It has been almost two years since the Santa Clara BMX track had its sanction yanked, and there are still no plans to relocate a public recreation many have called a “crowning jewel” of the city.
In the spring of 2022, the situation drew lines in the sand, sparking public outcry from riders.
The Police Athletic League (PAL) manages the track but, up until May 2022, it left operations to a group of volunteers.
However, PAL ousted the operator, claiming it had reason to believe something fishy was going on with the money the track generated. At the time, the track generated roughly $250,000 a year, subsidizing a large portion of PAL’s other programs.
While the track remained closed for a couple weeks, it reopened as a practice track shortly thereafter.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor and then Council Member Kathy Watanabe’s alliance with the Santa Clara Police Officers Union gave the discussions a political tenor.
Local riders flooded the council chambers, singing the operators’ praise and urging the council to not turn over operations to PAL. But those pleas went unfulfilled.
An Open Offer
The heart of the issue was that USA BMX, the organization that sanctions the track for competitions, refused to do so once the volunteers were no longer in charge of the track.
The reason the sanction matters, many said, is that it allows riders, many of whom are children, to participate in events that affect their rankings. Ranked events allow riders to stay competitive and improve their skills.
The Santa Clara track was No. 1 in the country when it was sanctioned.
Justin Travis, director of business development for USA BMX, said the team of volunteers put on regular events that were often bigger than state qualifiers.
“That team, whatever they did when they came together was magic, the kind you don’t see very often anywhere,” he said. “BMX gave me my out. It was what gave me the ability to move on in my life. To lose that for other kids, it is personal; it was terrible. I wish it didn’t happen.”
USA BMX offered to operate the track to allow the track to keep its sanction, but PAL and the city rebuffered the offer.
Travis called the situation “gut-wrenching” but added that he doesn’t want to “dig up the past.” USA BMX’s offer still stands, he said, but since PAL took over the track, there has been “radio silence.”
“It is hard to quantify what it meant to lose it two years ago. It was terrible,” Travis said. “I don’t want to ever have to be in that situation again, where the desires of an organization or group who says they want to do it for the kids but clearly didn’t do it for the kids when we gave them an opportunity to do it for the kids.”
USA BMX is opening another track in Morgan Hill and has plans for another Petaluma, Travis said.
Under A New Flag
Under the lease agreement, PAL continues to operate the public practice and training track Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.
Since taking over, PAL has offered clinics, camps, and track rentals for private parties, Mike Walke, PAL’s president, wrote in an email. It has also updated the track and changed the configuration to enhance “riders’ experience.”
Further, he wrote, in 2024, many Santa Clara riders garnered a slew of accolades.
Walke wrote that “more than” five riders won state championship titles for their age and proficiency. Additionally, two riders won national championship races. Another rider won the grand national championship, and multiple riders have reached the podium at national races. Finally, at least four riders represented Team USA at the world championships.
Despite its riders’ achievements, PAL closed the track for 50 days in 2024, according to PAL’s Facebook page. Many of those days were due to inclement weather.
Further, one former rider said riders’ victories are not a great metric for what the track offers the community.
Jess Macias, with nonprofit Raptor BMX Racing, used to ride in Santa Clara, but after the fiasco with PAL and the former operators, he said he switched his home track to Manzanita. Since the Santa Clara track lost its sanction, he and his kids — Sophia, 13, who rides girls’ expert, and Barrett, 11, who rides expert boys’ cruiser — ride various tracks, including Napa, Roseville and Manteca.
“We need to have a program that develops these young riders … not just keep the establishment of what is there,” Macias said.
While it is great that riders are winning big races, he said Santa Clara could be hosting those races.
One of the volunteers at Santa Clara’s track disagrees that the programming isn’t developing young riders.
Howard Cato volunteers and coaches at the track. He said one of his riders — Carter Cheng, who is almost 7 — had a great year, finishing first in one state race in Roseville and second in another.
“For him, I can say the practice track did its job. These kids come out there and they learn about BMX,” Cato said. “I see a difference. A lot of people still love to race.”
Cato said he didn’t want to “get in the middle of anything,” adding that he chose to volunteer at the track “for the kids” and because he loves the sport. He said he sees the same dedication from the other volunteers.
The track plans to host two five-day summer bike camps for kids six to 16 in June.
Regardless of the sentiments about PAL operating the track, both men agreed on one point.
“If we lose [the track], it is going to sadden a lot of kids, of parents,” Cato said. “All I can say is as long as it is open, I will be there, supporting the kids.”
Looking Forward
Santa Clara’s BMX track sits in the footprint of Related Santa Clara, a behemoth multi-billion dollar development located on 240 acres at 5155 Stars and Stripes Dr., slated to come online in phases in the coming years. When the development phase where the track sits begins construction, the track will close.
The lease agreement required the city and Related to negotiate in “good faith” to relocate track for the first two years. After that, the agreement releases Related of responsibility to relocate the track.
Evette Davis, with Berg Davis, a public relations firm representing Related, previously wrote in an email that Related discussed relocating the track with the city at the outset but that the city opted not to do so.
An email to Davis for this story went unanswered.
In an email exchange, Janine De la Vega, the city’s public information officer, wrote that “there hasn’t been a lot of movement” regarding the track.
Since progress on the Related development has stalled, the track has gotten a bit of a reprieve.
“There have been no updates regarding the Related Santa Clara project and corresponding timelines for development,” De la Vega wrote. “As such, there have been no recent discussions between PAL and the city relative to the impacts of the Related Santa Clara project on the BMX track.”
The track’s fate is just the latest chapter in the storybook of the city’s dwindling sports and recreation amenities. City employees and the Santa Clara City Council have repeatedly bemoaned the loss of such activities throughout the city.
However, despite such proclamations, little has happened to stop the trend, with the list of such examples growing each year — Moonlite Lanes shuttering its doors, the loss of baseball tournaments and, potentially, diamonds, the Santa Clara Lawn Bowlers lack of a clubhouse and hazardous conditions at George Haines International Swim Center.
Whether the city’s BMX track will get added to that list will likely remain unknown until the Related development pulls itself out of its developmental quagmire. Until then, all riders can do is wait.
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
Related Posts:
Milestones – Pork Barrel Hangover – Opinion
Community Survey Results Questioned by Council And Public
What A Difference A Decade Makes: March-April 2013
BMX Track Sanction Still Raw Topic with Riders
