley Rec Center @ 100 Collingwood St., (415) 831-6810
Hamilton Rec Center @ 1900 Geary Blvd., (415) 292-2111
Mission Rec Center @ 2450 Harrison St., (415) 695-5014
Moscone Rec Center @ 1800 Chestnut St., (415) 292-2045
Palega Rec Center @ 500 Felton St., (415) 468-2875
Randall Museum @ 199 Museum Way, (415) 544-9600
Richmond Rec Center @ 251 18th Avenue, (415) 666-7020
SOMA/Gene Friend Rec Center @ 270 6th St., (415) 554-9532
Sunset Rec Center @ 2201 Lawton St., (415) 753-7098
Upper Noe Rec Center @ 295 Day St., (415) 970-8061
Also, Summer Day Camp registration begins March 19. Check our website for the new Summer Camp guide coming out in a week. To find out more about how to register, call (415) 831-6800.
Parks 94124
On Saturday, February 26, I visited Joe Lee Rec Center for the kickoff of the new Parks 94124 community group, an effort led by Geoffrea Morris to build community around the parks and recreation centers in the Bayview/Hunters Point area.
The formation of this group has been a long anticpated and I’m proud that we can continue our work to improve our park spaces in the 94124 zip code by working with Geoffrea and her group.
Parks 94124 has upcoming park cleanup days scheduled, including Hilltop Park on March 5, Gilman Park on March 12, Bayview Park on April 9 and Youngblood Coleman on April 16. Those interested in helping clean our parks or joining Parks 94124 can contact Geoffrea at (415) 573-7854 or parks94124@gmail.com.
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