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The neighbors around Kevin Moran Park have gone too far. A soccer team stopped off at the park on Nov. 13 for a picnic, and a neighbor called 911. Another neighbor grabbed a camera and ran out to catch the culprits in the unscrupulous act of (gasp!) playing soccer!
As proof of the crime, the photographer--at our request--sent the shots to the Saratoga News. And it's true. In one of the photos there were four or five little boys--in soccer uniforms, mind you--walking with their families toward their eight or nine cars parked along the street. A second photo shows a handful of little boys--not in uniform--playing soccer, kicking balls into portable soccer goals set up on the flat grass.
We can only imagine the frantic cries on the 911 tape that no doubt will be featured on the next episode of Inside Edition: "There are little boys in the park ... and they're playing soccer!"
Has it really reached this point? Have the Kevin Moran Park neighbors absolutely gone over the top? We agree with them on many points--that the park should not be leveled to provide flat grass for soccer leagues, that the character of Kevin Moran Park should be retained, that park access to soccer leagues should be limited to practice only and no organized games. But the neighborhood group has lost much credibility in our eyes based on their actions of Nov. 13.
We're told these were 9-year-old boys having a season-ending party at Kevin Moran Park prior to moving on to Congress Springs Park for a league event. Maybe that's true. Maybe the AYSO group was just hoping to shake things up a bit by bringing in a team in full uniform in the late afternoon hours on a Sunday. We don't know--we can only speculate.
What we do know, however, is that pictures don't lie. The pictures provide the proof--proof that the street doesn't look as narrow as neighbors claim when cars are parked on both sides; proof that soccer can be played in the park without disrupting others who may want to use the facilities; and proof that the residents of the area simply want the park to be their own personal playground.
We've said all along, and will continue to say, that the park could use permanent restrooms and a parking lot to make it more accessible to all residents of the city. But we don't believe that Kevin Moran Park should become another Congress Springs and be dominated by the soccer folks.
That said, we also don't believe that 9-year-old boys playing soccer in a city park is a 911 emergency.
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