The soccer field at Tubman Elementary School has long been in use by neighborhood soccer players. (Photo by Rachel Sadon)

After coming under fire for preventing neighborhood soccer players from using a popular Columbia Heights field, a sports league has decided it will no longer utilize the space.

ZogSports recently received a permit to play on the field behind Harriet Tubman Elementary School in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. League players showed up on July 12 and informed the group of largely Latino and black residents that they needed to leave the space.

“There’s a sadness that’s over the field,” said Omar Gonzalez, a native Washingtonian and seminary student who frequently joins in the games. “Usually right now people would be playing [a game]. But since they know people will be playing here, they’re just standing around, afraid they’re going to get kicked off.”

At a meeting on Wednesday, city officials worked to quell the dispute, while working around the permit granted to the league. Residents said the alternative dates and times proposed by the Department of General Services were completely at odds with their schedules.

ZogSports, which paid nearly $4,000 to reserve the field on the three remaining open weeknights, initially said they planned to remain throughout the summer. It costs $1,200 to register a team, about $67 a player, many of whom had requested to play in the neighborhood.

“We’ve spent many years trying to find a great space in Columbia Heights. Our participants were very excited when we were granted a permit for the Harriet Tubman Elementary School field for the first time ever this year,” a spokeswoman said Thursday.

But after an outcry from the community over the privatization of a treasured neighborhood space, the company announced it is relinquishing the space.

“When we applied for the permit, we didn’t know it would come at the expense of residents’ opportunity to play,” ZogSport’s general manager Kendra Hansen tells DCist via email. “We believe strongly in the idea that everyone deserves a space to play and we’re sorry for the disruption caused by our league.”

The decision is effective immediately, and ZogSports has notified its players “We care about the communities in which we play and hope that the residents who have been using the field for so many years are able to continue doing so for many years to come,” Hansen says.

A spokesperson for the Department of General Services said that they are still working on sorting out the situation and will decide how to proceed after reaching out to ZogSports and the school.

The issue stems from a 1982 regulation that governs the permitting process for fields located on the grounds of public schools. All games with more than three players one each side must have a permit, which costs $95 an hour.

Renting a turf field through the Department of Parks and Recreation costs about half that amount and also requires a letter of support from the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, which could forestall disputes like this one.

“While finding a short-term solution is essential, I also recognize that this is a great opportunity to review the entire process by which school fields and facilities are permitted for non-school use-and one I have pledged to work on,” ANC 1A Commissioner Kent Boese writes in a letter today to Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (he is also running for that council seat in next year’s election).

Hansen says the league does not currently have an alternative place to play yet, but “we felt it was best to no longer utilize this space.”

The neighborhood players say they’d be welcome to come back to the Tubman field to join in their pick-up games.

“If every member from ZogSports wanted to come play soccer, we would say welcome. We’re more than happy to play with you,” says Gonzalez, after learning that the community would apparently be getting its field back. “It’s not about winning and losing. It’s always been about being fair and loving to everyone.”

Typically, somewhere between 60 and 100 people (including children) show up to the field, according to Wilbur Rosales, who has lived in the neighborhood for 22 years. Ad hoc teams form and play for about 10 minutes before rotating off to give other players some field time.

“This is the beautiful game,” says Gonzalez. “This game is about bringing people together, not setting people apart.”

This post has been updated with comment from ANC Commissioner Kent Boese.

Previously:
On A Columbia Heights Soccer Field, The Effects Of Gentrification Play Out