Lawrence baseball players in the South Park League in 1974 played on the two city fields, Broken Arrow and Holcom.

Thirty years later, not much has changed.

Baseball and softball are growing in popularity among youth and adults. Despite the steady growth of Lawrence and these sports, Broken Arrow and Holcom fields remain the only city-operated fields where youth baseball and softball players can play. The Holcom complex, built in 1973, was the last city-funded youth baseball field complex built.

According to Lee Ice, the city’s youth sports director, Lawrence is home to more than 200 youth teams. Adult-league participation is at an all-time high as well, according to Fred DeVictor, Lawrence Parks and Recreation director.

In 1997, Parks and Recreation built the four-diamond Clinton Lake Sports complex, but its is primarily reserved for adult softball leagues.

The city brought in the fences for youth softball and baseball in 1999; however, those levels’ use of the facility is limited to tournaments.

Last summer, the Lawrence Sports Commission played host to the American Fastpitch Assn. National Girls Softball Tournament at the Clinton Lake Sports Complex. The tournament brought in more than 120 teams from across the nation.

“The Dole dedication didn’t generate near the amount that the tournament did,” said Lawrence Girls Fast Pitch Assn. co-coordinator Melissa Sumonja refering to last summer’s dedication of the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University.

“At every restaurant or store we went to, we saw softball players or parents.”

The “B” division of the 14-U, 16-U and 18-U National Tournament will return to Lawrence on July 18-27.

Holcom-blue field is one of just a handful of city fields available for use by little league baseball and softball teams in the summer. Holcom, the most recent city-funded youth baseball complex, was built in 1973.

Ice said because the Clinton Sports Complex is the newest and nicest facility in Lawrence, ideal for hosting big-name tournaments like the AFA Nationals. But, when the complex is host to tournaments, the city turns away revenue brought in from local adult leagues.

The adult leagues do have a home when the Clinton fields are in use, though.

Currently the city has an agreement with Sport 2 Sport that allows them to use its two playing fields for adult league games.

DeVictor said although area youth leagues do not play games at the new complex, they still benefit from the additional fields.

Because adult leagues have moved their games from Holcom to the Clinton complex, more fields are available around the city for youth teams to play and practice.

With about 200 teams, practice fields are even harder to come by than game fields. Ice said league officials try to allot one hour for teams to practice every week.

“Once the leagues start, we see a critical shortage in practice field facilities,” DeVictor said.

Single playing fields speckled throughout the city provide teams with other options for practice, but the neighborhood fields are not enough to accommodate the city’s need.

A 2000 study of standards stated the city should have one ball field for every 2,750 Lawrence residents. Based on this study, Lawrence should have 31 ball fields. With 29 ball diamonds in Lawrence, the city falls just short of that recommendation.

DeVictor said that although new ball fields are a need , the financial situation of the city prevents construction of new fields being a top priority. Despite that, the city is brainstorming long-term options for growth of recreational facilities in Lawrence.

In 2000, the city created a master plan with land it already owned near Clinton Lake set aside for new sports fields.

Because there is only one entrance off of Wakarusa Drive and the South Lawrence Trafficway, the city must wait for the Kansas Department of Transportation to build another road before construction of a new facility can begin.

“It’s like we are caught,” Ice said. “Normally the facilities dictate construction of roads, but in this case, lack of roads is limiting construction of new facilities off the trafficway.”

Parks and Recreation is still doing what it can with the facilities it has and looking into other options to increase availability around Lawrence. DeVictor said the city’s short-term goals for alleviating the problem of a lack of field space include increasing the number of staff who take care of game fields and improving practice fields to game-field quality.

“People like Lee Ice and Bonnie Mills (Lawrence Girls Fast Pitch Assn. coordinator) have done an incredible job generating interest in baseball and softball in the community,” DeVictor said. “We would like to build more facilities in Lawrence, but until we have enough money, we are going to have to try to live with what we have.”