One of the important roles of a Team Manager is to work with the Sacramento United Fields Coordinator to obtain soccer fields for the team’s practices and games.

Currently, the Fields Coordinator is Jordan Lang; his preferred mode of communication is E-mail [langvors@ix.netcom.com]; telephone is 916-455-7717.

Sources of Soccer Fields and Field Permitting.

Sacramento United obtains most of the fields its teams use from the City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation. As a youth organization, we are not charged for use of grass fields, but in the winter, when we use lighted fields, we are charged $25 per hour for lighting each field (see below). We submit an annual request for field permits in September of the preceding year, based on projecting anticipated numbers of teams that will be active each month. As the year progresses, we continually modify our permits by adding and canceling field reservations, as the actual needs of teams become evident. We are required to cancel field reservations on any fields that we don’t use or suffer penalties. Permits cannot be modified within 5 working days of the planned use, so the Fields Coordinator needs to hear about any changes well before that.

Soccer fields in our part of Sacramento (the area south of the American River) are in high demand from the many active soccer leagues, both youth and adult. We cooperate with the other soccer-field users to share fields whenever possible. Because of the heavy demand for fields, any desired field use must be communicated to the Fields Coordinator as early as possible (e.g. at least 1 month in advance).

We also use some Sacramento City Unified School District fields at certain times of the year. As a general policy, school fields are reserved for youth baseball and softball during February – July and for youth soccer during August – January. We are required to obtain permits to use school fields.

Practice Fields.

As early as possible, the Team Manager should request practice locations from the Fields Coordinator by indicating preferences for:

• Days of the week and practice times (normally 1.5 – 2 hours)
• General neighborhood or area for practice location
• Date of first practice

The Field Coordinator will develop a practice-field schedule for all active teams during the several weeks before the start of each month. This schedule will be posted on the club website and/or sent to Team Managers by E-mail. Typically, 2 teams will share a field for practices during the same time slot.

Practice locations are fairly easily available until July when the SYSL Metro teams begin to practice. In August, SYSL recreational teams start practicing. The Metro and recreational teams get first priority at fields in the neighborhoods that they represent. During August – October, Sacramento United teams seek out and use fields throughout the SYSL area that are not preferred by the Metro and recreational teams.

Game Fields.

Sacramento United normally will play its U11-U19 league games at Granite Regional Park for fall league during September – November and for winter league during January – March. League games for U11-13 teams are sometimes scheduled at Mangan East Park. U10 league games will be played on the U10 field that we developed at Mangan West Park.

Winter-time Practices at Granite All-weather Lighted Soccer Field.

In January 2007, a lighted all-weather soccer field opened at Granite Regional Park. As the resident youth soccer club in South Sacramento, we normally are able to use it for practices and games during October – March when darkness comes early and rainfall can cause grass fields to be closed. Use of this field costs $25 per hour for youth soccer groups (compared to free use of grass fields) so we will only reserve it when we have multiple teams committed to practice or scrimmage there or for league games. Lighting this field costs an additional $25 per hour. Normally for winter-time practices, 4 teams at a time will be scheduled on this field because of its large size (80 x 120 yards) and additional cost.

Field Closures.

The City Parks Department closes grass fields when they are wet and susceptible to damage from use. Field closures are common during the winter months of rainy weather. We are prohibited from using fields when they are closed, under threat of penalties. If rainfall has been recent, you must check the City Parks Field Closure Message Line at 277-2336 within 3 hrs of planned use to determine if fields are closed.

Lighted Practice Fields.

Lighting costs $25 per hour on each field. We try to schedule at least 2 teams to practice in 1.5-hour time slots each. The club covers the lighting fees for teams practicing during the “field-lighting period” designated by the Executive Officers each season (to ensure cost control). Teams can obtain lighted fields outside of this period if they pay for the lighting cost. Whenever fields are closed by wet conditions, the lights will not come on (see instructions above about the Field Closure Message Line).

Contacts with Park Safety Officers.

The City Parks Department has a staff of Park Safety Officers who are available to assist at parks we use. A Park Safety Officer can arrive at a park within about 15 minutes of being called. Assistance of a Park Safety Officer can be requested by calling the City Operator (264-5011). If you make a request, be sure to have a cell phone # that will enable you to be contacted by the officer when he/she arrives.

Appropriate situations in which to request a Park Safety Officer include:

• Other persons are occupying a soccer field during a time when we have a field-use permit (The Officers have copies of all permits in their cars so they know who is authorized to use a park. It is useful, however, for Team Managers to obtain copies of field permits if other park users are common.)
   
• Field lights are not operating or turn off during a time that we have a permitted use.
   
• A threatening or uncomfortable situation develops in or around a park that we are using.
   
  
  (March 28, 2007)