PHOENIX (AZFamily) — For months, the Ahwatukee Pony League has struggled to keep its baseball season alive, but now, the league says it’s being forced to cancel all practices and several games because of persistent problems with the lights at Mountain Vista Park.The youth baseball league, which serves about 400 kids, says the stadium lights have been out for most of the season.League officials say they’ve repeatedly reached out to the City of Phoenix for help replacing the lights, but little progress ha...
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — For months, the Ahwatukee Pony League has struggled to keep its baseball season alive, but now, the league says it’s being forced to cancel all practices and several games because of persistent problems with the lights at Mountain Vista Park.
The youth baseball league, which serves about 400 kids, says the stadium lights have been out for most of the season.
League officials say they’ve repeatedly reached out to the City of Phoenix for help replacing the lights, but little progress has been made.
“It sure does feel like it’s been a never-ending battle,” said league board member Rafael De Luna.
This isn’t the first lighting problem the league has faced. Earlier this year, thieves stole copper wiring from electrical boxes at the fields forcing games to be postponed.
Now, with only one functioning field at Mountain Vista Park, coaches are prioritizing games over practices, meaning players are missing out on valuable development time.
The impact has been especially hard on the league’s disabled athletes. Coach Peter Fischer, who works with the ADA-accessible team, says they’ve had to cancel multiple practices and games because their field is unusable.
“It’s disheartening to find out a day or two before a game that you can’t play,” Fischer said. “A lot of these kids rely on that schedule. It means a lot to them.”
League organizers say the cancellations have forced them to cut their weekly schedule from 25 games down to just 10.
“It’s really going to cheat the kids out of some of their learning time,” assistant coach Brian Egan said.
The City of Phoenix told us they’ve offered two alternative field options to the league. However, the league says those offers only came recently, and no agreement has yet been reached. The city added that they are “working diligently” to resolve the lighting issue.
With only a few weeks left in the season and dark fields still sitting empty, the league says they’re ready to work with the city toward a solution.“
We want to sit at the table and find a way to finish whatever’s left of the season,” De Luna said.
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