NAVASOTA, Texas (KRHD) — A youth baseball team arrived at Manley Park in Navasota for practice Monday, only to find the gates locked and access denied.
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The team, made up primarily of kids from Grimes County, has been using the three fields at Manley Park for years. Longtime coach Ricky Nunez said the new sign and locks were not what he is used to seeing at the park.
"So this is new to me. I mean, I came up here, saw the fields being locked, and then I'm used to passing by here and seeing kids up here practicing and it's something new to see the locks on the fields," Nunez said.
Local resident Christian Kehl said the change appeared to be a hasty decision.
"I think it was kind of a knee jerk reaction to what may or may not have been an actual perceived issue," Kehl said.
Kehl expressed concern about the effect on the young players.
"I think the kids are the ones that are suffering in this very deal right here," Kehl said.
A majority of players on the travel ball team are from Grimes County.
"And most of the kids that are on that travel ball team are Navasota based and Anderson based," Nunez said.
Kehl said the decision was made without involving the community.
"And this has been taken away from them, literally taken away from them without any conversation," Kehl said.
Neighbors told me the teams and volunteers maintain the ball fields and the facilities.
"I mean, these fields are, if it wasn't for the volunteers, like I said earlier, these fields would be a mess," Nunez said.
Kehl questioned whether the city deserves credit for the upkeep.
"The city may be trying to lead people in the wrong direction, that they've done all this work out here and it hasn't been the city," Kehl said.
I'm told by neighbors that if the city wants to charge for using the fields, they say the city needs to take over the upkeep and upgrade the park.
"Yeah, if they're going to make us pay for it, I mean, they got to come up with something better than what we've got here now," Nunez said.
Kehl also questioned whether a revenue motive is behind the lockout.
"Supposedly this has been a thing for years that you've got to make reservations. I don't see any revenue generated from it. Is this now a revenue generation issue? If you're gonna generate revenue off of everybody then you need to start maintaining the facilities," Kehl said.
I reached out to the city for an interview but have not received a response back.
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