City, community unite to upgrade park offerings
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Fired Up To Help El Campo City Service Department workers Barry Hoop, left, and Craig Baumann weld together sections of pipe to create another soccer goal for the city park system. A plea from the Boys & Girls Club prompted the work which was completed with the help of community donations and community service workers.

A plea from a local youth organization has prompted the city of El Campo to upgrade facilities at two of its parks with the help of not only employees, but also community service workers and donated materials.

With 278 children on the soccer playing rolls this season, the Boys & Girls Club of El Campo needed more fields on which the children could play as their competitions started this month.

At the same time, nine adult teams are wanting to utilize the fields at Friendship Park on North Wharton Street.

The solution, Community Service Director Leonard Sternadel said, is for the city to not only develop more soccer fields at Friendship, but add fields at Willie Bell Park on Second Street as well as make other improvements.

To do so, he mobilized crews at the City Service Center, augmenting them with city jail prisoners needing to do community service projects.

As city workers fabricated new soccer goals, community service workers painted.

The community at large also pitched in to help, Sternadel said, with Ryan Services donating most of the pipe, El Campo Machine assisting when that ran a bit short. And the Paint Depot offered the specialized paint needed to protect the new goals. In all, 28 new goals were created.

"The sport is growing and we are doing what we can to accommodate with new goals," Sternadel said. "And we used the police department community service throughout to help us meet deadlines (of the soccer season start)."

The goal, he added, was to move club play to the greener Willie Bell Park next year.

This year, two adult fields will be at the Second Street park.

Of Boys & Girls Club soccer participants more than 140 are under age 8 and require a smaller playing field, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Michael Perry said.

Interest in soccer is growing in the El Campo area, club director Eric Moller said, up from 230 participants last year.

"And this year, so many are on the younger side," Perry said.

Other improvements are planned at Friendship Park to address the safety of children crossing the winding roadway through it.

That's another advantage of Willie Bell, Sternadel said, pointing out that all parking there is located on the park edges.

The city is also looking at adding tables at Willie Bell to accommodate additional visitors.

The Boys & Girls Club teams hope to be able to compete in a state league allowing for championship style play.

The club is also looking at indoor soccer, Moller said.