Call Made for More Recreation Fields

By Andy Kober

A call was made to the Harris County Commissioners last week for more recreational fields.

This time the request came from Harris County native and former Atlanta Braves baseball pitcher Caleb Brewer, who is now involved in recreational sports in the county.

With continued growth in the county, Brewer noted the lack of recreational fields for baseball, football, soccer and softball. He said the county currently has 800 youth and children involved in Little League but with only a few fields on which to learn and practice. Specifically he said there were 70 teams sharing just 11 fields.

Brewer said that over a span of 25 years only one athletic facility has been added with that being Pate Park.

“We’re limited to one practice a week on a field,” Brewer said and lamented the lack of funds in the recreation budget for new fields. He also noted teams having to share a single field.

Brewer added that some local athletes are turning to travel ball and playing in Columbus and other places, when such events could be held in Harris County drawing revenue to the county.

Harris County Commission Chair Rob Grant, who actually coached Brewer at one time, said there was a project to help address the issue.

Grant related a plan to repair the football field at Moultrie Park with additional plans for a new recreation complex at the Harris County Community Center that would accommodate football, soccer and track. He explained that would be funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue, which will start being collected in March.

“It’s going to take a few years for the money to build up,” Grant said.

Grant also noted the Harris County Board of Education will no longer allow the county’s recreation program to use the football/ soccer field at the old middle school. However, he pointed out that Cataula Youth Sports Association owns its own recreation facility, and that both Pine Mountain and Waverly Hall have two sports fields. He suggested the youth sports program contact one of them to ascertain if their field might be utilized for practice.

“We’ve put a lot of money into recreation,” Grant said, noting renovations to the park in the Pine Mountain Valley community and expansion of the facilities at the community center.

Brewer had mentioned the possibility of a public-private cooperative effort and Commissioner Bobby Irions voiced his support for such an idea, suggesting a sports complex with tournament ready fields.

“We’re losing a lot of money in tournaments,” Irons said.

The commissioners took no further action.