Soccer players asking city to leave Reagan park lights on

The lights at Reagan Park have been turned out on a group of soccer players who have been told they will have to pay to play.

“We’ve been playing soccer on the court by the railroad tracks for more than two years and up until last Wednesday night the lights were on for us when we played,” Ismael Pereida said. “When we called to see why the lights were off we were told we would now have to pay $50 each time we used the court to utilize the lights.”

Parks and Recreations Director Patsy Smith said in 2021 the Parks Board and the City Council approved a change in park hours from dawn to dusk and they to have the fee for light usage for athletic fields and the tennis courts changed from $10 to $50 an hour.

When asked about the recent flip of the light switch, Smith said she recently found the lights on at night and turned them off.

“They have to pay just like everyone else when lights are having to be used,” Smith said. “They are no different than the rest of the public who has to be charged for light usage. They have been using those courts for a long time, but some how those lights were turned back on not by me, but with the recent changes we can’t allow free lights usage to be done.”

Parks and Recreation does not have the final say in the matter though, the group can address it with city council.

“That is something the city can definitely address,” City Manager Teresa Herrera said. “We can take it back to the Parks Board and to city council.”

Pereida said the group plays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, as well as sometimes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Multiple members of the soccer group contacted the Herald-Press to relay the same scenario, complaining that the fee was unfair.

“We play three or four days a week,” Adelio Callaes said. “There are around 30 or 40 people that play, and a lot of them are kids, including my daughter and nephew.”

“We are teaching kids in the community how soccer should be played and the beauty of the game,” Esiel Vigil said. “They are learning to control the ball on a court with tight spaces, gaining skills to take to a bigger field. A lot of the kids that have played with us have gone on to play for the high school teams that have done so well.”

All three men said that this soccer group provided an outlet for kids in the community and kept them from causing trouble.

Pereida and his team members said officers of the Palestine Police Department often stop to watch them play, but have never had a complaint about the group since they began playing in 2019.

The three men said that at no time was the group informed the rules had been changed or that the lights would no longer be available to them.

The court in question has not had any type of recent upgrades. The lighting is simple LED lights, some of which aren’t even working properly.