BRAZOS VALLEY YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION

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1 BRAZOS VALLEY YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION April 7, 2015 Dear Parents: Beginning in 1995 and continuing through 2003, over $9.5 million in City of College Station Bonds have been voted on and paid by the citizens to build Veterans Park for the outdoor recreation needs of our community. It has become a centerpiece for the City of College Station Parks program and hosts countless numbers of citizens playing soccer, softball, and any number of sports and recreational activities as well as a place to honor our veterans. For years College Station Parks and Recreation and the Brazos Valley Youth Soccer Association (College Station Soccer Club, Challenge Aggieland, Texans Aggieland and Brazos Valley Futbol Club) have worked together so that well over 1,300 College Station youth per season can play soccer and learn values that athletics can provide, utilizing the soccer fields that were included as part of those bond issues voted on by the citizenry of College Station. That will end this fall when Veterans Park will be used as a parking lot instead of a place for our youth to recreate. For seven Saturdays this fall, the City of College Station is in negotiations to utilize Veterans Park as a parking facility for Texas A&M Football's Get to the Grid. This will close Veterans Park to the Brazos Valley Youth Soccer Association and the families who participate in their programing for seven Saturdays in the peak of soccer season. While the City has proposed moving the Brazos Valley Youth Soccer Association (College Station Soccer Club, Challenge Aggieland, Texans Aggieland and Brazos Valley Futbol Club) games to weeknights, this is a major change in programing that will create many challenges including family scheduling issues, increased volunteer demands, referee availability, and practice space availability. Although we understand the economic boom that Aggie games bring to our community, the bond issues approved by the citizens of College Station were for Parks, not parking lots. What can be done is up to our City Council. We encourage you to , call, or write to the Mayor, City Council, and the City Manager with your opinion on this matter. The contact information is included below. In addition, we would invite any of you to attend the City of College Station Council Meeting on April the 23rd. President Vice President Treasurer Registrar President, CSSC Challenge/Texans Aggieland Commissioner, BVFC

2 City of College Station Contact Information Sheet Mayor, Nancy Berry City Council Place 1, Mayor Pro Tem - Blache Brick bbrick@cstx.gov City Council Place 2 -Steve Aldrich saldrich@cstx.gov City Council Place 3 - Karl Mooney kmooney@cstx.gov City Council Place 4 - John Nichols jnichols@cstx.gov City Council, Place 5 - Julie Schultz jschultz@cstx.gov City Council, Place 6 - James Benham jbenham@cstx.gov City Manager - Kelly Templin ktemplin@cstx.ogv Director of Parks & Recreation - David Schmitz dschmitz@cstx.gov

3 BRAZOS VALLEY YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION April 7, 2015 Mayor, City Council, and City Manager: Beginning this fall Veterans Park will be used as a parking lot instead of a place for our youth to recreate. For seven Saturdays this fall, the City of College Station is in partnership with Texas A&M to utilize Veterans Park as a parking facility for Texas A&M Football's Get to the Grid. This will close Veterans Park on Saturdays to the Brazos Valley Youth Soccer Association (College Station Soccer Club, Challenge Aggieland, Texans Aggieland, and Brazos Valley Futbol Club) whose traditional fall season is from early September through late November. While we have worked with the City representing the interest of over 1,300 youth and their families per season, there seems to be an impasse on activities this fall. Attached for your review is the last field grid proposal from the City of Parks Department from our meetings with staff. Please know that we have diligently worked with your Parks and Recreation staff to discuss a resolution of this conflict but we have been told it is a done deal and have no choice but to accept the field grid. Some critical points in this matter: Post Oak Mall did not renew the Get to the Grid contract due to problems which included disrespect by the users, amounts of trash left behind, and logistical concerns; City of College Station Parks Department advised BVYSA that Texas A&M University and the Transportation Institute sought out Veteran s Park because of the need of parking space for Get to the Grid and the opportunity to partnership with Texas A&M. Other locations around B/CS were explored but Veteran s Park was the only option available; We have been informed by the Transportation Department at Texas A&M that this matter was sought out by the City of College Station and they were told that there are no activities at Veteran s Park on Saturdays and this was a great partnership opportunity. They were misled into believing that there were no games taking place on Saturdays during Aggie Football games and were told that the Parks Department had worked things out with the soccer leagues. When the City of College Station Parks Department notified BVYSA of the changes coming this fall, they included the need to have three consecutive days per week for maintenance as one of the reasons for the arrangement. Parks and Rec has advised BVYSA in prior years that it needed additional weekends for tournaments and requested one weekend a month for events. The three consecutive maintenance days a week has not been discussed until Get to the Grid was discussed; BVYSA has worked with the City of College Station Parks Department on field allocations over the years to ensure maintenance time for our fields. We have also worked with and encouraged a rotation of usage of fields for maintenance. BVYSA is vested deeply in the conditions, maintenance and safety of the fields for our players and players to come in the future. According to the City Parks Staff, by attracting visitors to Veteran s Park through Get to the Grid it showcases Veterans Park to people from outside the community for other potential opportunities.

4 This decision affects over 1300 kids that have been and are involved in soccer and will infringe upon some, if not all of those, which will result in lower registrations not only in soccer but other sports and youth activities. This change will create many challenges including family scheduling issues, increased volunteer demands, referee availability, and practice space availability. The Spring Season is still pending and we anticipate that the Parks Department will request that all games be scheduled during the week. Soccer is a unique sport compared to others. The structure directed from US Youth Soccer sets forth that a majority of the games are to be played on weekends. There is not a single proper soccer program in existence without regular Saturday usages. Soccer is a sport which is dependent on development of its players not only in the sport but in sportsmanship and team. Practices are held during the week for the development of players where games have been played on Saturdays and Sundays. The soccer community is not in favor of turning Veteran s Park athletic complex originally intended for recreational sports into a parking lot and potentially a party plaza for Aggie Football. At this point we believe we have no other recourse other than to just accept it and send the message below to the citizens of College Station who participate in the soccer program which is the largest youth activity in town. While it is almost certain this will make the news, it is not our intention to shed bad light on the city in which we live. It is however; hard to believe the city will displace the youth for the sake of parking cars; all at a facility that the citizens approved $9.5 million in bonds to build as a city park. Our board would be happy to meet with any or all of you but time is of the essence as your staff is communicating this as a done deal. Please advise if you would be willing to discuss in the next week or two. We, as a soccer community, have partnered with the City of College Station for years and hopefully will get past this setback and partner for years to come. President Vice President Treasurer Registrar President, CSSC Challenge/Texans Aggieland Commissioner, BVFC

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