Build more fields for kids
This is a plea to our state lawmakers and to the governor to please fully fund fields for our kids. A capital outlay project before the Legislature this session would accomplish this.
The total cost for the expansion of the Municipal Recreation Sports Complex in Santa Fe would be $12 million. In a year when there is over $1 billion in capital outlay for New Mexico communities, we hope lawmakers and the governor can fully fund this important project for the kids of Northern New Mexico.
The “fully” part is really important. Here’s why: Our kids can’t wait any longer. The master plan for this project was drafted over a decade ago but only partially funded and developed. Because of this, the children of Northern New Mexico are playing soccer on poorly maintained soccer and baseball fields riddled with goat heads and holes.
With the loss of The Downs at Santa Fe property, more than 2,000 kids from across the North are squeezed onto five fields. Now baseball and other outdoor sports are feeling the squeeze. Our kids simply don’t have enough room to play organized sports, and we need to change this. If we’re serious about providing our youth with compelling, healthy alternatives to screen time, drugs and crime, we should invest in sports.
A Scripps Health article titled “What are the surprising benefits of youth sports programs?” makes clear why we need to prioritize youth sports if we are genuinely interested in the welfare of our kids and our community: “Participation in youth team sports has been linked with lower rates of depression and anxiety, along with a reduced risk of suicide and substance abuse,” says
Dr. Soroosh Amanat, a family medicine physician with interest in sports medicine at Scripps Coastal Medical Center Eastlake. “Plus, more time playing sports means less time on social media, which has been proven to have a negative effect on the well-being of kids and adolescents.”
Fully funding project No. 608 is also timely because we are not asking the government to do this alone. The Mucho Soccer initiative has secured several million dollars of private money from an anonymous donor. However, if we come up short on matching funds, we might lose this contribution.
Our community identified more fields as a funding priority nearly 10 years ago. Every year we’re told there’s not enough money and to make do with what we have. Why don’t neighboring states and cities our size have the same problem? Tucson, Ariz., has a complex with over 22 multiuse fields that houses soccer, rugby, lacrosse and other organized sports. Colorado has several soccer facilities with between 10 and 20 fields.
Let’s give our kids more places to run, play and build social connections through sports instead of social media. Please, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, we need to fully fund fields for our kids. It’s project No. 608.