49ers trying to buy up youth soccer fields near stadium
The San Francisco 49ers offer to purchase youth soccer fields near Levi’s stadium to convert into parking.
If you live in Santa Clara, California, you may want to put your kids into basketball.
The 49ers are looking to purchase 10 acres of land next to their new mega-stadium to convert into parking lots and whatever else they please. The land is currently being used as youth soccer fields.
Those kids, it appears, would have to play elsewhere.
In addition to the $15 million, the Santa Clara school district would receive $3 million to improve other soccer fields for the city’s youth soccer league. Or, of course, they could just use the ones they have, play there, and not worry about the kids finding other places to play. That sure seems like a lot less work.
Apparently Levi’s Stadium, which opened last year, really needs more parking spots. Maybe that’s because the stadium is at least an hour from downtown San Francisco by car. That makes it a bit difficult to take public transportation. Or, like, carpool.
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Some people, unsurprisingly, are not happy with the Niners’ proposed offer.
“How many more concessions does the city have to make to the 49ers?” Tino Silva, the new president of the youth league told the San Jose Mercury News. “This is the 49ers – who are supposed to be good neighbors, keep their word and do what’s right. This is everything but that.”
According to Silva, the kids in the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League use the three fields almost every day during the week as well as most weekends. Silva fears that losing the fields would force the league, of approximately 2,000 kids, to downsize.
“That’s 80 percent of our season. Where are we supposed to go?”
Nice, guys. Real nice.
It seems odd that a professional sports team, in a league that preaches keeping kids active, would take away three of the city’s youth soccer fields. Then again, this is the NFL. Nothing should really surprise us.
When a team builds a new stadium, it should enhance the surrounding area, not destroy it. When the Yankees moved their stadium across the street, the old Yankee Stadium was demolished and the land was converted into youth baseball fields, thereby improving the community. The Niners are doing exactly the opposite.
The Santa Clara City Council met to discuss the proposal on Tuesday, though a vote on the deal may not come for another couple of weeks.
Let’s hope they stick it Niners and tell them to look elsewhere.
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