There is a dirt and gravel parking lot behind a Walgreens in East Mesa. I imagine it stays empty six days a week. If you look at it from either Guadalupe Rd or Higley Rd, and if you have too little to occupy your mind at that particular moment, you might wonder why there is such a big lot behind such a small store and why that canal would possibly need so much available parking. The answer, while not readily apparent, is quite wonderful. Wonderful I say because someone someday took a look at the large hole on the far side of that lot, originally constructed and still utilized during the rainy season as a water retention area, and saw much more than a large hole. Some lovely person must have thought to themselves “what a waste of good, fairly level space”. Someone not nearly as self-centered as me saw an opportunity to do something great. Someone whose name I will probably never know saw a place for 6 junior size football fields.
The fields are not glamorous; there are no lights, no bleachers, no scoreboards, no permanent sanitary facilities or food court. There is not even a sign saying “So and So’s Memorial Football Fields”. What there is is a place for hundreds of kids between the ages of 6 and 12 to spend their 50 minute allocated time slot every Saturday achieving, or at least attempting to achieve, glory. The only real concessions to modern conveniences and civility at that hole in the desert are 4 handicapped parking spaces and a long concrete sidewalk that snakes its way down to the grass and dirt fields. During the monsoon season we typically miss a few games due to standing water and or very muddy conditions but typically the water remains in the low spots around the perimeter of the fields proper. These low lying areas are home to small riparian areas full of mature trees, bushes and reeds. They provide a great place for the siblings of the athletes to play and explore during what to them are surely boring games. The bushes also make a nice place for the players to take a quick pee or change their jerseys without the long climb back up to the porta-potties.
My son, his mother and I have spent most of our Saturday mornings for the past three years on those fields. Unlike regular football the seasons for these young ones continue one after another all year round. As long as we can provide $50 every three months and there are enough willing kids to make up teams the games will go on. We sweat our asses off there under our portable sunshades in the summer and shiver in our fold up chairs in the winter. There is just enough room between the fields to squeeze in 2 rows of chairs, one facing a field in either direction, and for the teams and excited parents to move up and down the sidelines following the action. A volunteer parent dutifully chalks out sidelines and end zones early every Saturday morning and the rest of us pitch in after the last game to clean up all the inevitable debris that accumulates when so many people gather in such a small space that has no room for trashcans. Every few months a photographer shows up with an 8ft step ladder that he climbs and catches “action” shots of the kids then comes back the following week with them on display trying to make a buck.
I hope that pioneer who created this oasis of family fun in the desert knows how many of us sincerely appreciate this place they created. I hope they are aware of the sheer joy my son and so many others feel on these fields. It is great to watch them at this age, mostly unknowing and unaware of the score, just having fun, living in the moment and playing their asses off. I hope that someday I’ll find out who is mostly responsible for creating this place, meet them and give them a hug and a thank you. Mostly I hope the housing market doesn’t rebound, making this spot profitable for development and filling it with tan stucco houses with orange tile roofs. If it does I hope I’ll meet the person mostly responsible for that to.
No comments:
Post a Comment