Lack of fields frustrates Little League

A group pushing for a Little League Chapter in Yuma showed up in force to appeal to the Yuma City Council for help in securing use of the city's sports fields.

"We have 600 plus children preregistered," said Donna West. "We're ready to play ball."

But efforts to arrange for use of fields have failed, she said, reporting that the group's requests to the Yuma Parks and Recreation were denied.

"We urge the city to reconsider the use of the fields," she told the council.

City Administrator Mark Watson responded that he will meet with West but that there are thousands of demands on the use of the city's fields.

"We need to make sure we're not impacting existing programs," he said. "But I will continue to work with Little League for a transition plan."

City spokesman Dave Nash shared a memo with The Sun from from Parks and Recreation Director Becky Chavez dated Sept. 30 in which she said she had met that afternoon with the Little League committee. She wrote that she informed the committee: "We do not have the facilities to accommodate both our current co-sponsored organizations (Yuma Boys Baseball League, Babe Ruth Baseball, Yuma Girls Fast Pitch and Tee-Ball) and Little League, and the requirement for a permanent mound was a problem for us with multi-use fields."