I’m an NCAA collegiate-level lacrosse referee, as well as a parent of an 11-year-old boy on one of the Newbury Park’s fifth- and sixth-grade lacrosse teams.

He and many boys, girls and their families were very much looking forward to watching and or playing in an all day lacrosse event scheduled at Peppertree Park on Sat., Feb 20. We all knew the weather and Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) would dictate if games were to be played.

Low and behold, it rained shortly on Friday morning, which in my professional opinion shouldn’t have been an issue.

Several teams from Ventura and L.A. counties arrived by 8 a.m. because games were to commence at 9. Instead they found CRPD field closure signs, despite the field condition hotline stating all but one field was open and no further updates would occur until 11 a.m. Thusly, the teams faithfully arrived here, ready to play.

No, we didn’t ignore the signs! We contacted CRPD for an explanation, yet no one returned our repeated calls.

The host––Southern California Lacrosse Association––and the Newbury Park team apologized to everyone who was unnecessarily inconvenienced by the park district. Everyone deserved an explanation.

CRPD displayed poor business practices by not keeping the renters of this field and the local taxpayers abreast of the field conditions. The fields were paid for and reserved for lacrosse for this and future weekends.

Knowing this, CRPD should dutifully provide advance warning of the field closures and be considerate of the schedules of teams that travel.

This isn’t a one-time issue.

I’ve been involved in our local youth lacrosse programs for the past five years and this has been an ongoing problem with the park district.

I’m writing this mainly to apologize to the inconvenienced several hundred boys, girls and their families with the hope that sometime in the near future CRPD will rectify its procedures.

I hope the district will have more respect to the community and the reputation of all of us by keeping the renters and taxpayers of these fields/facilities better informed.
Tim Penix
Newbury Park