Downtown Sports Leagues Select Scheme for New BPC Fields

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Diagram shows layout of new field for soccer (full field) and baseball. Behind the soccer goal/right field fence (south diamond) is a batting cage with removable fence and soccer practice area with striping. The south diamond, with removable outfield fence, is Little League regulation distance from home plate. Field can again be divided into one, two or three soccer fields.
Battery Park City Authority
Diagram shows layout of new field for soccer (full field) and baseball. Behind the soccer goal/right field fence (south diamond) is a batting cage with removable fence and soccer practice area with striping. The south diamond, with removable outfield fence, is Little League regulation distance from home plate. Field can again be divided into one, two or three soccer fields.
A baseball diamond big enough to host regulation Little League championships; pristine soccer fields—not sloppy, mud-slicked ones—that are playable throughout the fall. That’s some of what Downtown kids and parents have to look forward to when the newly reconstructed, reconfigured Battery Park City ball fields are ready for play next year.

Last month, officials of the Downtown Soccer League and Downtown Little League took a big step towards that day by approving a final scheme for the fields, shown at left. Architects for the Battery Park City Authority, developers of the fields, had presented the leagues with two options.

“We’re going to get phenomenal fields out of this,” said Bill Bialosky, president of the Downtown Soccer League.

Artificial turf will mean more hours of practice time for both ever-expanding leagues. The fields will be largely unaffected by rain, and mud will be a thing of the past. “We won’t have to worry about people breaking their ankles in it,” Bialosky said. In addition, he expects practices to be available every Monday, not every other, because there will be no grass to be given a scheduled rest.

As before, there will be two baseball diamonds, but with a difference. The full-size south diamond will be complete with 200-foot oufield fence, meeting Little League regulations and, for the time, allowing for “over-the-fence” home runs. There will be a batting cage on the southeast corner of the field. “We’re pretty excited about what these fields can offer the kids,” said Downtown Little League president Tom Merrill.

The new fields will require some “cultural changes,” as Bialosky puts it. No food or beverages other than water will be allowed on the grass, which means no more breaking out the snacks at the end of games, a ritual for many teams. And the bleachers will be gone. Parents will watch Little League games from a raised plaza behind the fields.

Construction is expected to begin after the 2011 Little League season and be completed in time for soccer that fall.

“I’m very jealous of Bill [Bialosky],” Merrill quipped, “because his league will get to play on them first.”