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Westside Athletic Fields

November 2006 Elections marked the 5th Election cycle (10-years) in which 1996 plans to build a Westside Athletic Complex for Whitfield County youth have gone unfulfilled. Despite having land available (County owned), permits approved, (1997), and site plans finalized, Westside Whitfield Youth have been asked to limit their participation in youth athletics because of limited playing fields, practice facilities, and resources.

With limited facilities, team sizes must be increased, which limits individual player involvement, and limits the number of volunteer parent/coaches who are allowed to participate in their child's growth/development. There is no shortage of volunteers in the Westside community. There is often a 2-3 year wait for a parent who wishes to coach a youth athletic team, and many teams have as many as 6-7 parents actively involved in the coaching duties of each team. The Westside community is one of the best run athletic associations in Whitfield County with a clear goal of youth participation as its primary philosophy. However, this goal becomes diluted with totally inadequate facilities.

The Westside area is one of the fastest growing areas of Whitfield County as evidenced by Elementary School Population (See Chart Below)

While School population may provide some indication of community size, it does not provide any insight into how the Westside Community compares to other Whitfield Communities with regard to available opportunities of its youth in equal participation in a quality youth athletic program. The following data has been collected from various communities and 2006 county records of Community youth athletic program participation. These records are available through the Whitfield County Athletic Department as a matter of Public Record.

The Following Chart shows the number of Youth Athletic Teams for each Whitfield County Community for the Spring of 2006 and the number of Athletic fields each Community has available for scheduling for game and practice activities. The records indicate a critical immediate need for Youth Athletic facilities for the Westside Community. NOTE THAT THE TWO WESTSIDE FIELDS ARE MIDDLE SCHOOL FIELDS WHO HAVE FIRST PRIORITY ON FIELD SCHEDULING (as they should)

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The Numbers below represent 2006 program enrollment. 2007 Westside Athletic Association enrollment has increased to 31 teams (from 26) and more than 350 youth, placing a greater strain on an overburdened infrastructure.

With short Winter days, two fields and 26 teams, the average youth Baseball, softball or Tee ball team can expect about 90-minutes of practice time per month providing the middle school teams (which have first priority on THEIR field) do not schedule practices.

In order to fill practice requirements Westside teams must utilize the facilities of other communities. For many youth, who live near the Walker County line (Westside area) a 60-minute commute to/from a practice facility is costly. This discourages participation and youth development which runs contrary to Westside Athletic Association, Whitfield County Recreation Department, and (hopefully) Whitfield County Commission vision of Youth program objectives.

Current Fields

While 26 team on 2 fields may seem manageable to some, Westside youth teams that are lucky enough to reserve field space have no guarantee that they will be able to get on the field within four days after a Spring rain. The photo below was taken two days after the previous rain. In this particular case, the field will be unusable for 4-5 days after this rain. Any rain during this 4-5 day "dry-out" period will only add to the days this field must be considered "out of inventory" for usage. With Spring weather Fronts moving through every 3-4 days, current fields are unusable 60% of the time. Current fields must be raised 18-inches in order to facilitate proper drainage.