(Excerpts from the first WCSC newsletter)
****** WCSC LAUNCHES SPRING 1982 SEASON ******
On March 7th at 1:00 p.m. on Wentz Fields, with a game featuring the Kicks and Sidekicks
of the Under 10 Boys' League, the Washington County Soccer Club offically launched
its 1982 Spring Season. In a ceremony particpated in by Club President Frank Lacey,
Vice President Paul Schmidtlein, Robert Kane and George Schneider, Mayor Arch Robbins
kicked out the first ball in what will unquestionably be the biggest season yet for
youth soccer in Bartlesville.
The 1982 Spring Season will be noteworthy, not only because of the record number
of boys and girls particpating, but also because it will mark the beginning of a
collaboration with the City in developing high quality soccer fields in Robinwood
Park.
The 1245 registered players represent a significant increase over the 1130 boys and
girls registered during the Fall Season 1981. The breakdown of teams is as follows:
Under 8, Boys 20 & Girls 6; Under 10, Boys 18 & Girls 7; Under 12, Boys 15
& Girls 8; Under 14, Boys 9 & Girls 2; Under 16, Boys 3; Under 19, Boys 1
& Girls 1.
With the increased number of players registered, more self-contained leagues have
been created with the result that only 8 of the Club's 90 teams will be required
to travel outside Washington County for games during the regular season.
The high registration is all the more remarkable when one considers the Club's humble
beginnings in the Fall of 1978 when about 200 players registered. The lure of fast
paced, colorful team sport has caught the imagination of today's young people; and
there is every indication the popularity of soccer and the future of the Club will
continue to grow.
All of this is a special tribute to the hundreds of parents and other interested
particpants who arrange for the fields and the equipment, and organize the teams
and referee the games and provide the trophies and the patches and the halftime oranges
and Gatorade, and all of the other things that make the soccer program possible.
The Washington County Soccer Club is depply grateful to them all, to the 90 coaches
and their assistants and all the team mothers, to the 45 referees, to Bud Kopp and
the 11 field managers and their crews, to our registrars, Ken and MaryLou Bray, to
Jow Howie, Chairman of the Games Committee, Scheduler Matt Starcevich, Dale Hampton
with Coaches, Ron Antle with Referees, and all the other Members of the Executive
Board who have worked so hard to put the soccer program together.
*******LEASE SIGNED********
Following formal approval by the City Commission at its meeting on February 15, the
City of Bartlesville and the Washington County Soccer Club signed a five-year lease
granting the Club the use of Robinwood Park for soccer games and practices during
the Spring and Fall Seasons. The signing of the Lease represented the culmination
of a prolonged process of review at the Park Board and City Commission level of the
City's proposal to develop the Park area for soccer in collaboration with the Washington
County Soccer Club. Discussion regarding the proposal centered mainly on concerns
regarding traffic and the number of fields. The traffic question will be resolved
by provisions that will be made for traffic accessing the fields to enter and leave
via Tuxedo Boulevard.
The proposal for joint development of a five-field park that will be used by the
Soccer Club during soccer seasons, and be available for general park use at other
times, received overwhelming support both at the Park Board and City Commission levels.
The vote at the Park Board level was six to one with Blackstock, May, Rhodes, Sousa,
Cobb and King in favor of the proposal. Hitzman opposed the proposal because of a
preference for the Park being developed for Garden Club purposes. At the City Commission,
Commissioners Walker, Kurland and Preston, and Mayor Robbins voted in favor of the
proposal. Commissioner Stittsworth was opposed to joint Park development for soccer
utilizing City funds.
During the review process, Park Board Chairman, Woody Blackstock, was particularly
supportive of the Club's Yout Soccer program and appeared personally before the Commision
several times to argue in favor of the proposal. Mayor Robbins recognized the merit
of the proposal from the start and eventually threw his full support behind it in
response to the overwhelming telephone appeal for the proposal from the Club and
other interested members in his constituency.
The Club wishes to thank the many parents who helped to bring the Club's position
before their respective Commissioners. Particular thanks are due the members of the
Club's Robinwood Development Committee composed of Past President Wally DeShon, Frank
Lacey, Bud Kopp, Rod Hover and Neal Lehman for the long hours they spent working
with the City officials and commissions to bring the program to fruition.
Fund Drive Launched
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
With the signing of the lease for the use of Robinwood Park, the Club is embarking
immediately upon a program to collaborate with the City in the construction of facilities
for soccer in the Park. A two-pronged effort will require the Club's all out support,
first, to complete resurfacing of the park and installation of an irrigation system,
and secondly, to raise funds for those improvements that are peculiar to soccer use
and will be paid for by the Club.
As as result of work now nearly complete, five fields of varying sizes to accommodate
all age groups will be created, with improved soil and drainage. An irrigation system
that guarantees the quality of the turf is scheduled to be completed by the middle
of April. The Club will provide all labor to install the system, and special help
will be needed on the weekends of April 3 & 4 and 10 & 11. The fields will
then be seededwith high quality Arizona Bermuda, and with the proper watering and
care during the summer months should be ready for play in the fall. A 150-car hard
surfaced parking area will be completed adjacent to the Park across the interurban
road bed and a restroom and storage facility will be added to the Park.
Final arrangements are being completed for the fund raising activity to suport these
improvements. A direct assessment of $5 per player will be added to the $7 registration
fee for the Fall Season collected during registration later this spring. A second
$5 assessment will be added to registration for the spring season 1983. The present
$7 registration fee has not changed since the Club was founded in 1978, and is the
lowest in the Green Country Soccer Association.
During the weeks following the 23rd of March, the boys and girls in the program will
be asked to do their share through sales of chocolate bars produced by the World's
Finest Chocolate Company. The candy, made on special order for the Club, is made
of high quality chocolate and roasted almonds, and will carry coupons reedmable for
pizza at Ken's. The sale campaign will last two weeks and will wind up on the 6th
of April before Easter.
A feature of the dues increase and the chocolate sale will be that the portion of
the dues increase and revenue from chocolate sales by players resident outside the
City will be earmarked in a special fund for field development and other needed expenses
for the program in the County outside Bartlesville. Based upon current registrations
and upon the projected revenue from the sale of candy, this fund could amount to
as much as $6000.
Dues increase and candysales are expected to raise $20,000 towrads the Robinwood
Development Fund. The remaining $40,000 required for targeted needs will be sought
through community-wide fund raising through a campaign that will run parallel with
the Club's own fund raising efforts. A committee of distinguished supporters of the
program, heased by Co-Chairmen Robert M. Kane and George F. Schneider, will oversee
this first major effort in the Club's history to enlist the support of the community
at large. Direct appeals will be made to individuals, businesses and civic organizations.
This activity, hopefully, can also be concluded before the end of spring season.