Battle to use open space plays out on the field

About 1,600 kids play soccer in the Maple Valley Soccer Association. That's about 100 teams throughout the year vying for space to play.

And that's just soccer. Kids also need a place to play baseball, fast-pitch softball, lacrosse and football.

In rapidly growing Southeast King County, where open space is dwindling, there's just not enough room for kids to play organized sports. That's why King County Parks and Recreation is working with private organizations on a proposal to build more ballfields at Ravensdale Park.

But youth sports can't escape the ongoing controversy over growth leaking into rural areas. Rural residents worry that the ballfields will become a regional sports complex that would bring unwanted growth to the area, but youth-sports advocates say more fields need to be built to serve the growing youth population.

"I would almost cut off my left arm to make this happen," said Scott Serpa, a coaching director with the Maple Valley soccer group.

Right now, kids in the Maple Valley-Ravensdale area play on a handful of local fields, only a few of which are lit and in good condition. The fields are overused and scheduled to the max, said T.J. Davis, a project manager for King County Parks' community partnerships and grant programs.

The proposed new expansion would add four fields — three for soccer and one for baseball — to the seven playfields in use at Ravensdale Park.

Visions for park improvements have come and gone over the years, but this time the community initiated the effort, Davis said.

The proposed improvements to Ravensdale Park are a Community Partnerships and Grant Programs project — an initiative that allows the county to work with community groups to design and build recreation facilities. King County contributes the land and some money for improvements, and community organizations chip in.

Such projects draw community organizations to work together and become more vested in the final product, Davis said.

Ravensdale Park is in rural Ravensdale, an unincorporated area of King County near Maple Valley. The park's is located at Southeast Kent Kangley Road and 272nd Avenue Southeast.

Residents say they aren't opposed to the ballfields, but they question whether a community should pay for fields that are going to be used by kids from other cities. They fear that the proposed project will turn the park into a regional sports complex that would bring too many people into Ravensdale, said Dick Bonewits, chairman of the Greater Maple Valley Area Council, an advisory board of elected officials who act as a liaison between King County and the residents of unincorporated areas.

"[Suburban cities] should be finding ways to develop plans to serve their own needs on their own real estate," Bonewits said.

Sports advocates understand the group's concerns, but they say the community has to build fields to meet the needs of a growing youth population.

At 10 a.m. Sundays, Rob Nist would rather have his 10-year-old son in church. Instead, he's playing baseball because a field shortage and a crowded game schedule pushed his son's games to Sunday mornings.

That's a sacrifice families shouldn't have to make, Nist said. "Without question they need more fields," Nist said.

About five months ago, Nist got area baseball organizations together to form the Cedar River Baseball Council. They're just one of the community groups pushing for more fields at Ravensdale park.

The proposed project has caused a lot of misunderstandings because residents don't understand who's paying for the field.

The community partnerships and grant program are paid for by a tax levy, so everyone in King County pays equally into the fund. But capital-improvement money the county contributes to the project comes from residents, Davis said.

Bonewits said he'd like to see King County conduct a formal assessment to survey the need for ballfields in the area.

For more ballfields to become a reality at Ravensdale Park, the community needs to submit a master plan to King County. The county would then look at resources to see how much can be done, Davis said.

Lauren Vane: 253-234-8604 or lvane@seattletimes.com