COVID ‘silver lining’
Out-of-town teams interested in Paac; tournaments in spacious facility allow social distancing
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the Yuma Parks and Recreation facilities. This part centers on the Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex.
Although the Yuma Parks and Recreation Department has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a “silver lining,” according to the department’s interim director.
The Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex is catching the eye of out-of-town tournament organizers and teams because the spacious facility allows for social distancing during games.
Deputy Administrator Jay Simonton, who’s also the parks and recreation interim director, updated the City Council during a Sept. 16 meeting on the pandemic impacts, operational changes and scheduled tournaments.
For years, the city tried to get national sports organizations to look at the PAAC for their tournaments, but they preferred California, Phoenix or Las Vegas. They considered Yuma “out of the way, even though we’re right between San Diego and Phoenix, which makes a lot of sense to come here. We just couldn’t get those national organizations that bring in the 70-, 80-team events.”
Now those same organizations want to play in Yuma “Because of COVID, they’re now very, very interested in the PAAC,” Simonton said.
The result is that 35 out of the 42 available weekends in the fiscal year have been booked for tournaments.
“It’s unfortunate that it took a pandemic to get people interested in our facility, but we know once they get here, they fall in love with it,” he said, noting that one organization that came to Yuma for the first time in June now wants to come back.
“Now that we get the opportunity to showcase this facility, I think we’ll have them on our regular schedule for years to come,”
he added.
“Our hoteliers are going to have an issue because we’re going to bring a lot of teams here and we’re going to struggle to find hotel rooms for all the teams that could possibly be here. That’s probably a good problem to have unless you’re that team that’s still trying to look for that hotel room, but we’ll do all we can to try to work with all those individuals,” Simonton said.
Councilwoman Ema Lea Shoop questioned the number of tourists that the PAAC is bringing in. She said that the biggest concern with the PAAC expressed is that the hotels and restaurants have not seen any more walk-ins than normal, even before the coronavirus pandemic. She asked for a printout of events held at the facility and a report of its impact on the tourism industry. Simonton agreed to provide a detailed history of the events that have taken place at the PAAC.
Councilwoman Leslie McClendon, who works for Visit Yuma, emphasized that hotels are indeed full. For a recent tournament, her agency had to “hunt” for rooms, she said.
McClendon explained that the PAAC is attracting teams from San Diego, among other places. “They’re large, large tournaments that love our facility. Right now we’re limiting them to 75 teams that are coming in, but they want 100-plus teams to come in and play.
“So we are on a great path with the PAAC. I am sad to say that it was COVID that brought that to us, but we are really taking advantage of it because our facility is 100% what they are looking for,” McClendon added.
Shoop questioned the use of the facility by the local community. Simonton said that the facility gets “extensive” use by local leagues and players almost every single night.
The councilwoman also asked about the other fields in town, such as the ones at Carver Park. “We’re having to turn away teams right now because all of our fields are being used,” Simonton said, adding that those fields are being used for Little League and softball games.
Councilman Mike Shelton asked about the number of fans allowed in the PAAC during games. Simonton said that half of the normal capacity is allowed to maximize the space between games and fans. For a tournament, three of the six fields are used at the same time, with three games in the morning and three games in the afternoon. That means about 50 fans per team, or 100 per game and 300 total for all three games going on at the same time.
Other changes have been made at the PAAC. Bags are no longer checked upon entry. The city will not open the concession stand this year. Staff will work with local food festival vendors that have been shut down so they can provide drinks and snacks, offering a “taste of Yuma” to the out-of-town players and visitors.
Shoop asked whether food and coolers can be brought into the facility. Simonton said that while previously they were banned from the facility, it’s one of the changes he has made as interim director. People can bring in their own food and drinks. However, if an adult softball team wants to have beer, they can get a permit to introduce alcoholic beverages.
Noting that bars were closed at the time by the pandemic, (they have since reopened in Arizona with restrictions) Shelton asked whether bars could sell alcoholic beverages at the PAAC. Simonton said he doubts that it would be acceptable by the state liquor law.
“We’re not going to sell alcohol at these events, especially the youth events, but for the adult tournaments, they’ll be allowed to bring their own alcohol,” Simonton added.
Shelton agreed that the “explosion of tournaments forced by the COVID” is a silver lining.
Simonton noted that the city has listened to what the community wants in regards to the PAAC and is making changes accordingly.
“We listened to the community and we listened to what those needs were. We want to make it an enjoyable experience when you come out to use our facilities, so we’re making those changes,” Simonton said.