I support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free. Support Us Keep Westword Free. Support Us Denver's competitors in the bat-and-ball biz don't see it that way. I'll have to stop. After all, Denver owns the fields the games are played on. Yet there's also no question that the department was lured onto the diamond as much by the promise of profit as a love of the game. Managing adult softball leagues will never be mistaken for running Microsoft or Wal-Mart.
But the private companies "can make quite a bit of money," Moehring says. Adds Stu Bader, who handles field permits for Denver, "We think there's a way for us to make money on this. We can generate some revenue. The city has farmed out the job to a handful of small organizations for at least the past quarter-century.
Ernie Perez, who started organizing games more than three decades ago, says he recalls overwhelmed parks and rec officials asking players to help them organize leagues in The players eventually formed a board of directors, organizing into a non-profit company called Denver Softball.
At its peak, Perez says, the company managed up to teams in the city's spring, summer and fall leagues. About five years ago, however, the city began making it more difficult to operate in the softball business. Faced with a field shortage, the city also began restricting the fields on which the adult teams could play. Concluding that such pressures made it too difficult to continue, Denver Softball called it quits in The following year, however, Esses, then a city worker, reckoned he could revive the company and perhaps make some extra income in his spare time.
Last summer he organized about teams under the new company, Softball in Denver. Crestmoor Park Softball Association began operations in as a six-team petroleum men's league at Crestmoor Park, near Alameda and Monaco. According to the group's Web site, "Besides the annual summer men's leagues at Crestmoor Park, nearly thirty coed oil-company teams participated in CPSA leagues and tournaments at Crestmoor Park on Sundays in the early '80s.
Stan Janiak initially started Up the Creek Sports in as a readership promotion for the weekly newspaper he published. Last year, Creekside Sports organized softball games for just over teams.
The business has not exactly made Janiak rich. Last year, it arranged games for about softball teams during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Still, says SportsMonster founder Bart Fitzpatrick, due to the high cost of using Denver's fields, it's not a huge moneymaker. But, he adds, several embarrassing scandals in the parks department made the political climate inappropriate for the city to make any sudden moves into private enterprise, and then-mayor Wellington Webb recommended shelving the plan.
This fall, however, with Denver in a serious budget crunch, profits were suddenly a topic of interest. When Bader and others dusted off the plan to start running softball this time, officials were ready to listen. Even if those figures prove overly optimistic, Moehring says, the city can bail on any league that's costing too much money. My concern is that they're going to be inefficient and waste taxpayer money.
Privatization of city services is the holy grail of city efficiency. This is reverse privatization. Plus, it will cause the loss of jobs of three companies. Even if a takeover is not the department's goal, parks and rec is already wielding a big bat, placing private organizers in a financial squeeze play. For starters, the city has reserved the ten fields at Kennedy and Vanderbilt for its own league -- parks generally regarded as the two best for men's softball because of the lengths of the fields.
Bader is reluctant to admit as much -- kind of. Still, recreation directors in several suburban districts agree that it's about time the city began managing its own ball games. Info and News. Find a Team. About Us Locations. Board of Directors. In the Community. Weather Forecast. Log in with Facebook Log in with Google. Remember me.
Forgot password. Serving the Denver Community Since Log in. WPTC 5. The team will be returning to Nationals after having won it in Follow the Wash Park Teal 5. Thank you! As you know this team is a tight group and we've all played together for years and years. Tennis at Wash Park is certainly a highlight for each of us - it's an outlet to get exercise, compete, socialize with your best pals, and to enjoy the ambience of Wash Park. We hope to repeat our National Title, but certainly recognize the long road ahead.
Either way, our goal is to make you guys proud. Thank you for the opportunity to play at Wash Park. WP Purple Advance to Districts. WP Black Advance to Districts. December 16, AM Angelique Manley.
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