Soccer players have taken over Brower Psrk

Do you mean this?
It was not like this three years ago @flatfix What's the matter with the Parade Grounds?

The whole park is unusable and dusty now because of the soccer players. What can be done about it?

Reseeding is a rinse & repeat when it comes to soccer.  They need to get the parks to put in a few picnic tables or benches, or plant some trees, or a few boulders strewn about, to prevent soccer games from happening.

2. The ball players have nothing to do with the fields condition. At All.

mantic said:

2. The ball players have nothing to do with the fields condition. At All.

uh, yeah, they DO actually. playing soccer twice a week like you describe would cause the field to look like this. 

Soccer players are destroying the lawn with their usage of cleats.  They refuse to use any other place, even though there is a brand new soccer field at st. johns rec.  They feel it is their right to use the lawn to the exclusion of everyone else.  There have been heated discussions at meetings discussing the restoration of the lawn.  People have been complaining about the soccer players and their behavior.  I was sitting one sunday reading the paper on the benches and some soccer player came close by and peed on the fence by the school, even though the bathroom was open. It would be nice to have a restored lawn, a splinter group of dog owners and soccer players have banned together to try to keep that from happening....

homeowner said:

St John's Park's field is used for baseball. It's the only full sized 90'ft field in this part of Brooklyn, so it is in high demand. Unlike the open space at Brower, the fields at St.John's actually do require permits, and they are taken usually six months in advance by the organized baseball leagues that play U13-U17 here in Brooklyn. No way are the soccer players going to get a permit. My recollection is they require some level of organization in order to make that happen. 

That said, this isn't entirely the players fault. The dust bowl comes from a lack of reseeding during the fall - which is entirely the fault of the parks department. To see an analogous usage locally look at Von King Park in Bed Stuy. They have a large open field which is used for little league practices (the league is based in the park as well), pickup soccer and Frisbee, football practice during the spring and summer, bootcamp workouts, etc. The difference is that the Parks Department actually came in and fenced off areas to reseed when the lawn started to become patchy. It's a lot of work, and in their defense, they may not have the budget or the manpower to do this at every park. However, the answer isn't kicking one set of users out of the park. 

The answer is to reach out to the local Parks reps and find out what the plans are for reseeding. It's probably a wrap for this spring/summer, but they may be able to do something in the fall. Until then, try to be understanding. The other option is to petition Parks to change over concrete softball field at Atlantic and Kingston to turf, so it could be used for multiple sports. That's the best big field alternative that close. 

is this not a huge soccer field in the upper right hand corner? has it changed recently?

I also want to take my children to the local park to throw frisbees where we used to often meet other childen and truly have a pickup game , yet all anyone is left with is a little dog pitted grass at the east end of the the soccer boundaries. And yet these soccer players play such a fierce game  sending balls flying past the nets at speeds that, if hit you in the head, would cause a concussion. So I have to keep a look out for what they are doing. This is not the park for this nearly professional players. This is not a PICKUP game they are playing. they need to go to the Parade Grounds like everyone else. that ts designed for this level of playing we have not seen in the park before.  Has nothing to do with reseeding, the field's grass could not be repaired in one season because of the cleats.

Prior thread about the reseeding planned for the fall:  http://brooklynian.com/discussion/comment/564704/

BTW, the park recently was allotted $600k to improve the basketball courts.

We need a large glacial rock placed in the middle of the lawn. or an outright ban on soccer in this petite park.

It sounds like the soccer players are there two days a week. Isn't there any way we can all share the park? Why does it have to be an outright ban?

Dawndew, I have indeed played catch on that very field while soccer games were in full effect. I taught my youngest how to pitch in that park, and while he was learning, an errant fastball may have gotten past us and dribbled into the middle of a game. They guys would simply pick it up and toss it back to them and keep playing. It never occurred to me that I should tell them to get out of the park. Likewise, when the kids were really little and had no control, I'd take them down to the handball courts for catch so that they didn't injure anyone else. I just think that the park is large enough that there should be space for everyone. This isn't a league that plays seven days a week. Its a bunch of older guys playing pickup ball with friends. Sure its a shame that the grass isn't pristine. But that just means that the community is actually using the space. We can all use the park, dog owners, ball players, kids and moms, no one has to be excluded.

fwiw apparently that lawn has been an issue even before I was born....

http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52628119/?terms=urgent