Rec Sports

Uneven Playing Field: Parents Question Fairness in PSD Facilities

Published

1 month ago

November 28, 2025

Peninsula High School parents say their students are being left behind — not in the classroom, but on the field. As district programs grow and facilities age, they ask why Seahawks athletes, musicians, and coaches must make do with less while Gig Harbor’s teams practice on better, brighter fields with fewer obstacles. To them, it’s not just about sports. It’s about fairness.

Peninsula School District officials said they “remain committed to providing safe, functional, and equitable facilities for all students across our campuses.” In an emailed statement to Key Peninsula News, the district said it manages facilities through a comprehensive approach that balances space demands, safety, and academics. But for many parents, those words don’t match what they see on any given day.

A Tale of Two Fields

On most fall afternoons at Peninsula High School, it’s hard to tell where one team ends and another begins. Football players run drills on half of Roy Anderson Field, while the girls soccer team practices corner kicks on the other. Nearby, marching band members use spray-painted lines on a shortened field to rehearse halftime routines.

For parent Stephanie Johnson, it’s a familiar sight — and a growing frustration.

“We have 100 football players sharing a field with 40 soccer players,” she said. “They’re supposed to be able to run full practices and prepare for games like everyone else, but there’s nowhere for them to go.”

At Gig Harbor, every major field is synthetic lighted turf, and another one appears to be in the planning stages. At Peninsula, there’s one turf field — Roy Anderson Field, shared by both high schools — and several grass surfaces that flood or turn to mud after heavy use.

Johnson, whose son plays both baseball and football, has spent two years documenting field-access disparities between the district’s two largest campuses. As an example, using PSD’s public Tandem scheduling calendar, she found that as of October, Gig Harbor’s girls soccer program logged about 264 hours of full-field turf time this season, compared to about 81 hours of half-field practice at Peninsula, a gap of more than 180 hours of play.

The district said it tracks only scheduled reservations, not actual field time, through its Tandem system. Day-to-day field use, it said, is managed by individual schools.

The district said that “both of our comprehensive high schools have the flexibility to schedule their practices for the duration needed to support their student athletes.”

Safety Comes at a Cost

The conditions don’t just inconvenience teams; they can endanger them. At Peninsula, parents say the lack of funding has pushed booster clubs to pick up the slack, sometimes covering costs that should fall to the district.

Swim parent Julia Buel said boosters were asked to buy new safety lane lines for the school pool after the district declined to cover the cost.

“The lane lines we have aren’t even the right size,” Buel said. “We’ve got homegrown fixes with chains and turnbuckles that are rusty and sharp.”

Baseball boosters, Johnson added, have also been asked to buy basic safety gear, even though WIAA rules require the district to provide it.

Anne Bunker, whose children run cross-country, said poor drainage and uneven surfaces have forced coaches to take runners off campus just to find safe routes.

“Our kids have to drive to Gateway Park just to find a proper trail,” Bunker said. “Who wants their kids running along busy Purdy Spit? It’s not just about fairness; it’s about safety and cost.”

The travel cuts into practice time, and paying for district buses would drain the program’s budget, she said. Younger runners without rides often must skip practice altogether.

The varsity baseball team also practices and plays at Sehmel Park because the field on campus can’t handle multiple teams. Like the cross-country runners, some baseball players rely on older teammates because bus costs, parents say, are also out of reach.

Band booster Misty Pomeroy said the problem extends beyond sports. While Gig Harbor teams practice under stadium lights, Peninsula’s marching band boosters had to rent temporary lighting, and sometimes waited weeks for the district to install it.

“For a month, they were up there in the dark trying to march,” Pomeroy said.

Because the band rarely has access to the football field, boosters buy field paint to turn the baseball field into a makeshift gridiron. They mark yard lines so members can learn the exact spacing for halftime shows at Roy Anderson Field. Boosters also cover all repair costs from their own fundraising.

“It’s not about having fancy stuff,” Pomeroy said. “It’s about giving the kids the basics they need to do their best.”

Sometimes it’s not just about safety, it’s about the way things were built. The track around Roy Anderson Field is shorter than regulation, and the pool doesn’t meet 25-yard race standards. The size mismatches prevent Peninsula from hosting district-level meets and force athletes to train under mismatched conditions, while Gig Harbor athletes train on regulation-grade surfaces.

Where Does the Money Go?

If all fields fall under the same district, parents ask, why is there such a gap in quality and care?

Johnson believes the answer lies in how PSD manages rental revenue.

Each year, the district rents its gyms, fields, and auditoriums to community groups: churches, club teams, Harbor Soccer, Peninsula Youth Football, and others. The income adds up quickly.

In just nine days last October, two turf fields and a baseball field at Gig Harbor High brought in $14,000, according to Johnson’s research.

That’s not counting dozens of other rentals across the district’s 17 schools. All that money must go somewhere, but parents say there’s little visibility into how it’s spent. PSD confirmed that facilities rental income — more than half a million dollars in the 2024-25 fiscal year — is deposited into the district’s general fund, used primarily for custodial and facilities staffing and general maintenance costs. The rental revenue, the district said, doesn’t generate sufficient funds to cover major capital projects like installing turf fields.

The district budgets a consolidated amount for overall facility maintenance across all district properties. Each January, the district facilities team creates a list of projects based on “safety needs, educational impact, and condition of the facilities,” funding the projects until budget resources are exhausted.” Parents counter that even the most basic repairs linger for years, citing broken scoreboards, leaking irrigation, and uneven grass fields.

The district also confirmed it hasn’t conducted a formal Title IX assessment of its athletic facilities in at least five years, a review meant to ensure fairness between male and female athletes. Without one, parents say, inequities are left to fester without oversight and documentation.

Little League, Big Divide

The inequity isn’t limited to high schools. Johnson’s review of rental logs shows wide gaps between youth teams using Gig Harbor facilities and those on the Peninsula side.

Johnson found Peninsula Youth Football’s Tides teams use two lighted turf fields at Gig Harbor High School, paying about $13,800 in total rental fees for the season. Their Seahawks counterparts practice on an unlit grass field at Purdy Elementary School and the district office, paying just $864 — but at the cost of quality, fairness, and safety.

“Every kid pays the same $450 to play,” Johnson said. “But one side gets lighted turf, and the other gets mud and darkness.”

By midseason, the grass fields become what one coach described as “ankle-breakers.”

Michael Perrow, a former Gig Harbor City Council member and current member of the Gig Harbor Peninsula Youth Sports Coalition, has spent years urging the district to fix those disparities.

“It’s bad government,” Perrow said. “Take care of what you have and stop blaming the community for the condition of your own facilities.”

In their statement, district officials said proper grass-field maintenance “requires removing fields from the usage cycle for approximately six months each year to allow grass to recover.” With limited field space, they said, it’s difficult to rotate fields out of play without hurting school and community programs.

Overwatering and neglected storm drains are making things worse, Perrow said. Public records show some campuses using millions of gallons of water each year to maintain fields that flood when overwatered, costing more than $10,000 annually at several sites.

The combination of poor drainage and inconsistent maintenance, he said, leaves some fields nearly unusable.

The PenMet Agreement: Two Sides of the Line

It’s not just poor maintenance that frustrates Perrow. He said a facility-use agreement between PSD and PenMet Parks, designed to share access to gyms and fields, has instead deepened the divide.

Under the deal, he said, PenMet uses school gyms for youth basketball, while the district can use PenMet’s turf fields for school sports — all at no cost. But there’s a catch, Perrow said: PenMet gives registration priority to its own taxpayers, shutting out most Key Peninsula and some Gig Harbor city residents for the first week of sign-ups and tacking on a 20% “out-of-district” fee.

“It’s not acceptable for the school district to give PenMet free use of its facilities when PenMet doesn’t treat all district residents equally,” Perrow said at a recent school board meeting.

He urged the district to renegotiate the deal so all PSD residents — including the Key Peninsula — are treated equally.

“The only boundary that should matter,” he told board members, “is the school district boundary.”

The district responded that school programs always receive priority access, and community groups use facilities only when they don’t conflict with school operations.

The Well’s Run Dry

It doesn’t look like it’ll get much better. The 2027–29 levy plan offers a glimpse at why the imbalance persists: Most new revenue is earmarked for operational costs like staff pay, programs, and transportation, with little left for field upgrades or maintenance.

“Like many public school districts in Washington, PSD faces the ongoing challenge of maintaining extensive facilities with a limited and fluctuating revenue stream,” the district said in its statement.

The levy plan lists minor funds for “facility modernization” but no significant investments in turf, lighting, or athletic upgrades. That leaves the district dependent on future bonds, an uncertain prospect after several failed attempts.

“Even if a bond passed tomorrow,” Johnson said, “we wouldn’t see a new school or new fields until 2032. We can’t wait that long.”

Perrow agreed: “They keep saying they don’t want to fix Peninsula because they plan to build a new one,” he said. “But that doesn’t help the students playing there now.”

PSD denied that claim outright and said there are no active plans to build a new school or stadium that would affect current investments, though the district’s long-range planning committee continues to evaluate future needs.

The Case for Turf

For parents like Pomeroy, turf isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. With built-in drainage systems, synthetic fields can handle year-round use, even during the area’s wettest months.

“If it’s a drainage problem, you need to turf it,” Pomeroy said. “Otherwise, you’ll just keep pouring money into mud.”

A single well-maintained turf field can host soccer, football, lacrosse, band, and community events without tearing up the surface.

By contrast, Roy Anderson Field is overused and, when closed for repairs, leaves the school in a bind.

But turf isn’t a silver bullet: while it can solve drainage and usage bottlenecks, it comes with a high upfront cost, with many companies quoting between $700,000 to $1.5 million to install, and annual maintenance up to $23,000, according to KP News research into regional turf companies. The district said these costs must be weighed against “classroom needs.”

A Fair Shot

Despite their frustration, most parents say they aren’t looking to pit one school against the other. They just want equity, transparency, and a plan.

Johnson outlined three practical steps the district could take:

Turf the baseball field off 144th Street to create a multi-sport surface for soccer, baseball, softball, and marching band.

Develop Purdy Elementary’s open field into a district-wide recreation site with lighted turf — an idea parents frame as a Peninsula counterpart to Gig Harbor High’s planned lighted turf field.

Publish a transparent breakdown showing how much rental revenue is reinvested in facilities.

“Why not improve what we already have?” Johnson said. “Purdy could be a huge success for the whole community.”

Bunker said the district needs to acknowledge the hidden costs of inequity: transportation, safety, and morale.

“Our kids deserve to practice safely on their own campus,” she said. “That shouldn’t depend on which side of the bridge they live on.”

And Buel said small steps, like replacing the unsafe pool equipment, would show that parents’ concerns are being heard.

“We don’t want to be better than anyone,” she said. “We just want safe, functional facilities.”

Transparency and Trust

Parents say this isn’t about who has nicer fields, it’s about trust. They want to know whether a district that promotes equity is willing to invest in ways that treat every community the same.

“We’re not asking for miracles,” Johnson said. “Just equal opportunity for all our students.”

Youth coach Alvin Coit, a father of three district athletes, said it’s not just about better equipment and facilities. It’s about what message the district sends to students.

“The district has a responsibility to utilize taxpayer dollars fairly,” Coit wrote in an email to KP News. “They’re showing our students that the neighborhood they come from affects the opportunities they’re given. That’s not just troublesome — it’s disturbing.”

Coit called for an immediate review of field scheduling, rental revenue, and maintenance practices — and a public plan to fix them.

Others say the district’s silence speaks for itself.

“It’s one of three things,” Johnson said. “Either they don’t know this is happening, they don’t have time to fix it, or they are waiting for our kids to graduate and we all go away. We’re not going away.”

The district said it “values the vital role athletic programs play” but must “balance the educational needs before allocating remaining funds to athletic improvements.” In other words, classroom needs come first. That explanation may not satisfy those demanding equity in sports, but it confirms the crux of the issue: sports, maintenance, and the classroom experience are all competing for the same shrinking pool of district dollars.

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Rec Sports

Proposed Wisconsin Complex Would Bring 155,000 Square Feet of Indoor Turf to Big Bend

Published

7 minutes ago

January 1, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Key Takeaways

Breck Athletic Complex would include 155,000 square feet of indoor turf for year-round baseball, soccer, and lacrosse training in southeastern Wisconsin
The 42-acre project features 20+ outdoor fields across baseball, softball, soccer, futsal, and lacrosse
National tournament operators have committed to 25-30 year lease agreements, according to the developer
SC Wave, a Milwaukee Wave-affiliated soccer club, is named as a key tenant seeking a permanent home
A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29 before the Big Bend Village Board and Plan Commission

Multi-Sport Destination Planned for Agricultural Land

A proposal to convert 42 acres of farmland in Big Bend, Wisconsin into a regional youth sports destination is advancing through the local approval process. Eric Weishaar, owner and developer of Breck Athletic Complex, presented plans to the Big Bend Plan Commission in November.

The project would require amending the village’s comprehensive plan to change the land designation from Medium Density Residential to Commercial. A joint public hearing between the Village Board and Plan Commission is set for Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at Village Hall.

“This is going to be the first, really of its kind in the area. It’s going to be the biggest in the area, probably almost in the state,” Weishaar said during the November meeting.

Facility Breakdown and Phased Construction

The development would include six turf baseball fields, a championship baseball field with plaza seating, seven full-size soccer fields, three futsal fields, and four lacrosse fields. The 155,000-square-foot indoor facility would support year-round training across multiple sports.

Supporting amenities include concessions, restrooms, playgrounds, fitness trails, and plazas. The site plan also incorporates commercial outlots along Highway 164 for a craft bar/restaurant, banquet hall, hotel, gas station, and future retail.

Construction is planned across eight phases. Soccer fields would come first, with a potential opening as early as spring 2026 if ground breaks this coming spring. Baseball and softball fields are targeted for spring 2027 to give tournament operators lead time for scheduling.

Long-Term Tenants Already Committed

Weishaar told commissioners that national tournament operators have committed to lease agreements spanning 25 to 30 years. SC Wave, affiliated with the Milwaukee Wave professional soccer organization, is also identified as a key partner.

“They rent places, spaces from all over the place, and they really want to consolidate. They’re actually pretty anxious to announce in their club, hey everybody, we’re going to have a permanent home,” Weishaar said.

The complex is expected to draw teams from outside Wisconsin for weekend-long tournaments, creating demand for nearby lodging and dining.

Community Compatibility a Focus

Developers emphasized that the facility would use modern LED field lighting designed to minimize light spill into nearby residential areas. Tournaments are expected to conclude by 10 or 11 p.m.

“This is not something that is going on all night,” Weishaar said.

The project still requires zoning and site plan approvals. Developers have asked local officials whether the review process can be expedited to meet tenant timelines.

If approved, Breck Athletic Complex would join a growing list of large-scale youth sports facilities positioning themselves as regional tournament destinations. The combination of indoor and outdoor capacity, long-term operator commitments, and adjacent commercial development reflects a model increasingly favored by developers seeking year-round revenue streams.

via: GM Today

photo: Courtesy of Village of Big Bend

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About Play Up Partners

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Rec Sports

PV girls’ basketball hosts first annual toy drive event on campus

Published

15 minutes ago

January 1, 2026

Your Sports Nation

PAJ2553 PV hosts toy drive - web-10 — Dozens of elementary school students pose with their new toys they selected during the First Annual Toy Drive event organized by Pajaro Valley High’s ASB student body and girls’ basketball team inside the gymnasium on campus in Watsonville on Tuesday, Dec. 23. (Raul Ebio/The Pajaronian)

A little more than 100 Pajaro Valley Unified School District students received an early Christmas present at Pajaro Valley High’s first annual toy drive event on Dec. 23.

Children from H.A. Hyde, Ohlone and Hall District elementary schools got a chance to pick from an assortment of toys inside the gymnasium prior to the varsity girls’ basketball game against North Monterey County.

The youngsters also got a special visit from Santa Claus and Little Santa Claus, who spoke to the group prior to making their way to the newly packaged basketballs, board games, backpacks and stuffed animals.

“My mission is to not just coach basketball, but help young people and help families through a difficult time during Christmas,” Pajaro Valley girls’ basketball head coach Darren Jackson said. “For most families, it’s difficult for them to go out and purchase gifts. It was an awesome turnout.”

It’s been nearly a decade since Jackson began the toy drive tradition with his wife Melissa, a teacher at Sherwood Elementary in Salinas.

“[Melissa] was telling me there’s a lot of kids that’s struggling, and there’s a lot of homeless kids out there,” Jackson said. “So, she inspired me through her job.”

Jackson spent 24 years at North Salinas High before taking the helm at Pajaro Valley in September. The Grizzlies’ first-year head coach said he was hoping to keep the tradition alive in Watsonville.

Jackson and the girls’ basketball team were dished an assist from PV High Activities Director Julie Brusa.

Brusa and ASB student body members stepped in by helping collect dozens of donations, including 25 bicycles given out through a raffle.

“[Brusa and the ASB student body] played a role,” Jackson said. “It was a girls’ basketball function but we turned it into a school function.”

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Rec Sports

UNA announces National Girls and Women in Sports Day Clinic for January 31

Published

2 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

FLORENCE, Ala. (December 30, 2025) – For a second straight year, the University of North Alabama Department of Athletics will host a free youth clinic to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to noon at the UNA Rec Center.

The free clinic is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and is open to ages 4-12.

“Hosting our second annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day clinic reflects our commitment to empowering girls through athletics,” said Debbie Williams, UNA Associate Athletic Director for Business Affairs and Senior Woman Administrator. “After welcoming over 100 young girls last year, we are excited to continue growing this event by giving our female student-athletes the opportunity to inspire confidence, demonstrate leadership and highlight the positive impact of sports both on and off the field.”

All of UNA’s women’s sports programs, including student-athletes and coaches, will be involved in the camp. This includes women’s basketball, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, cheer and dance, cross country, women’s golf, soccer, softball and women’s tennis.

Following this event, the UNA women’s basketball team will host FGCU at 6 p.m. inside CB&S Bank Arena. The NGWSD celebration will continue during the game. This game will also serve as Youth Sports Night.

NGWSD is an initiative created by the Women’s Sports Foundation. The annual observance is the first Wednesday of February during National Signing Day.

To register, click here.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Rec Sports

Former Obama estate was priciest home sold in Mass. in 2025

Published

2 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Luxury Homes

These are the three most expensive homes sold in Massachusetts in 2025, according to MLS and Zillow data.

Blue Heron Farm on Martha’s Vineyard. Evan Joseph Studios

The saying goes “money talks, wealth whispers,” but the eye-popping homes — complete with eye-popping price tags — behind the biggest residential real estate transactions across Massachusetts in 2025 are talkers.

At a time when the $925,000 median sales price for a single-family home in Greater Boston already seems out of reach for many, this top trio is in a mortgage payment (or cash offer) league of their own.

As for the locations, the neighborhood backdrop to these transactions isn’t shocking: Martha’s Vineyard, Boston’s Back Bay, and Nantucket rule the roost. Here are the three priciest home sales in the Bay State in 2025, according to MLS and Zillow data.

Blue Heron Farm features a tennis court, pool, and a private beach. – Evan Joseph Studios

Price: $37,000,000

Sold: July 10, 2025

The crown jewel home of 2025 came with a presidential seal of approval alongside its $37 million price tag. Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, better known as the former Summer White House for the Obama family, officially claimed the year’s top spot. Spanning nearly 30 acres on Tisbury Great Pond, this compound is a self-contained ecosystem of luxury, featuring a 150-year-old barn relocated from Pennsylvania.

A spacious pool house was added by owner Norman Foster. – Evan Joseph Studios

Beyond eight bedrooms and a private beach, the ultimate flex is the Norman Foster-designed pool house — why shouldn’t your swim break come with ties to a Pritzker Prize-winning architect? Listed by Maggie Gold Seelig of MGS Group Real Estate, this sale confirms that privacy isn’t priceless — it can be acquired on the Vineyard for tens of millions of dollars.

59 Commonwealth Ave. sold for $21 million. – Nate Atwater, Atwater Media Productions

Price: $21,000,000

Sold: Nov. 24, 2025

If you’ve ever walked down the French boulevard-inspired stretch of Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay and wondered who owns those entire townhouses, the most up-to-date answer is the new owner of Number 59. Fetching a cool $21 million in November, this “sunny side” (aka the southern-facing stretch) stunner on the “Gold Coast” between Berkeley and Clarendon Streets defies the Back Bay trend of chopping grand estates into condos — remaining a glorious, 11,300-square-foot single-family monolith.

The interior of 59 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston. – Nate Atwater, Atwater Media Productions

With 8 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms (8 full and two half baths), elevator access to all floors, and an attached garage (a Back Bay rarity), it is the architectural equivalent of a unicorn. Also listed by Maggie Gold Seelig, who had a firm hand on eight-figure deals this year, this 1910 masterpiece includes a separate staff or guest apartment.

Price: $21,000,000

Sold: Jan. 7, 2025

Tying with our Back Bay entry for the silver medal at $21 million, this Nantucket compound proves that “The Cliff” is just as much its own tax bracket as it is a neighborhood. This restored 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom grand dame dating to 1908 was listed by Gary Winn of Maury People Sotheby’s and includes a separate guest house. The real showstopper, however, is the more-than-900-square-foot rooftop deck — allegedly the largest of any residential property on the island — offering 360-degree views that practically demand a champagne toast at sunset. Inside, the home features a secret study hidden behind a foyer panel, which is frankly the only rational place to hide when you have a full house of summer guests.

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Rec Sports

Plattsburgh YMCA highlights free youth sports program

Published

2 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (ABC22/FOX44) – The Plattsburgh YMCA on Monday said they were proud that City of Plattsburgh officials approved $50,000 in funding to continue its free youth sports program for another year.

“Every time a child steps onto the court or the field, they learn the value of teamwork while building confidence, resilience, and determination,” said Kris Tate, COO for the Plattsburgh YMCA. “When communities invest in youth sports, we see healthier, stronger young people.”

According to the YMCA, more than 700 kids participated in its sports programs in 2025, and more than half of those, over 400, were City of Plattsburgh residents.

Busy Plattsburgh intersection poised for overhaul

Under the terms of the funding, which was approved earlier this month, sports are free for City of Plattsburgh kids ages 12 and under.

The association offers sports including basketball and tee ball – the next program is indoor soccer, which will be held in the spring, with registration open to the community on January 9.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44.

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Rec Sports

Game Notes: How Carson City can strengthen youth baseball without making noise

Published

2 hours ago

December 31, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Most of what shapes a kid doesn’t happen during the game.

It happens before the first pitch — when they’re putting on a jersey that fits, tightening their cleats, and slipping a glove onto their hand that feels like it belongs there. Those details seem small to adults. To a child, they’re everything.

In Carson City, as in every town, there are kids who want to play and families who do everything they can to make that happen. Registration gets paid. Schedules get rearranged. Rides get worked out. What doesn’t always fall into place is equipment — especially something as personal and essential as a glove.

That gap usually stays invisible. Quiet. Unspoken.

And that’s exactly why it matters.

A Simple Idea, Done the Right Way

The idea is not complicated: an annual glove drive for Carson City Little League.

Not a spectacle. Not a fundraiser built on attention. Just a dependable, once-a-year effort to make sure that kids who need a glove have one — without ever being asked to explain why.

No announcements. No labels. No moments a child carries with them longer than they should.

Handled discreetly by the league, supported by the community, and grounded in respect.

Why This Matters More Than It Sounds

A glove is more than leather and laces.

It’s confidence. It’s safety. It’s the difference between playing free and playing guarded. Between reaching for the ball and hoping it doesn’t come your way.

Kids feel those differences immediately. They also remember who noticed — and who didn’t.

Youth sports are supposed to be where kids learn how to belong. That lesson starts before a coach ever speaks.

This Isn’t Charity. It’s Stewardship.

This wouldn’t be about rescuing anyone. It would be about maintaining the field, in the broadest sense of the phrase.

Communities take care of their parks, their schools, their traditions. Youth sports deserve the same quiet upkeep. When we remove small barriers early, we prevent bigger ones later — loss of confidence, loss of interest, loss of belief that a place is meant for you.

That kind of care doesn’t require applause. It requires consistency.

Why Make It Annual

Because needs don’t announce themselves once and disappear.

Kids grow. Gloves wear down. Circumstances shift. An annual glove drive acknowledges that reality without judgment or urgency. It makes support part of the rhythm, not a reaction to crisis.

When something becomes routine, it becomes reliable. And reliability is what kids trust.

The Real Outcome

If this works the way it should, no one will talk about it much.

Kids will show up ready to play. Coaches will coach. Parents will watch. Baseball will happen.

And a few players — ones we’ll never identify, and don’t need to — will step onto the field feeling equal instead of exposed.

Those are the quiet things that let kids play.

And they’re worth doing right.

— Chris Graham is a Carson City native, writer and lifelong baseball fan. A former Western Nevada College play-by-play broadcaster, his work focuses on sports, culture and community. He can be followed on his Substack at https://substack.com/@gamenotes.

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