I preface my statement by indicating I fully support promoting high school soccer in the inner city schools. Perhaps I am naive but why can't inner city schools keep their football fields in good condition for playing soccer? Aren't most suburban high school games played on the school's football fields? Is this IHSA problem or school budget issue or something else? I also agree that we should try and utlilize the beautiful facility at Toyota Park for promoting high school and club soccer as much as possible. It would be a win win situation for everyone.

I agree we must address the concerns many people have about soccer and other issues pertaining to benefiting our athletes within Chicago Public Schools. As the president of the Principal's Athletic Association Executive Board I invite you to address the board and the concerns you have. We would not view this as adversarial but a way to address the issue in a transparent forum. Our next meeting will be held on February 25, 2008. Calvin Davis is a member of this board and will be at the meeting.
Note - How would I have seen this post? It was by accident I found it. Please next time contact me directly. I am always available. I am also a member of the IHSA board.

I played for 4 years at Young and our home games were played in one of the worst fields in the city. I think CPS must adress the issue but I also know they won't because soocer is not a popular sport. It will never be and this is why it is somewhat absurd to expect CPS to care about spending thousands of dollars on field renovations. Soccer doesn't produce any income and the issue of new fields will continue to be pushed aside.

I played for both Latin and Whitney Young and I'm one of the leaders in the fight against Latin's field in Lincoln Park. I'm going to present one alternative we've come up with at the Public League meeting today.

Well, I return from my failed meeting with the Public League board, held at Prosser High School. I think everyone on the board will agree with Prosser Principal Ken Hunter that I burned every bridge in the room with my tone. But I don't see it that way, and I wish I had had a witness to prove it.

The meeting began with introductions, and I began by describing the Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public's (http://savelincolnpark.org/) dual nature: On the one hand, we are building the power and legal financing needed to stop Latin's exclusive field and return the space to a meadow. (We appear in court later this week for a hearing on our injunction.) We have heard the community say that there simply should be no field there, for Latin or for anyone else.

But we also have a second purpose: Stakeholders have been coming to our organization. The complaint of so many of them (elementary and high-school parents, school sports administrators, city planners, aldermen, and so on) is that there are not enough fields for team sports. We seem to have become a clearinghouse for interest in additional fields. We realized it would be irresponsible of us not to make positive efforts to push for new soccer fields in the Near North area.

We are very much in favor of soccer and other team sports, just not in Lincoln Park in the proposed location, and not exclusively for Latin's benefit. But when we developed our initial plan, we ran headlong first into CPD's Gery Chico, who agreed to meet with us before we filed our lawsuit, but refused to help us find sites for three other fields on the Near North Side unless we were to drop the lawsuit. We said that we would drop the lawsuit only if the Park District were to agree to stand down on Lincoln Park and work with us and the rest of the community on finding alternative space for three temporary or permanent fields somewhere near the Near North High School site.

We approached Mr. Chico with a proactive solution, though a tough one for him. Mr. Chico's aim in the meeting was simply to stall for time to build the Latin field before our lawsuit was filed. His position was that since the agreement had been inked before his tenure, he was not responsible for the injustices attached to it. We countered that he had the power to stop the injustice and his refusal was violative of his fiduciary duty to Chicagoans.

Next, we approached Dr. Kenner and her Public League with an appeal for support. She gave me 15 minutes for a presentation. I began with a very good-natured show, explaining that our group was twofold: we had to move forward with the lawsuit, but we have a separate committee trying to find space for three fields. Finding them would be good for the schools, the Park District, and the community. I pointed out that we had growing support in the community, among the Teacher's Union, among lawmakers, and even among Latin families.

Dr. Kenner stopped me a few minutes into my presentation and asked what we wanted. I said that we would love to have the Public League's help and support, that we would like a letter of support -- not for the lawsuit: we would have no problem with the Public League even speaking respectfully against it -- but in support of our efforts to find alternative sites. I also asked if they could send delegates to help us form a joint committee with planners, community leaders, and school and park officials to solve this.

Dr. Kenner said that what I was asking was beyond the duties of the Public League, that this was an internal matter for Sports Administration, so she would invite Calvin Davis to stay in touch with our efforts. There was no discussion in the room other than a murmur of general agreement on this point. None of the principals and administrators in the room appeared to have any other opinion on the matter.

At that point, I grew angry and asked where the brave souls were in the room who had concern for the students who had no nearby field? Meanwhile, the city bends over backwards to assist an exclusive private school in taking public land, and leases the next available field (at the former Near North High School) to a private entity! Where is the effort to change this?

The entire group then worked as a unit, pitching itself against me. I asked whether there was one person in the room who was supportive of the effort to find more field space. Not one person spoke up. Mr. Davis chastised me for being insulting to him personally. Principal Hunter escorted me out and lectured me about how I burned every bridge in the room, and that I need a lesson in keeping my cool.

I think that's true. But the truth is, I got angry only after I saw everyone pretty much sitting on their hands and passing the buck. I'm at pete-at-zelchenko-dot-com if anyone has any further insights into this. We continue to seek supporters among sports enthusiasts and teams; city planners and public officials; teachers, students, and parents; and community members.