Saratoga News
News
Sports signs come down at Congress Springs
By Shannon Burkey
Sponsorship signs on fields have long been a part of youth sports in America. It is not uncommon for soccer and baseball teams to look to businesses in the community to help with the high costs of youth sports programs.
But the soccer and baseball teams that play in Congress Springs Park may have to look elsewhere for that extra bit of funding since they learned of a city ordinance prohibiting the placement of signs in city parks.
Although Saratoga Little League and the American Youth Soccer Organization, which both play at Congress Springs, have been displaying sponsorship signs for nearly two decades in the park, the city removed all the signs on Oct. 17 after receiving a complaint about a particular sign.
"I am somewhat dumbfounded," said Howard Miller, AYSO regional commissioner. "Baseball has been selling sponsorships in Saratoga for 40 years, and soccer has been doing it for 20 years. Every city in America does this. It's the mainstay of American youth sports."
The trouble with the signs began when the Saratoga City Council candidates took a tour of the city's parks and facilities with City Manager Dave Anderson and public works director John Cherbone. When the candidates arrived at Congress Springs Park, several of them noticed a sign from Councilwoman Kathleen King that read "Saratoga City Council member Kathleen King is a long-term supporter of AYSO and VIP soccer."
King has long been a supporter of soccer in the city. She has personally sponsored the organization financially and has had a sign up for the last three years, according to Miller. But some of the candidates felt her sign was political and did not belong in the park.
"It is nice to have banners up. It does give revenue to the teams, but you should never ever put political signs on public property," said council candidate Marilyn Marchetti.
Marchetti was very surprised to see the sign up when she walked into the park and made a call to Anderson the next day to discuss the issue. Anderson said he also received several other calls of complaint from residents, and he asked City Attorney Richard Taylor to look into the issue.
"We are a complaint-driven city. We don't go out and patrol things, but if someone complains, we look into our code to see what it says," Anderson said. "We didn't realize the code was so black and white on this because no one had ever complained before. But the code says no signs, so the signs are gone."
The same day that Marchetti placed the call to Anderson, Miller said he received a call from Anderson telling him of the ordinance and informing him the signs on the soccer field were being removed by the city.
Bill Baumel, the incoming president of Saratoga Little League, said he was not even aware of the signs at the soccer field coming down or of the ordinance until Miller called him. Since baseball season does not start until March, there were no signs up yet on the baseball field. But Baumel is concerned about how this will affect the league once the season does begin, and he said he has had no response to the calls he has made to the city to try and get information.
"We've had no correspondence from the city on this," Baumel said. "Right now I don't know what is going on. But if we don't have our sign revenue, which represents 10 to 15 percent of our budget, it will be a major hit."
For both leagues, the sponsorship signs are important financially. Last baseball season the Little League sold 73 banners--an all-time high--bringing in about $20,000, according to Debbie Hank, the league's sponsorship director.
"Sponsorship is a huge amount of our budget and something we really count on to make our program work," Hank said. "This will be a major impact to us."
The city removed six signs from the soccer field. Each sign sells for $500, and the money represents about 5 percent of AYSO's budget. Although it is considerably less than what the Little League brings in, Miller said the money is very important since it is used to pay for scholarships for children who couldn't afford to participate and to fund the league's VIP soccer program, which allows children with disabilities to play.
With only four weeks left in the soccer season, Miller is sending letters to all his sponsors to let them know what has happened. This late in the season, he said that he does not think anyone would want their money back, and two sponsors have already told him not to worry about the money.
"This is just politics," Miller said. "Someone is mad because Kathleen King had a sign up, but if they want to pay $500, I will put a sign up with their name saying they support soccer, too."
Taylor is currently looking at changing the ordinance and will bring it back to the city council for approval sometime in November, according to Anderson.
"I hope calm, rational minds will prevail and what is best for the kids of Saratoga happens," Baumel said. "Having the signs up also bring a sense of community with the local merchants, and having that tie with them is important because Saratoga Little League is community baseball."
