An Uneven Playing Field?

A new Downers Grove Park District-sponsored lacrosse club for high-school age players is using the artificial turf field at Doerhoefer Park, which has angered other youth sports groups.

While park district staffers say no group has lost field time, some organizations, including Road Runners soccer, think the new program has edged its way on to the premium field in town.

“It's an insult to represent (the lacrosse club) as a park district program,” Bob Lemke, president of Downers Grove Roadrunners Soccer Club, told the Park Board on Thursday.

Downers Grove Lacrosse is new as of March and brings players together to compete against other area clubs. The park district also has offered lacrosse for third- through eighth-graders for a few years. Both programs are run in conjunction with an organization called Lacrosse America.

The park district maintains “memoranda of understanding” (MOU) with four local youth sports leagues—Roadrunners, Downers Grove Youth Baseball, DOLLS Softball and Downers Grove Junior Panther Football, said Administrator Dan Cermak. This began as a way to help the park district and the groups work out field schedules, especially in the busy spring sports season. MOU groups are third in line to use park district facilities, after park district programs and District 99 programs.

Cermak told the board that there is no formal policy in place for working with MOU groups, but that historically they have been larger groups with hundreds of participants. Not only is this the first year the park district has offered the  Downers Grove Lacrosse program, but staff did not consider the club a candidate for a memorandum of understanding because, so far, the league has about 60 participants, Cermak said.

Park Board President Bob Gelwicks asked if the addition of the high-school lacrosse league resulted in any other group losing field time. Recreation Director Sandy Pfundheller and Assistant Recreation Director Lee Arnsman told the board all MOU groups received access to fields on the days and times requested, but not always at their preferred location. Gelwicks emphasized that, even though this was true, there was a perception among youth sports groups that field use had changed.

Lemke asked the park district to terminate their relationship with the lacrosse league immediately, a move Commissioner Cathy Mahoney initially supported. However, while other commissioners agreed the club should be treated like other MOU groups, they were reluctant to cancel a program already in progress. Park staff was then instructed to only enter into an agreement with Downers Grove Lacrosse using the memorandum of understanding process.

Mike McAleer and John Gargiulo with Downers Grove Lacrosse thanked the board for working with them to offer a program for high school kids.

“All we want to do is make sure we are playing by the rules,” Gargiulo said.