UPWARD FLAG
FOOTBALL NEWSLETTER - CHANGE IN PARKS: 9/19/07
We recently received news from the City of San Jose that they have slated La Colina Park for much needed restoration of the field. Initially, I thought, "Wow, that is great news - that poor field desperately needs to be repaired", but then I heard that they had scheduled the closure of the field, which will be a 6 month closure, and for work to begin Saturday, 9-29-07. At that point my heart began to pound in my chest and I began to pray for the Lord to guide us on what to do and to give us peace in knowing He is in control.
We tried to bend the ear of individuals at the city, but they had already paid for materials to be shipped to the park and had scheduled workers to begin the restoration project. There was no way they were going to be able to stop the wheels that had been placed in motion. Given this information, I was not sure what God was going to do to fill the gap. It was going to take a major miracle for the league to continue on. Historically, there are people from other sports leagues that stand in line from 5:00 a.m. on the day the city opens the door to receive requests for permits for parks in San Jose for use after September 1st (which is the busiest period for which parks are requested). It is not only difficult to get any park reserved, but there are only a couple options for a league that requires a large enough space to accommodate over 200 kids, 20 football teams & 3 cheer squads on 4 football fields.
Although I was not certain how God was going to provide a miracle for a field, I was at least beginning to feel an answer to our earlier prayer for peace, which is a miracle in itself considering the pressure that was building. Then God sparked a thought in Pastor Robert about a field that we had considered several years back, which at that time did not have bathroom facilities - but just had new bathrooms built.
Yeah, I know... You're thinking, "If parks are so hard to reserve in advance (as I mentioned earlier), what makes us think we are going to be able to reserve a park that is equivalent to La Colina?"... Well, I have NO idea how God did it, but He DID!!! The city let us reserve the park for Saturdays for the rest of the season. PRAISE GOD!!!!!! Here's the kicker, the park has a larger field area than La Colina and is more user friendly in regards to its layout (playground, bathrooms and basketball court are close to the fields). Also, the park has a community room and what appears to be a concessions booth, which we are looking into seeing if we can get permission to use. Just think, "real food and coffee" at the field!!! Wouldn't that be great?
The only unfortunate thing is that the field is already reserved on Thursday and Friday nights, which means that the teams that were practicing at La Colina on Thursday and Friday nights will not be able to do so at the new field. We DO have La Colina available for practice Thursday (9-27) and Friday (9-28), but the following week we will have to make new practice arrangements for those teams going forward. We will be updating you SOON on what will be arranged for practices for the teams being displaced by the change in field.
Here are the details regarding the NEW field that will be used for games day from 9-29-07 (Game #4) to 10-27-07 (Game #8):
VISTA PARK - San Jose
New Compton and Hyde Park Drive,
between Branham, Chynoweth
Ave, and Hwy 87
Map | Directions:
From Southbound Hwy 85, Take Almaden Expwy exit,
Turn LEFT on Almaden Expwy;
Turn RIGHT on Branham Lane;
Turn RIGHT on New Compton Dr.
God bless,
David W.
Stebbins, Director of Operations
987 University Avenue, Ste. 22B
Los Gatos, CA 95032
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