# Silverlakes in hot water?



## soccerstud (Jun 26, 2018)

Can someone smarter than me dummy this article for me, please?  Seems like Silverlakes is in trouble with the county for not being a "public" park as approved (read article below). Seems like the county is "urging" Silverlakes to stop charging for parking, amongst other things....hhmmm, interesting

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/22/grand-jury-wants-da-to-probe-how-public-park-ended-up-with-admission-fee-sit-down-restaurant-and-bar/


----------



## Overlap (Jun 26, 2018)

soccerstud said:


> Can someone smarter than me dummy this article for me, please?  Seems like Silverlakes is in trouble with the county for not being a "public" park as approved (read article below). Seems like the county is "urging" Silverlakes to stop charging for parking, amongst other things....hhmmm, interesting
> 
> https://www.pe.com/2018/05/22/grand-jury-wants-da-to-probe-how-public-park-ended-up-with-admission-fee-sit-down-restaurant-and-bar/


I'm guessing those parking fee's built that restaurant, bar and horse area....talk about killing their revenue stream, does that means tournaments would go up to $3K per team?


----------



## MWN (Jun 26, 2018)

soccerstud said:


> Can someone smarter than me dummy this article for me, please?  Seems like Silverlakes is in trouble with the county for not being a "public" park as approved (read article below). Seems like the county is "urging" Silverlakes to stop charging for parking, amongst other things....hhmmm, interesting
> 
> https://www.pe.com/2018/05/22/grand-jury-wants-da-to-probe-how-public-park-ended-up-with-admission-fee-sit-down-restaurant-and-bar/


Silverlakes (as in the Balboa Group, which runs the facility) is not in trouble, but the City of Norco has some explaining to do to the County of Riverside as to way they entered into a ground lease with a private company that intended to operate the property as it is currently being operated.



Overlap said:


> I'm guessing those parking fee's built that restaurant, bar and horse area....talk about killing their revenue stream, does that means tournaments would go up to $3K per team?


The Balboa Group took out about $26,000,000 (million) dollars in bond money (loans) to build the property (field, amenities, restaurant, etc.) and has additional "insider" debt on its books.  The parking fees are absolutely necessary for the company to pay back its obligations.  In other words, Silverlakes would not exist if not for those parking fees and yes tournament fees would be much higher if parking could not be collected.

The Grand Jury won't do anything unless a member of the public complains loud enough to get the Grand Jury's attention, which is likely what happened here.  The Grand Jury will "investigate" and then issue a report.  If the report concludes there was a crime or other malfeasance then it might escalate, but we are a ways away from anything like that happening.


----------



## MWN (Jun 26, 2018)

So, where we are now is the Report has been issued and the Grand Jury has concluded (not legally binding in any manner) that the DA should take a look at the contracts, orders, etc. because it (the Grand Jury) believes that public parks should be free.  The problem here is large "regional" parks operating by the Federal Govt., State Govt., and other local Govt. all charge admission and vehicle fees.

Here is the report:
https://www.countyofriverside.us/Portals/0/Documents/GrandJury/Silverlakes_Final_Report.pdf?ver=2018-05-21-084158-947


----------



## espola (Jun 26, 2018)

I wonder if the San Diego County Grand Jury would have a similar interest in the Oceanside soccer fields.  What was built has little resemblance to the materials published by the City of Oceanside supposedly representing the development plans.


----------



## Dos Equis (Jun 26, 2018)

MWN said:


> So, where we are now is the Report has been issued and the Grand Jury has concluded (not legally binding in any manner) that the DA should take a look at the contracts, orders, etc. because it (the Grand Jury) believes that public parks should be free.  The problem here is large "regional" parks operating by the Federal Govt., State Govt., and other local Govt. all charge admission and vehicle fees.
> 
> Here is the report:
> https://www.countyofriverside.us/Portals/0/Documents/GrandJury/Silverlakes_Final_Report.pdf?ver=2018-05-21-084158-947


So the operators put in some trees, a few picnic tables (and avoid adding BBQ's by highlighting fire hazard/pollution/carbon emission concerns) and allow City of Norco residents to enter for free (everyone else pays).  Perhaps some town officials get bad press and have limited political future.  I am betting the operator gets in return an acknowledgement that the facility now complies with the deed restrictions, and perhaps additional development rights that will help them pay for the maintenance of the free park additions.

Unless they can find they somehow used City and/or bond funds for prohibited or illegal purposes, seems like this will have little impact on the facility.  Let us all hope that is the case, as it is a nice regional asset.


----------



## Fact (Jun 26, 2018)

Dos Equis said:


> So the operators put in some trees, a few picnic tables (and avoid adding BBQ's by highlighting fire hazard/pollution/carbon emission concerns) and allow City of Norco residents to enter for free (everyone else pays).  Perhaps some town officials get bad press and have limited political future.  I am betting the operator gets in return an acknowledgement that the facility now complies with the deed restrictions, and perhaps additional development rights that will help them pay for the maintenance of the free park additions.
> 
> Unless they can find they somehow used City and/or bond funds for prohibited or illegal purposes, seems like this will have little impact on the facility.  Let us all hope that is the case, as it is a nice regional asset.


Some trees would be great! Not attending a lot of games anymore, I forgot to pack the car to watch the kiddos and it was blazing hot. A great facility thou. I wish they had this place around for my call of duty.


----------



## Overlap (Jun 27, 2018)

Fact said:


> Some trees would be great! Not attending a lot of games anymore, I forgot to pack the car to watch the kiddos and it was blazing hot. A great facility thou. I wish they had this place around for my call of duty.


and maybe a giant wall to block the freaking high winds after 12:00PM?...


----------



## Surfref (Jun 27, 2018)

Overlap said:


> and maybe a giant wall to block the freaking high winds after 12:00PM?...


Call Trump.  Maybe he will divert the path of his wall to run through Norco.  (that was humor so don't try to read into it)


----------



## Surfref (Jun 27, 2018)

soccerstud said:


> Can someone smarter than me dummy this article for me, please?  Seems like Silverlakes is in trouble with the county for not being a "public" park as approved (read article below). Seems like the county is "urging" Silverlakes to stop charging for parking, amongst other things....hhmmm, interesting
> 
> https://www.pe.com/2018/05/22/grand-jury-wants-da-to-probe-how-public-park-ended-up-with-admission-fee-sit-down-restaurant-and-bar/


What is different between Silverlakes and Oceanside?  I would like free parking, paved parking lot, trees and picnic tables at Oceanside.


----------



## MWN (Jun 27, 2018)

Surfref said:


> What is different between Silverlakes and Oceanside?  I would like free parking, paved parking lot, trees and picnic tables at Oceanside.


The Silverlakes property has a judicially created covenant that requires the property to be a public park.  I don't know about Oceanside, but its unlikely there is a covenant/restriction that uses the same language.


----------



## Nefutous (Jun 27, 2018)

Surfref said:


> What is different between Silverlakes and Oceanside?  I would like free parking, paved parking lot, trees and picnic tables at Oceanside.


Don’t forget the bathrooms!


----------



## timbuck (Jun 27, 2018)

Be careful what you wish for - or we’ll all be playing on worn out middle school fields. (Again)


----------



## GoWest (Jun 27, 2018)

MWN said:


> Oceanside, but its unlikely there is a covenant/restriction that uses the same language


I agree. Isn't Oceanside built on a 'waste refuse' (see dump)....?


----------



## MWN (Jun 27, 2018)

GoWest said:


> I agree. Isn't Oceanside built on a 'waste refuse' (see dump)....?


No, it was a silica mine if I recall correctly.


----------



## Eagle33 (Jun 27, 2018)

For a moment I thought it's just another hot weather post.....moving on


----------



## coachrefparent (Jun 27, 2018)

GoWest said:


> I agree. Isn't Oceanside built on a 'waste refuse' (see dump)....?


Yes, a dump.


----------



## MWN (Jun 27, 2018)

coachrefparent said:


> Yes, a dump.


According to this it was never a dump/waste site.
https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=39495


----------



## espola (Jun 27, 2018)

MWN said:


> The Silverlakes property has a judicially created covenant that requires the property to be a public park.  I don't know about Oceanside, but its unlikely there is a covenant/restriction that uses the same language.


The Oceanside site was donated to the city after a sand-quarry owner was done with it.  The donor got a big tax break from his donation.  I'm not sure how many restrictions there are on land use there - in fact, both the original City plan and the soccer field developer plan include commercial buildings (office, hotel, restaurant, etc) but none of that is happening yet.  When the City sold the voters on the site, it was pictured as a rolling park, shaded by numerous clumps of trees, with scattered parking and picnic areas, and a few sports fields separated from each other.


----------



## Chalklines (Jun 27, 2018)

We pay thousands for our kids to play club soccer but complain about the cost of parking to maintain one of the best facilities in so cal?

I'll gladly pay Disneyland parking prices to keep this gem open and the grass green.


----------



## GunninGopher (Jun 27, 2018)

Chalklines said:


> We pay thousands for our kids to play club soccer but complain about the cost of parking to maintain one of the best facilities in so cal?
> 
> I'll gladly pay Disneyland parking prices to keep this gem open and the grass green.


I wholeheartedly agree. I'm so fed up with people complaining about parking fees.

They can usually be avoided if you want by parking off-site or carpooling. If the parking fees were eliminated, they'd just jack the prices up by $200 per team, and nobody could avoid it. I'm a referee, could show my card and almost certainly park for free every time if I felt like being a cheat, and I don't. I'm happy to pay to keep the nice fields at Silverlakes or Oceanside. I don't care that my car gets dirty, either, since it usually is.

I just ran a report. I spent $4,919.91 in the last 12 months on sports for 2 kids, and one child is just high school, so that is pretty cheap. My daughter's club is probably in the lower 1/2 as far a registration and stuff goes. I don't usually count gas, and we drove probably about 8,000 miles  in that period of time (no lie). That amount doesn't include parking because I usually pay cash and am pretty lazy about accounting for my cash expenditures. Why the hell would I care about a couple hundred in parking when I spend over 25 times that on everything else? I know a lot of people pay more than my family does.


----------



## MWN (Jun 27, 2018)

GunninGopher said:


> I wholeheartedly agree. I'm so fed up with people complaining about parking fees.
> 
> If the parking fees were eliminated, they'd just jack the prices up by $200 per team, and nobody could avoid it. ...


You are close.  The average team is good for about 12-13 cars, depending on age group and gender (13 year old girls teams are the best).  The average number of games during day-light savings is 6-9 depending on age group.  If we were to eliminate parking, then the facility clients (leagues, tournaments, clubs) would pay about triple for fields.  Take for example a 100 team tournament, the daily parking expectation would be roughly 12,500 per day or $25k over a weekend.  The tournament would pay roughly $8,000 for the fields per day.  So if we stripped that $25k from the facility the tournament operator would pay $41k for the fields, instead of $16k.  That $25k divided between 100 teams, which would be $250 per team so your $200 is fairly close.


----------



## Soccer43 (Jun 27, 2018)

sorry, driving 1 -2 hours each way, $10 for parking, for one game - irritating.  It is one thing to pay for parking if you are going to be there all day for a tournament but to pay that for one league game in my opinion is not right.   Most pay over $10,000 per year for club soccer - $2500 average per child is dirt cheap.


----------



## Surfref (Jun 28, 2018)

Chalklines said:


> We pay thousands for our kids to play club soccer but complain about the cost of parking to maintain one of the best facilities in so cal?
> 
> I'll gladly pay Disneyland parking prices to keep this gem open and the grass green.


I remember the days of having to travel to Lancaster, Apple Valley or the San Bernardino ghetto for tournaments.  I would much rather have Silverlakes, Oceanside, Great Park, Galloway and Polo Fields.  I just refuse to Referee at Silverlakes or Galloway in July-September due to the heat.


----------



## Surfref (Jun 28, 2018)

Soccer43 said:


> sorry, driving 1 -2 hours each way, $10 for parking, for one game - irritating.  It is one thing to pay for parking if you are going to be there all day for a tournament but to pay that for one league game in my opinion is not right.   Most pay over $10,000 per year for club soccer - $2500 average per child is dirt cheap.


If Silverlakes had the trees, picnic tables, BBQ and other park amenities, you could play the game then relax, BBQ and hangout.  That would make the parking fee a little more bearable.


----------



## timbuck (Jun 28, 2018)

I don’t mind the fee. I just never carry cash and I’m usually running late and need to stop at the bank at 7am on the way to a game.


----------



## Rev234 (Jun 28, 2018)

Free parking at Great Park or was that just a fluke?


----------



## Soccer43 (Jun 28, 2018)

Great fields, convenient, always free - favorite location


----------



## younothat (Jun 28, 2018)

Been a long process for Norco/Silverlakes;  I recall they thread I started on the old board about 7-8 years ago about and all the trouble and tribulations on the land, site, local govt, investors,  residencies with the homes near by, etc.   The flood set back the project about 2 years as did the real estate mini recession when banking financing was very difficult to come by

Paid Parking was added at a later date and the project did grow beyond the initial scope; I had some background info  since I worked on the project for one of the initial investors for a few months way back when.

Haven't been there much since the opening but it was really nice to see it get done finally even thorough it was still not finished when I was there last.

Socal/Oside has "free" parking during the USSDA playoffs and Showcases so its possible and I don't think the tournaments would have to raise the prices that much by what people are saying but yeah the clubs won't make as much money if they did that,  so its more than meets the eye on the parking fees.


----------



## timbuck (Jun 28, 2018)

I wonder how the local restaurants would feel if Silverlakes no longer allowed games to be played there every weekend.  I have to imagine that Starbucks just off of the exit has seen a massive uptick since it opened.


----------



## Overlap (Jun 28, 2018)

timbuck said:


> I don’t mind the fee. I just never carry cash and I’m usually running late and need to stop at the bank at 7am on the way to a game.


the stand takes credit cards...just not the people collecting prior to entry


----------



## espola (Jun 28, 2018)

younothat said:


> Been a long process for Norco/Silverlakes;  I recall they thread I started on the old board about 7-8 years ago about and all the trouble and tribulations on the land, site, local govt, investors,  residencies with the homes near by, etc.   The flood set back the project about 2 years as did the real estate mini recession when banking financing was very difficult to come by
> 
> Paid Parking was added at a later date and the project did grow beyond the initial scope; I had some background info  since I worked on the project for one of the initial investors for a few months way back when.
> 
> ...


Parking can be free at Oceanside - park at the Sprinter stop and walk in - uphill about a half mile to the field gate.  Technically that is not legal, since the lot is reserved for transit riders, so if that bothers you you could park at the next station east or west.   Also, I haven't heard if anyone has challenged the temporary No Parking signs on the nearby streets that are put up by the soccer operators, not the City.


----------



## soccer dude (Jun 28, 2018)

I'm a cheapskate with parking and hate to pay $10 for one game.  I know several tournaments do the one game per day rule to rake in the money on teams.  If we could do the 2 games per day so we can hang out and enjoy the amenities, I wouldn't mind the $10 ($12 at oceanside now).  So, for the referee comment above, would you be ok paying $10 only to ref 1 game?  I think not.


----------



## timbuck (Jun 28, 2018)

I’m not sure the reason for 1 game per day is to make more on parking.  
Many people feel that playing 2 games in a day is not a good idea.


----------



## MR.D (Jun 28, 2018)

timbuck said:


> I’m not sure the reason for 1 game per day is to make more on parking.
> Many people feel that playing 2 games in a day is not a good idea.


Then maybe they could charge half the $10 for the one game.  That would be nice.


----------



## coachrefparent (Jun 28, 2018)

MWN said:


> According to this it was never a dump/waste site.
> https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=39495


I didn't read the article. But I do know we dumped a lot of crap: bricks, concrete, old lumber,  and other stuff right under where they built the fields. With all the dumping, and the collection of the dump fee by the operator, it sure seemed like a dump to me. (Which it was.)


----------



## espola (Jun 28, 2018)

coachrefparent said:


> I didn't read the article. But I do know we dumped a lot of crap: bricks, concrete, old lumber,  and other stuff right under where they built the fields. With all the dumping, and the collection of the dump fee by the operator, it sure seemed like a dump to me. (Which it was.)


This what they said --
"In 1994, the mining operation closed and the title to the property was transferred to the City of Oceanside. In order to make the site “safe and stable” for future use, the City began the process of reclaiming the site by filling the former mining ponds with non-hazardous items such as rocks and clean construction materials. Moody’s Reclamation is currently conducting the reclamation work by crushing rocks, concrete, and other aggregate material into smaller, compact sizes. Hazardous and contaminated material is not accepted or used anywhere at El Corazon."

Now - how well did they enforce that?


----------



## Surfref (Jun 28, 2018)

soccer dude said:


> I'm a cheapskate with parking and hate to pay $10 for one game.  I know several tournaments do the one game per day rule to rake in the money on teams.  If we could do the 2 games per day so we can hang out and enjoy the amenities, I wouldn't mind the $10 ($12 at oceanside now).  So, for the referee comment above, would you be ok paying $10 only to ref 1 game?  I think not.


Oh, hell no.  I went to a venue once to referee and they wanted to charge me $20 for parking.  I pulled a U-turn and called my assignor to make sure I would be reimbursed or I was not working the two games.  I do feel your pain and have been there paying the parking fee just for one 80-90 minute game for my DD.


----------



## outside! (Jun 28, 2018)

I would rather pay for parking in Norco or Oceanside than in Lancaster. I figure the savings on time and gas more than makes up for the $10 parking. Not having to be in Lancaster, priceless.


----------



## coachrefparent (Jun 28, 2018)

espola said:


> This what they said --
> "In 1994, the mining operation closed and the title to the property was transferred to the City of Oceanside. In order to make the site “safe and stable” for future use, the City began the process of reclaiming the site by filling the former mining ponds with non-hazardous items such as rocks and clean construction materials. Moody’s Reclamation is currently conducting the reclamation work by crushing rocks, concrete, and other aggregate material into smaller, compact sizes. Hazardous and contaminated material is not accepted or used anywhere at El Corazon."
> 
> Now - how well did they enforce that?


Another government rip-off! I had to pay to dump crap there to help build up their fields that they now get to charge me for?!!?? 

They seemed pretty diligent.  Nothing's foolproof, but they were pretty strict as to what you could bring in. They would inspect your load, and the earthmover drivers were also watching what people dumped. I do recall them making people put things back in their trailer and haul away, now I know why.


----------



## SoccerCraze12 (Jun 28, 2018)

GunninGopher said:


> I wholeheartedly agree. I'm so fed up with people complaining about parking fees.
> 
> They can usually be avoided if you want by parking off-site or carpooling. If the parking fees were eliminated, they'd just jack the prices up by $200 per team, and nobody could avoid it. I'm a referee, could show my card and almost certainly park for free every time if I felt like being a cheat, and I don't. I'm happy to pay to keep the nice fields at Silverlakes or Oceanside. I don't care that my car gets dirty, either, since it usually is.
> 
> I just ran a report. I spent $4,919.91 in the last 12 months on sports for 2 kids, and one child is just high school, so that is pretty cheap. My daughter's club is probably in the lower 1/2 as far a registration and stuff goes. I don't usually count gas, and we drove probably about 8,000 miles  in that period of time (no lie). That amount doesn't include parking because I usually pay cash and am pretty lazy about accounting for my cash expenditures. Why the hell would I care about a couple hundred in parking when I spend over 25 times that on everything else? I know a lot of people pay more than my family does.


Silverlakes charges for walk-in's. Either way, I don't mind paying.


----------



## Fact (Jun 28, 2018)

I am trying to remember the name of the fields in Temecula. They were west of the 15 sandwiched between a low ridge and the freeway.  The fields were strung lengthwise one after another and parking was in a single row along the edge. Due to the arrangement you could walk almost 2/5 of a mile to your field. The road was dirt and very uneven and due to the parking arrangement there was no where to loop area or turn around easily and thus tons of traffic. The fields were a mess because they knew they were going to be developed into homes eventually and thus did not keep them up. By far the dirtiest portapotties which were generally on even dirt. Plus the area was not that developed yet and so there were not many places to eat or take the wife to the bathroom.  I believe they charged for parking but I did not complain because it was better than going to Lancaster.


----------



## MWN (Jun 28, 2018)

Fact said:


> I am trying to remember the name of the fields in Temecula. They were west of the 15 sandwiched between a low ridge and the freeway.  The fields were strung lengthwise one after another and parking was in a single row along the edge. Due to the arrangement you could walk almost 2/5 of a mile to your field. The road was dirt and very uneven and due to the parking arrangement there was no where to loop area or turn around easily and thus tons of traffic. The fields were a mess because they knew they were going to be developed into homes eventually and thus did not keep them up. By far the dirtiest portapotties which were generally on even dirt. Plus the area was not that developed yet and so there were not many places to eat or take the wife to the bathroom.  I believe they charged for parking but I did not complain because it was better than going to Lancaster.


John Blanch


----------



## Fact (Jun 28, 2018)

MWN said:


> John Blanch


Thank you I would never have remembered that. Your boy is probably too young to have played there?  A horrible place thanks mostly due to the traffic flow and mud.


----------



## Surfref (Jun 29, 2018)

Fact said:


> Thank you I would never have remembered that. Your boy is probably too young to have played there?  A horrible place thanks mostly due to the traffic flow and mud.


John Blanch sucked but at least it was not Lancaster.  There were some epic mud and flooded field games there.  Those fields almost never closed.  I worked State Cup games there in 2005-07 timeframe and there was torrential rain and the games continued even with 6-12 inches of water on some fields that quickly turned to mud.  I got yelled at by a Cal South official because for the second game I and my referee team deemed my field too dangerous to play on after we had numerous injuries during the first game.  I was also one of the smart ones that parked on the paved street outside of the complex. The tow trucks were making a killing pulling cars out of the muddy parking lot.


----------



## espola (Jun 29, 2018)

Surfref said:


> John Blanch sucked but at least it was not Lancaster.  There were some epic mud and flooded field games there.  Those fields almost never closed.  I worked State Cup games there in 2005-07 timeframe and there was torrential rain and the games continued even with 6-12 inches of water on some fields that quickly turned to mud.  I got yelled at by a Cal South official because for the second game I and my referee team deemed my field too dangerous to play on after we had numerous injuries during the first game.  I was also one of the smart ones that parked on the paved street outside of the complex. The tow trucks were making a killing pulling cars out of the muddy parking lot.


At every entrance to those fields, there were little warning signs on metal posts.  I don't remember the exact words, but the content was that those fields were spreading grounds for surplus reclaimed water generated by the sewage treatment plant next door.  

It looks like most of the land now is taken up by a solar power array.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dendy+Pkwy+&+Diaz+Rd,+Temecula,+CA+92590/@33.5214587,-117.185913,1260m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80dc81deebc23717:0x2efaacc8c54d00ef!8m2!3d33.5191987!4d-117.1776172


----------



## Fact (Jun 29, 2018)

Surfref said:


> John Blanch sucked but at least it was not Lancaster.  There were some epic mud and flooded field games there.  Those fields almost never closed.  I worked State Cup games there in 2005-07 timeframe and there was torrential rain and the games continued even with 6-12 inches of water on some fields that quickly turned to mud.  I got yelled at by a Cal South official because for the second game I and my referee team deemed my field too dangerous to play on after we had numerous injuries during the first game.  I was also one of the smart ones that parked on the paved street outside of the complex. The tow trucks were making a killing pulling cars out of the muddy parking lot.


Ha! I probably waded by you during one of those games.  I never complained because it was not Lancaster but seeing what we have now is no comparison. Completely worth the parking fee.


----------



## SPChamp1 (Jul 1, 2018)

I don’t have an issue with paying the parking fees. What frustrates me more and more are that a lot of these tournaments are “stay to play” and these hotels jack up the rates for tournament weekends. I’ve stayed at these hotels a few times on non tournament weekends and have paid a lot less for the same room. They jack up the rate around $50 and then give the team a “discount” of $20 for booking as a group. 

I imagine the tournament is getting a cut of the hotel revenue too.


----------



## MWN (Jul 1, 2018)

SPChamp1 said:


> I don’t have an issue with paying the parking fees. What frustrates me more and more are that a lot of these tournaments are “stay to play” and these hotels jack up the rates for tournament weekends. I’ve stayed at these hotels a few times on non tournament weekends and have paid a lot less for the same room. They jack up the rate around $50 and then give the team a “discount” of $20 for booking as a group.
> 
> I imagine the tournament is getting a cut of the hotel revenue too.


Don't imagine, that is exactly how it works


----------



## SPChamp1 (Jul 1, 2018)

MWN said:


> Don't imagine, that is exactly how it works


The Springhill Suites on the weekend of Surf Cup (8/4-8/6) runs at a rate of $319/nt before any team “discounts”. We haven’t booked our team’s stay yet but I imagine our discount will put us around the $260/nt rate.

The Springhill Suites on the July 4th weekend (7/6-7/8) runs at a rate of $260/nt.

The Springhill Suites on a random summer peak  weekend (8/25-8/27) runs at a rate of $209/nt.

And guess what, that happens to be one of the “official” stay to play hotels. A $110/nt markup.


----------



## MWN (Jul 2, 2018)

SPChamp1 said:


> The Springhill Suites on the weekend of Surf Cup (8/4-8/6) runs at a rate of $319/nt before any team “discounts”. We haven’t booked our team’s stay yet but I imagine our discount will put us around the $260/nt rate.
> 
> The Springhill Suites on the July 4th weekend (7/6-7/8) runs at a rate of $260/nt.
> 
> ...


Hotel rooms are a commodity and rise/fall in price based on demand.  During large events that attract travelers, almost every hotel will raise their rates to whatever the market clearing price is.  In San Diego, the Surf Cup represents an additional infusion of approximately 5,500 Hotel Room Nights during that week/end and in 2016 was the 2nd largest hotel demand event in San Diego.  All the hotels in the area are raising their rates because the demand.

Stay to Play creates an artificial demand, which allows the contracted hotels to raise their rates even further.  Those hotels that are part of the Stay-To-Play block either share a percentage of the hotel fee with the tournament or provide free rooms, meeting facilities, etc. to the tournament.  The typical kick back is 15% of the hotel room price.  Hotels make up for the kick back by raising their prices for that weekend by about 30-40% and sometimes higher so they can cover the kickback/free rooms and make an additional profit after the "team discount."


----------



## Surfref (Jul 2, 2018)

SPChamp1 said:


> The Springhill Suites on the weekend of Surf Cup (8/4-8/6) runs at a rate of $319/nt before any team “discounts”. We haven’t booked our team’s stay yet but I imagine our discount will put us around the $260/nt rate.
> 
> The Springhill Suites on the July 4th weekend (7/6-7/8) runs at a rate of $260/nt.
> 
> ...


If you want expensive hotel prices, try getting a hotel room anywhere near downtown San Diego or Mission Valley/Bay during Comic Con week.  The availability is slim to none and the prices are outrageous. All three SD soccer tournaments that weekend are north of I-8 so they will not be impacted.  From what I have heard, Sporting SD should be a good tournament this year.


----------



## GunninGopher (Jul 2, 2018)

Soccer43 said:


> sorry, driving 1 -2 hours each way, $10 for parking, for one game - irritating.  It is one thing to pay for parking if you are going to be there all day for a tournament but to pay that for one league game in my opinion is not right.   Most pay over $10,000 per year for club soccer - $2500 average per child is dirt cheap.


And if you carpooled, you'd pay 1/2 that.

Only 1 kid plays club soccer so I'd say 90% of our sports expenses are associated to the 1. One big expense I left out is hotel stays. I put that under regular travel, not sport costs. That would probably add about another 2k over the last 12 months.


----------



## GunninGopher (Jul 2, 2018)

Surfref said:


> If you want expensive hotel prices, try getting a hotel room anywhere near downtown San Diego or Mission Valley/Bay during Comic Con week.  The availability is slim to none and the prices are outrageous. All three SD soccer tournaments that weekend are north of I-8 so they will not be impacted.  From what I have heard, Sporting SD should be a good tournament this year.


I was married on comic-con weekend. My wife and I wanted to stay in our new apartment on the wedding night, but at the last minute it wasn't ready. We couldn't find a hotel anywhere in the larger metropolitan area, at least at our price. We ended up on an air mattress on a carpet pad in the almost finished apartment.


----------

