Teams scramble to find field

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors suddenly found themselves without a home field last week.

After spending most of the season playing on the Bumpus Ball Fields, the Warriors began a desperate search for another diamond after a scheduling conflict forced them from Church Road-area softball facility.

The conflict actually had less to do with the fields than what was being sold there —alcohol.

Last week, as Wasilla’s Railbelt Conference match with Juneau-Douglas was sliding into its final innings, the adult teams of the Mat-Su Softball Association were getting ready to take the field. And just like every evening during the Mat-Su Softball summer season, when the teams took the field, a concession stand — which includes beer for sale — was open for business.

Wasilla assistant principal Dan Michael said it was simply a scheduling oversight with nobody to blame.

“Before the game was over, adult softball started and beer was sold,” Michael said. “This is not a gray area for us. We can’t have this group not sell alcohol when they have the right to do so. But the fact of the matter is, we’re not allowing our young athletes to participate where alcohol is sold.”

This is not first year local prep softball squads have called Bumpus home, but this is the first time schools have seen this issue, Michael said. Mat-Su Softball did start about two weeks early, due to a spike in its number of teams.

Wasilla head coach Cindy Wisdom, who’s also a longtime participant in Mat-Su Softball leagues, understands the oversight, and is now concentrating her efforts on finding an alternative sight to host their games.

The Warriors were forced to forfeit three games last week because of this problem, Wisdom said, and those games most likely will not be made up. Now, Wisdom, the Warriors and the WHS baseball and softball booster clubs have cooperatively tackled the task of giving the old softball field that sits next to Wasilla High a makeover.

“We decided to work on our field, because there’s less to do on it than any other field,” Wisdom said.

Coaches, players and booster club members spent several hours on multiple nights last week trying to get the field into playing shape.

“It looks amazing compared to how it did,” Wisdom said.

In addition to the work that was done on the field, Wisdom said, the Mat-Su School District brought a grader in to smooth out what once was a rut and pothole filled parking lot.

Wisdom said she hopes the field will be in good enough shape on Thursday, when the Warriors are scheduled to host Colony.

But as Wisdom and her team is dealing with this short term problem, Michael said there is a need for a long-term answer.

“It’s the same old story,” Michael said. “The Valley is growing, but the places young people can participate in outdoor activities aren’t growing.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.