Absence of News is the News in Soccer Park Dispute

By the time you read this there will be a published ruling in the Clara Youth Soccer League’s (SCYSL) request for an injunction to stop NFL construction of a Super Bowl 50 media “village” on the Santa Clara Youth soccer park, and closure of the park until the City of Santa Clara provides acceptable replacement fields to the league.

But as of press time yesterday, no ruling had come down

That, however, didn’t stop social media from jumping into the breach, with a mid-morning rumor that Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Joseph H. Huber denied the soccer league’s injunction request. The mis-information allegedly came from league officials, according to a Tweet by a Mercury News reporter.

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The current dispute, which has gotten wide coverage both nationally and overseas, is whether the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park was originally committed for the media village or solely for staging half-time entertainment; and whether soccer park plans, as well as replacement accommodations, were made public in a timely way.

The lawsuit currently in court charges that City officials cannot sign any agreement with the NFL for temporary use of the park without a new use permit application, hearing and City Council action.

 The San Jose Mercury reported Monday afternoon that the San Jose Earthquakes had offered the use of Avaya Stadium fields to the SCYSL. But no one knew anything about such an offer at yesterday’s meeting of the City’s ad-hoc committee on youth athletic fields, according to City Council Member Lisa Gillmor who sits on the committee.

Both the City Manager’s office and the Parks and Recreation Department are also represented on the committee. Gillmor learned of the Mercury’s article after the meeting.

“That would have been great news” to have had at the meeting, said Gillmor. “It’s a good start that they have stepped up. That’s awesome. But I have no details.” The Weekly’s calls to the Earthquakes were not returned as of press time.

On Tuesday, according to a Jan. 12 news release, the Earthquakes introduced a proposal to develop a 44-acre, seven-field soccer complex in San Jose, in partnership with San Jose and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.

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