Surf Cup move

[Truth]

Whoa, I don't know if I would go that far.

Most of the teams in Surf Cup are out of state, especially in the older age groups. With only a handful of CalSouth teams and even less San Diego teams.

And ever since Surf moved all their club teams to SCDSL, very few of the local teams actually play on the those fields. So basically any San Diego kid under the age of 12 who plays on a Presidio/SDDA team probably has never set foot on the Polo Fields.

Surf Cup brings lots of tourist money to San Diego and it's great having a prestigious tournament here. But let's not exaggerate and say the Polo Fields is a benefit for everyone in youth soccer. For the vast majority of San Diego youth players, the Polo Fields are about as accessible as a $50k plate political fundraiser in Rancho Santa Fe. Facilities such as the SoCal Complex and Norco have had a greater benefit to area youth teams because they host a wider variety of tournaments and local clubs.

Not saying more tournaments should be held at the Polo Fields (especially with the local residents already complaining). Surf has a good thing going with the Polo Fields with the current events schedule. But it doesn't change the fact that the Polo Fields are essentially a gated community that most San Diego youth players never get to play on. It's probably why most non-Surf families are indifferent to Surf leasing the Polo Fields. And it's probably also why Surf Cup hastily started a new partnership with Presidio several months ago because it was pretty glaring how so few San Diego teams use the Polo Fields despite the size of the facility and it was going to negatively affect their lease request.

I said Surf's win is a win for youth soccer. You read it as "San Diego local soccer".

If the Polo Fields goes away as a youth soccer complex then already stressed local fields will be stressed even more.

Surf Cup is the premier college scouting event in the nation. That is a win for youth soccer.

And maybe it was the margaritas, but didn't I see 18 fields full all weekend last November of all San Diego kids?

 

[espola]

I heard the following during the Man City tournament from someone that would know the plans. What I heard is that the Polo matches will be moved around the hill to the far east fields. The stables and ring on the south east corner and east end are going to be torn down to allow more field space, limited parking and a small office. The stage on the west end will be torn down to expand that parking lot. This west end parking will supply more than enough parking for the Surf practices and fall season games. Should be interesting to see what happens.

The back field is a little small for polo -- but the Polo Club won't be controlling the lease any more, so maybe they will just have to accept it -- until a horse or rider is injured by running off the field.

 

[espola]

I said Surf's win is a win for youth soccer. You read it as "San Diego local soccer".

If the Polo Fields goes away as a youth soccer complex then already stressed local fields will be stressed even more.

Surf Cup is the premier college scouting event in the nation. That is a win for youth soccer.

And maybe it was the margaritas, but didn't I see 18 fields full all weekend last November of all San Diego kids?

"Surf Cup is the premier college scouting event in the nation" ??? You need to get out more.

 

[Sped]

I said Surf's win is a win for youth soccer. You read it as "San Diego local soccer".

If the Polo Fields goes away as a youth soccer complex then already stressed local fields will be stressed even more.

Surf Cup is the premier college scouting event in the nation. That is a win for youth soccer.

And maybe it was the margaritas, but didn't I see 18 fields full all weekend last November of all San Diego kids?

And eventually Oceanside will be developed over too.

 

[Sped]

Looks like? Where did you get that?

Several of the news stories on their proposal mentioned it.

 

[Sped]

Over the years I have been told that the lot is owned by Surf Cup, Surf Soccer, the City, the 22nd Agricultural District (Del Mar Fairgrounds operator), and a "private individual". The only clear evidence I have is an old parking stub that says "22nd Agricultural District", and they own the Horse Park just across the street, so that made sense. However, some one posted on the old web site that the private owner merely hired 22AD to operate the lot.

It's privately owned and there has been a proposal to build a senior living project there more than once but it'll need to go to a vote because it's ag land and that sort of use is not permitted. If you think the lease to surf was a problem, wait until residents get a chance to vote that thing down. It'll remain parking or become open space before it's ever built.

 

[teamt]

Wonder what the property tax is for that land?

The county records for the fields shows they pay no tax as the property is owned by the City Of San Diego and appear to be exempt.

 

[Bruddah IZ]

The county records for the fields shows they pay no tax as the property is owned by the City Of San Diego and appear to be exempt.

They meaning Surf? I was asking about the parking lot property owner property taxes.

 

[Eusebio]

I said Surf's win is a win for youth soccer. You read it as "San Diego local soccer".

If the Polo Fields goes away as a youth soccer complex then already stressed local fields will be stressed even more.

Surf Cup is the premier college scouting event in the nation. That is a win for youth soccer.

And maybe it was the margaritas, but didn't I see 18 fields full all weekend last November of all San Diego kids?

No. You specifically said this in your post:

"Surf's win at the polo fields is a win for everyone in youth soccer."

So I assumed "everyone" would include San Diego local soccer. However I guess if you meant it as "everyone but..." then I'm fine with going with your amended version.

Though if the Polo Fields did go away, then Surf Cup Sports would simply move the tournament entirely to the SoCal complex. They may have to scale back some of the new flight 2 divisions, but Surf Cup did just fine at a single location at the Polo Fields for 25+ years, so I'm sure they could manage with the tournament in Oceanside.

Also SoCal complex has public transportation that goes within a block of the fields and the facilities has greater support from the local residents. If anything the Oceanside residents want the fields/facilities built out more, so it closer matches the original plans. For out of town visitors, Oceanside is actually a better location. You can get to food and hotel fairly easily while avoiding most of the 5 freeway traffic and you're still very close to the beach. They just need to improve the traffic situation going into the complex, but that's an issue that plagues every major venue. The way games get scheduled also affect the traffic congestion. Scheduling 20 simultaneous 8am games of course will cause a traffic pile up at the entrance.

My point, even without the Polo Fields, Surf Cup Sports still has a very good venue available to hold tournaments and it wouldn't really stress local fields since the SoCal complex has enough fields to host full tournaments. It would be Surf Soccer club that would probably take the biggest hit if the fields were moved north.

It's very hot outside so I don't begrudge you for drinking the Kool-Aid. I just disagree with your utopian outlook for Youth Soccer if Surf gets the Polo fields and conversely your dystopian view if they lose the fields. The truth is probably closer to somewhere in the middle of the extremes.

 

[espola]

It's privately owned and there has been a proposal to build a senior living project there more than once but it'll need to go to a vote because it's ag land and that sort of use is not permitted. If you think the lease to surf was a problem, wait until residents get a chance to vote that thing down. It'll remain parking or become open space before it's ever built.

The lot is inside San Diego City limits, but just barely. The city line wanders back and forth along and off Via de la Valle. Right by the parking lot, the line jogs north for a few yards along Camino Real, then back south so that the nearest 3 or 4 houses to the east are in the unincorporated County, and then back north so that the gated community on the bluff is in the City. The only vote against the lease was the Councilwoman who represents that district (which also includes Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines, University City, and La Jolla).

 

[Truth]

No. You specifically said this in your post:

"Surf's win at the polo fields is a win for everyone in youth soccer."

So I assumed "everyone" would include San Diego local soccer. However I guess if you meant it as "everyone but..." then I'm fine with going with your amended version.

Though if the Polo Fields did go away, then Surf Cup Sports would simply move the tournament entirely to the SoCal complex. They may have to scale back some of the new flight 2 divisions, but Surf Cup did just fine at a single location at the Polo Fields for 25+ years, so I'm sure they could manage with the tournament in Oceanside.

Also SoCal complex has public transportation that goes within a block of the fields and the facilities has greater support from the local residents. If anything the Oceanside residents want the fields/facilities built out more, so it closer matches the original plans. For out of town visitors, Oceanside is actually a better location. You can get to food and hotel fairly easily while avoiding most of the 5 freeway traffic and you're still very close to the beach. They just need to improve the traffic situation going into the complex, but that's an issue that plagues every major venue. The way games get scheduled also affect the traffic congestion. Scheduling 20 simultaneous 8am games of course will cause a traffic pile up at the entrance.

My point, even without the Polo Fields, Surf Cup Sports still has a very good venue available to hold tournaments and it wouldn't really stress local fields since the SoCal complex has enough fields to host full tournaments. It would be Surf Soccer club that would probably take the biggest hit if the fields were moved north.

It's very hot outside so I don't begrudge you for drinking the Kool-Aid. I just disagree with your utopian outlook for Youth Soccer if Surf gets the Polo fields and conversely your dystopian view if they lose the fields. The truth is probably closer to somewhere in the middle of the extremes.

Were you on vacation when 18 fields of kids were playing at the Presidio tournament on the Polo Fields last year?

 

[Truth]

The county records for the fields shows they pay no tax as the property is owned by the City Of San Diego and appear to be exempt.

Incorrect.

 

[Bruddah IZ]

The lot is inside San Diego City limits, but just barely. The city line wanders back and forth along and off Via de la Valle. Right by the parking lot, the line jogs north for a few yards along Camino Real, then back south so that the nearest 3 or 4 houses to the east are in the unincorporated County, and then back north so that the gated community on the bluff is in the City. The only vote against the lease was the Councilwoman who represents that district (which also includes Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines, University City, and La Jolla).

Sherri Lightner

 

[Bruddah IZ]

Were you on vacation when 18 fields of kids were playing at the Presidio tournament on the Polo Fields last year?

Thanks to a $500 increase in Surf player fees, Presidio was able to have their tournament at the Polo's. Thank you Surf families for subsidizing San Diego Youth Soccer through your dollars and volunteerism.

 

[Sped]

The lot is inside San Diego City limits, but just barely. The city line wanders back and forth along and off Via de la Valle. Right by the parking lot, the line jogs north for a few yards along Camino Real, then back south so that the nearest 3 or 4 houses to the east are in the unincorporated County, and then back north so that the gated community on the bluff is in the City. The only vote against the lease was the Councilwoman who represents that district (which also includes Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines, University City, and La Jolla).

You may have misunderstood what I meant by a vote. This article gives a good summary: http://www.delmartimes.net/news/2014/nov/13/carmel-valley-senior-living-facility-polo-fields/

 

[Surfref]

The stage on the west end has already been removed and the dirt parking lot has been expanded. They've also already removed the crappy old "clubhouse" and adjacent buildings on the southeast side of the field and have added a large dirt parking area as well.

I'm really hoping that now Surf Cup has gotten the lease approved they'll be able to pave (or at least gravel) the parking lot and adjoining access roads. I'm tired of having a perpetually dust coated car!

Looks like what I heard back in March about the is turning out to be true. I heard at the time that they would like to pave the parking lot, but did not have that part of the lease. So, it was going to be difficult to get any improvements done on that northern parking area. After reading some of the posts on that parking area, I can assume what I heard is true.

 

[Sped]

Actually, they never paved any of the site for parking because the polo horses don't like concrete.

 

[Eusebio]

Surfcup is done. No quarterfinals. High cost. Too many flights. Even the entrance was depressing. No more "Best of the Best" feel. But if they can charge it and get it who came blame them.

Saw this in the B2002 thread, but I figured I would mention it here.

I gotta agree, at least in the Polo Field location, Surf Cup had a very pedestrian feel this weekend unlike previous years. The problems I have (very similar to the post I quoted):

- No more grand entrance. My kids used to get pumped walking through the main entrance under the "Best of the Best" signs with the high energy music pumping. What happened to the grand entrance and why is the tent so far removed from the main parking areas and fields? No wonder I saw so few people wearing Surf Cup T-shirts.
- Too many flights. I've watched many Surf Cup games over the years and there's a definite drop-off in the quality of play, particularly in the lower flights.
- Lack of Quarterfinals. I was talking to a out of state parent and he was very disappointed that there wasn't any quarterfinals like in previous years, especially for a 3-day tournament. With only group winners advancing, often the third game is pointless for a lot of teams, so these out of town teams travel far and pay a lot of money just to play 2 meaningful games. However some age-groups do still have quarterfinals, so I wonder again if it's an issue of having too many flights/teams where there's not enough space to have quarterfinals for most brackets.
- Spotty time management. Again, another out of town parent was complaining to me that their games were shortened because the games were running behind schedule. So they're paying a lot of money and they can't even get complete games.
- Lack of game balls. Some fields only had two or just one official game ball. This meant there was often a 30 second delay on goal kicks just to get the ball back in play. These delays really start to add up. There should be a minimum of 3 game balls on every field.
- No tournament pins. It's a small thing, but it's always frustrating when big tournaments skimp out on the small things, especially with such high entrance fees. The Las Vegas tournaments had the same issue. Most kids love tournament pins and it's not expensive to make.

Anyway my point to post this here wasn't to antagonize Surf supporters but to maybe get some answers from someone in the know about some of the shortcomings and see if they are just temporary. With Surf just getting the Polo Fields, this weekend hasn't been a great showcase for how they're going to run the tournament on those fields going forward. It's felt like just another San Diego tournament.

 

[Bruddah IZ]

Saw this in the B2002 thread, but I figured I would mention it here.

I gotta agree, at least in the Polo Field location, Surf Cup had a very pedestrian feel this weekend unlike previous years. The problems I have (very similar to the post I quoted):

- No more grand entrance. My kids used to get pumped walking through the main entrance under the "Best of the Best" signs with the high energy music pumping. What happened to the grand entrance and why is the tent so far removed from the main parking areas and fields? No wonder I saw so few people wearing Surf Cup T-shirts.
- Too many flights. I've watched many Surf Cup games over the years and there's a definite drop-off in the quality of play, particularly in the lower flights.
- Lack of Quarterfinals. I was talking to a out of state parent and he was very disappointed that there wasn't any quarterfinals like in previous years, especially for a 3-day tournament. With only group winners advancing, often the third game is pointless for a lot of teams, so these out of town teams travel far and pay a lot of money just to play 2 meaningful games. However some age-groups do still have quarterfinals, so I wonder again if it's an issue of having too many flights/teams where there's not enough space to have quarterfinals for most brackets.
- Spotty time management. Again, another out of town parent was complaining to me that their games were shortened because the games were running behind schedule. So they're paying a lot of money and they can't even get complete games.

Anyway my point to post this here wasn't to antagonize Surf supporters but to maybe get some answers from someone in the know about some of the shortcomings and see if they are just temporary. With Surf just getting the Polo Fields, this weekend hasn't been a great showcase for how they're going to run the tournament on those fields going forward. It's felt like just another San Diego tournament.

Interesting. I suppose only time will tell. The only major change is the grand entrance. Number of flights have been growing for a couple of years now but all other complaints are normal and have yet to adversely affect annual applications.

 

[Truth]

Saw this in the B2002 thread, but I figured I would mention it here.

I gotta agree, at least in the Polo Field location, Surf Cup had a very pedestrian feel this weekend unlike previous years. The problems I have (very similar to the post I quoted):

- No more grand entrance. My kids used to get pumped walking through the main entrance under the "Best of the Best" signs with the high energy music pumping. What happened to the grand entrance and why is the tent so far removed from the main parking areas and fields? No wonder I saw so few people wearing Surf Cup T-shirts.
- Too many flights. I've watched many Surf Cup games over the years and there's a definite drop-off in the quality of play, particularly in the lower flights.
- Lack of Quarterfinals. I was talking to a out of state parent and he was very disappointed that there wasn't any quarterfinals like in previous years, especially for a 3-day tournament. With only group winners advancing, often the third game is pointless for a lot of teams, so these out of town teams travel far and pay a lot of money just to play 2 meaningful games. However some age-groups do still have quarterfinals, so I wonder again if it's an issue of having too many flights/teams where there's not enough space to have quarterfinals for most brackets.
- Spotty time management. Again, another out of town parent was complaining to me that their games were shortened because the games were running behind schedule. So they're paying a lot of money and they can't even get complete games.
- Lack of game balls. Some fields only had two or just one official game ball. This meant there was often a 30 second delay on goal kicks just to get the ball back in play. These delays really start to add up. There should be a minimum of 3 game balls on every field.
- No tournament pins. It's a small thing, but it's always frustrating when big tournaments skimp out on the small things, especially with such high entrance fees. The Las Vegas tournaments had the same issue. Most kids love tournament pins and it's not expensive to make.

Anyway my point to post this here wasn't to antagonize Surf supporters but to maybe get some answers from someone in the know about some of the shortcomings and see if they are just temporary. With Surf just getting the Polo Fields, this weekend hasn't been a great showcase for how they're going to run the tournament on those fields going forward. It's felt like just another San Diego tournament.

Really? Your 15 - 18 year old really misses a tournament pin?

 

[Eusebio]

Really? Your 15 - 18 year old really misses a tournament pin?

The youngest age group playing this weekend is 2002, so my 13-18 year old really missed the tournament pin.

And I actually still have 3-4 tournament pins that I got when I was 16-17 years old. Back then though, we only played a couple of tournaments a year. They're on a 2x2 shelve (aka my personal shrine) hidden in a corner of the house with cobwebs that has all my youth athletic accomplishments. It managed to avoid banishment to the garage when my kids started playing soccer and even playing in some of the same tournaments.

Anyway, I'm sure some kids toss them in the trash or lose the pins after the first day. But there are a lot of players (of all ages) that like collecting the pins to show-off what tournaments they've been in, especially if it was a premier tournament. If small local tournaments can muster up the resources to provide/sell pins, then I'm sure Surf Cup could as well. Obviously it's nothing close to a dealbreaker and it's a minor issue but parents often question these omissions when they're paying such high entrance fees.