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Kicking Up A Controversy

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By B.C. MANION

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

LUTZ - Construction is not expected to begin for months, but when the $3.7 million expansion of the Oscar Cooler Sports Complex is complete, it will usher in a new recreational era for Lutz kids.

For the first time in the community's history, youths won't have to travel elsewhere to play soccer.

Lutz activists are thrilled by the prospect, and they are putting the county on notice that they won't tolerate an arrangement that could threaten their children's chance to use the fields.

At issue is whether the Black Watch Soccer Club should be allowed to make its home at the Oscar Cooler complex at Crooked Lane and Lutz-Lake Fern Road.

Black Watch, a soccer program that operates on a monthly lease at 11111 N. 30th St., has been seeking a permanent home for years.

Mark Thornton, the county's director of parks, recreation and conservation, said a former parks director sent a letter to Black Watch several years ago, inviting the club to make its home at Oscar Cooler once the soccer fields are built.

Although he didn't write the letter, Thornton said it makes sense to him: Black Watch would get a permanent home, and Lutz's soccer program would be established quickly.
Black Watch has a long history, and Lutz could benefit from its experience, Thornton said. It could set up a recreational program without starting from the beginning.

But community activists said Lutz doesn't need help to set up or run a soccer program.

"It will be run by the Lutz people," said Oscar Cooler, for whom the sports complex on Lutz-Lake Fern Road is named. "We have organized and run every program we've got. Everything is 100 percent voluntary."
Auralee Buckingham, who is active in numerous Lutz civic groups, has mounted a petition drive to keep the program under Lutz control.

"The solution is to let us do it like we do football and Leaguerettes and Little League," Buckingham said.

"We have our own board of directors. We're ready to do our own thing. We'll raise our own money. That's what we do for the other programs.

"We don't mind if they use the field. We don't want them in charge."

Jeff Means, a longtime soccer coach and referee, agreed that allowing Black Watch to run the program would be a mistake. Competitive soccer would take over, he predicted. "We're trying to make it a Lutz program, with Lutz kids."

Tom Scallon, past president of Black Watch, said the club has no intention of trying to take over. It wants to work with the community.

"There's plenty of room for everybody," Scallon said.

About 80 percent of soccer players compete in recreational leagues, and the rest are involved in competitive play, Scallon said.
Black Watch has 250 to 300 players a year, coming primarily from Lutz, Carrollwood and New Tampa. He said 40 of the club's members live in Lutz.

If Black Watch comes to Oscar Cooler, Scallon envisions two boards: One would oversee recreational soccer, the other competitive soccer.

Thornton said competitive programs need strong recreational programs to feed them.

"We're not taking it the recreational program away. We're not allowing Black Watch to take it away," Thornton said.

It's clear that more talks are needed between the various parties, Thornton said.

Fortunately, he added, "We have time to work this out."

In the meantime, the county is putting finishing touches on its plans so it can solicit bids on the $3.7 million park expansion plan.

The park will be enlarged to include a 32-acre tract covered with pines on the east side of Crooked Lane.

The tract will be developed to include four soccer fields, two football fields, restrooms, concession stands and parking.

At the existing park, plans call for converting the football field into a senior baseball field and converting the senior baseball field into a softball field and parking.

Other changes include adding a turn lane on Lutz-Lake Fern Road into a new parking lot on the east side of park, and adding a sidewalk on Lutz-Lake Fern Road, which borders the park to the east and north.

The upgraded complex - which could be completed by spring 2009 - is a far cry from the original park, which opened Feb. 12, 1975, with only three baseball fields.

In the beginning, the park was an orange grove, which the county bought after Oscar Cooler lobbied the board for two years to do so.

After agreeing to buy the grove, commissioners said it would be two or three years before they could scrape together the money to build a park.

Cooler got on the telephone and began calling the parents of his Little League players.

"We had engineers, builders, painters, everything we needed to build a park.

"We had a lot of professional people out here. We had doctors. We had lawyers. We had people who didn't mind getting their hands dirty.

"Everything that was done, labor-wise, was done voluntarily. Within nine months, we built this thing," Cooler said.

This time, the county will hire a company to do the work - and if all goes well, it will take about six months to expand the park, Thornton said.

"We can hardly wait. We've got kids lined up waiting," Buckingham said.

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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