Girls Softball League Wins Field Access

Los Angeles officials settled a lawsuit Tuesday that charged that girls are routinely assigned second-rate sports fields while boys enjoy access to prime playing turf.

The deal ends a dispute that has triggered other changes in the way the city treats girls’ sports programs.

The settlement provides the West Valley Girls Softball League a five-year lease, with a 10-year renewal option, to play on a field at Hughes Middle School in Woodland Hills. The league also will be given space on a portion of the Adam Bischoff Soccer Fields in West Hills, which has previously been used for T-ball.

Led by 10 girls and their parents, the league sued the city last year after being forced to play on fields riddled with holes and bald patches, shuffling from one park to another without a permanent field of its own.

Last fall, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California joined the suit and expanded it to include all girls’ teams in the city.

“This says girls matter,” said Paula Pearlman of the California Women’s Law Center, one of the lawyers for the league.

“Giving girls a permanent field changes how we look at girls in our society. It says they deserve this. It says they’re important. It says we value them,” Pearlman added.

As a result of the lawsuit, the Department of Recreation and Parks launched a “Raise the Bar” initiative in February that offers sports clinics for girls, recruits mothers to serve as coaches and female athletes as volunteer mentors. The program aims to increase female participation by 10% the first year and 25% the second year.

“I’m extremely happy,” said David Berman, president of the league involved in the suit.

“Personally, it still angers me that we had to go to such great lengths to just find a place for these kids to play permanently. But hopefully it opens the door for more opportunities for girls,” Berman added.

By settling, the city avoided a costly trial without admitting fault, City Atty. James Hahn said.