COMMENTARY
DEREK MULLER
“Indian River County recreational facilities are far inferior to its neighbors. It is disgraceful that they are so sub-par compared to other counties in the state, and it just got worse”, says Todd Holden local Sports coach. The publics need for athletic facilities took a blow on August 20th at the County Commissioners meeting. Two recreational areas were turned over to private enterprise and have now left the general public with nowhere for kids to play. Eighteen recreational football teams have no place to practice, countless baseball teams have nowhere to go, pick-up soccer and Frisbee games don’t stand a chance.
The Clover Leaf baseball complex at historic Dodgertown was built by tax dollars but cannot be accessed by residents without a fee. “Beds and heads” in the words of Jeff Biddle, director of Athletics and Marketing at Vero Beach Sports Village, is all that they care about. The county just spent a lot of money creating fields at South County Park and promptly turned them over to Indian River Lacrosse for a dollar per year. The three ball fields across from VBHS, known as Sampson and Riley field, were turned over to Indian River Sports Complex Inc. for another dollar per year. This now leaves nowhere for teams to practice, or for kids to simply play sandlot ball. If you want to play in Indian River County-you have to pay.
Teams and citizens looking to have fun are now turning to places not designed for athletic use; side lots of churches, edges of parking lots, and like third world countries, any other patch of available grass. Many injuries have occurred due to overall bad site conditions such as uneven ground and debris. One occasionally available place is Hobart Park, which is not kept up regularly and is covered with ant piles on patchy grass. If not for the generosity of Vero Beach High School Athletic Director Lenny Jankowski and others like him at schools in the area, most teams would be practicing in these poor conditions or not at all. Coach Jankowski and others open up their facilities to many recreation teams and they should be commended for helping the community. However, this is not a long term solution to the county needs, nor a problem for VBHS and others to fix.
Worried residents, led by Jason Redmon of The Sideline radio show, showed up at the County Commission meeting to voice their concerns. The Board of County Commissioners addressed the need and offered up some preliminary ideas and are taking an active role in exploring how to best serve the community. It is understood that with budget cuts and money tight for everyone, that the privatization of some of these facilities can be a good thing. The lacrosse group and baseball group can better serve their sports participants and in doing so take the maintenance cost and overhead off the counties books. The difference in the case of the baseball group, Indian River Sports Complex Inc., is that they will be using their own money to improve and expand the fields.
However the kids still need a place to play, and Vice Chairman Wesley Davis said it best. All things are not revenue producers and a quality place to practice and play is a necessity. Commissioner Bob Solari stepped up and said that he would take the lead in this endeavor and even offered up a place where this could happen-the old Gifford landfill off of 41st, where millions have already been spent to clean the site up. “ What better way to complete it than with a community park?”
The Sideline Radio Show, Bob Solari, Aaron Bowles of MBV Engineers, as well as other elected officials and residents have had some preliminary meetings regarding the park and have some plan ideas as well. This park is centrally located and could be a big win for Indian River County, youth football, baseball, soccer and the fitness community. Organizations like the Buggy Bunch could have a central place to meet for play days and be a place to “bridge the gap” to the Gifford community as well. The park will not come to fruition however, unless the community voices their desire for it. Contact Bob Solari (772) 226-1442 or email him: bsolari@irc.gov with your thoughts on this matter. Or you can email Jason Redmon at Jason@thesidelineradioshow.com and he will pass that on to the commissioners. Local government does work to benefit our community but residents have to make the needs known.
Indian River Guardian 
I agree with all the sentiments expressed by Derek Muller. When I first arrived in Vero Beach over 16 years ago, I overheard teenagers calling the city “Zero Beach” because the lack of many outdoor recreationaly facilities in the county. At this point I tried to find out where the children’s playgrounds were, It was difficult to find more than a few parks that had slides and swings for the younger set to play on routinely. I immediately got the idea that children are not a welcome part of the community in the county. It is as though the population with its high concentration of senior citizens have forgotten what it is to be a kid.
Our kids sit at home now playing video games when they should be out and about enjoying a diverse variety of activities in the outdoors. We have the best environment for children to be outdoors 12 months a year but we need more places for the kids to go that is safe and convenient to their homes.
The City of Vero Beach has Jaycee Park, Humiston Park, Charles Park, Jacoby Park….did I leave any out? Unfortunately I don’t think any of them have space for sandlot baseball, though I recall an area east of the Charles Park parking area that some use for various things. Hobart used to be a really nice place. It is not fair to require every kid who wants to play to join a team so they have a place to go. Going to the beach for recreation is not for everyone.
The county must do everything possible to create worthwhile playing fields for our youngsters. There are so many life lessons to be leaned on sports fields ; it is imperative that more of these fields be built.
its still is called zero beach. it hasn’t changed. I called it that when I was a kid,micheal field sits unused and there is also the fields at rosewood.