MVLA:

If your team is of age to train or play games at Monte Loma, please
read this email.

As I reported to the Club previously, we will be getting a nearly
full permit to Monte Loma this Fall. We are on probation and will be
monitored for neighbor complaints and ranger inspections of the field.

MVLA member, Vince Leone, resides near Monte Loma and is a member of
the Monte Loma Neighborhood Association. Vince suggested we work to
establish a direct and more personal relationship and communication
conduit with MLNA in order to both inform MLNA about our efforts with
youth and also to enable any neighbor complaints to come directly to
us for resolution rather than go up to the Rec Department, City, or
MVPD. Vince received endorsement of the MVLA Soccer Club Board to
foster this relationship. The Board also approved a letter Vince
will present to MLNA to "announce" our permit to the field and our
sincere desires to build more amicable relations with the
neighborhood residents.

We already have record of many of the complaints lodged at soccer and
baseball user groups. In general, it is safe to say that all user
groups that negatively impact the park with litter, noise, too many
cars, and large, obtrusive headcounts, will be viewed as trespassers
on their community area. With these thoughts in mind, I am asking
the MVLA Soccer Club community to take a very humble, cooperative,
even deferential approach to our use of the field until we can earn
their trust. The strategic goal here is more far-reaching...we need
to be able to get ML, at least in part, throughout the year,
including Fall, Spring, and Summer. Without neighborhood support,
even advocacy, we will simply not achieve or goal. Until we build or
secure another small-sided size field, we will be at very short
capacity at the younger ages.

I will be updating the MVLA Field Manual with some more restrictive
"good neighbor" rules for Monte Loma, but here is a preview of what
you will see:

1) Minimize parking at the school, especially on streets. MVLA
teams and their opponents should carpool in to the neighborhood. You
may all meet at a remote site, consolidate cars, and then drive to
the school. Good rendezvous sites are the ex-Mayfield Mall/HP
parking lot and the strip mall lot at Rengstorff and Central.

2) Minimize noise at all times. Add No-noise Sundays...all day
long. Limit Sunday usage.

3) Understand we will work with MLNA to set aside some community
days for their social events. For example, we already know of one
event on Aug 26 2:00-6:00pm. But let's make lemonade out of these
lemons...these types of events may be opportunities for MVLA Soccer
to host some academy- or camp-type outreach to the neighborhood
youth. If any coaches, MVLA players, or managers wish to help in
this regard, please contact President Rodney Robinson.

4) Set aside some training space for school and/or community soccer groups.

5) Line the field a little smaller than we have typically
done. This would enable community use of the picnic area while we
play, at least for a few families or individual neighbor kids. It
will also limit balls over fences and place "talkative" coaches a few
feet further away from homes. :-) Our youngest teams will be just
fine playing on a smaller field.

6) We will institute and "zero-tolerance" policy for misuse of the
field similar to what we use at De Anza, Foothill, and LAHS. This
means if we receive any complaints due to trash, noise, cars, or
conduct on your time, your team and you as coach/manager may lose the
privilege of playing on the field for some specified period. This
could prove disastrous to your season. You must be responsible for
your opponent, for guest coaches, and for your players and
families. If you ever arrive to the field and find things out of
order, or directly observe poachers misusing the field, you need to
call me on cell ASAP and also submit a report in writing (email) to
me ASAP. In these cases, I would prefer that we use these reports
to proactively contact MLNA to inform them that we have made these
observations. We will thereby reinforce our good conduct and
diligence on their field.

Thanks for your cooperation,

Jeanine
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