President’s Message: Turf Field Permit Update to Mooredale Members

May 27, 2010

At a regular monthly meeting held May 26th, Mooredale's Board of Directors received an update from a special committee of the Board, the Turf Field Committee, regarding a Toronto Catholic District School Board/Our Lady Of Perpetual Help (TCDSB/OLPH) initiative to construct a small artificial turf "mini field" (60x40 yards) within the existing OLPH field and permit it to an outside organization for long-term use (after school hours and on weekends) in exchange for financial support to construct the field.  In order not to disadvantage its position as the TCDSB's and OLPH’s preferred permit holder in an increasingly competitive environment of hard-to-find field space, Mooredale's Board voted last evening to remain fully engaged in the TCDSB selection process and submit a proposal in the weeks ahead to become the sole permit holder for this redeveloped field.  

As Rosedale and Moore Park’s community association, Mooredale seeks to offer programs within the community. As soccer fields have become more scarce in our catchment area and our programs in greater demand, Mooredale has sought out solutions to best serve you, our members. The Mooredale Board and its clubs are committed to sourcing the necessary facilities on behalf of its members as economically as possible. It is proposed that this field opportunity be used primarily by our competitive Rep and Select youth soccer players (some 137 children at present, many of whom play several games per week and carpool to their games). The Mooredale Soccer Club (MSC) is fortunate to have both Rosedale Park and Riverdale Park as venues for its longstanding house league youth soccer program, and it has no intention of moving from either of these locations.  The growth and success of the smaller but strategically important Rep/Select program has obligated MSC to seek space outside of Rosedale Park at a patchwork of temporary field arrangements (please refer to my memo of May 21, 2010 describing our circumstances).

It is the TCDSB’s decision whether to move ahead with their field redevelopment. If Mooredale is ultimately selected as the preferred permit holder and the TCDSB project moves ahead to construction, the permit fee of approximately $250,000 will be structured in such a manner over ten years that it equates to current third-party practice and game field rentals costs for the Rep and Select soccer programs. Upon the treasurer’s recommendation and Board’s consideration, Mooredale will propose to finance this potential field permit through its capital budget and it is not expected that membership fees will increase as a result of this arrangement.

 At a recent meeting held May 18th at OLPH by its parent’s group, many parents and neighbours were caught unaware of the TCDSB/OLPH plans to redevelop their existing field. The meeting’s agenda was to update OLPH parents as to the existence of the initiative and the proposed plan for redevelopment, including a presentation by Mooredale as the potential permit holder. Mooredale remains committed to serving its community and is sensitive to both the Moore Park neighbourhood and OLPH parent group. As such, the Mooredale Board voted last night to make its Turf Field financing conditional on further engagement by the TCDSB and OLPH with its neighbours, among other important conditions.   

As always, your thoughts and concerns are most welcome. Please feel free to contact me directly at president@mooredale.on.ca with any questions. I will post Mooredale Member questions and Turf Field Committee responses at www.mooredale.org under Turf Field Update on the front page to keep you informed as things progress.

 Lewis Reford, President, Rosedale Moore-Park Association (Mooredale)