DPS shuts down long-running pick-up soccer game, citing safety concerns
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DENVER — For at least 15 years, pick-up games have been a fixture at Dora Moore elementary school’s soccer field. Accounts from some players trace the field’s use as a soccer meet-up spot as far back as 50 years.
People who live near the school or frequent the 8th Avenue thoroughfare are used to seeing a large group of players and spectators on the field after school and on weekends.
The number of players at each game varies, but there are about 60 regulars — men, women and children, ranging from pre-teens to people in their 60s.
“I thought it was one of the coolest things about living in the neighborhood,” said pick-up soccer player Ian Graffagna, who moved to Capitol Hill in February.
“[Practice space] is super difficult to find around Denver. There's nothing like a group of people where you could just go by yourself and there would be a game going that you could join.”
But for the past month, Graffagna hasn’t had that option, despite a few unseasonably warm weekends.
In early October, Denver Public Schools banned the pick-up group from playing at the school and started locking the entrance to Dora Moore’s field during non-school hours.
DPS said soccer players with the group violated the district’s policies for community use of school facilities by interrupting student activity and consuming alcohol on school grounds. The DPS Community Use team, not the school, ultimately made the decision to deny the group’s access.
The facilities at Dora Moore, including the soccer field, playground and basketball court, are still open for the rest of the community, but people must reserve a key from DPS to unlock the gate. Historically, gates were unlocked outside of school hours.
Though the facilities remain available to most of the community, some residents miss the energy and activity the soccer team brought to the neighborhood.
“The soccer players, I feel, have always been a really positive part of the neighborhood fabric,” 15-year-resident Sean Keefe said. Keefe lives one block from the school and used to shoot hoops at the school’s basketball court. He’s a teacher at a middle school in Denver.
“It's a very diverse group of people, and I've always found it to be kind of a refreshing part of the ethos of the neighborhood,” he said. “To have it go away is too bad because I've seen nothing but positivity from it.”
The field at Dora Moore doesn’t have lights, so each fall, the players arrive at the school earlier on weeknights to make the most of the limited daylight.
This led to more interaction between the soccer players and Dora Moore’s faculty and students.
This overlap can be distracting and intimidating for the students using the field, said Lane Harlow, president of the Dora Moore Parent Teacher Student Association. Harlow also coaches a Girls on the Run team on the field after school.
DPS said it locked the gates to the field after a soccer player, who appeared to be intoxicated, harassed a coach and students during an after-school fourth and fifth grade soccer practice.
The next day, DPS said it found empty beer cans and miniature alcohol bottles on the field where the pick-up team usually sits.
“The DPS Facility Use team is working to find ways that would allow for community use while limiting use for the group that has shown a blatant disregard for the established rules and regulations,” a district spokesperson said in a statement to Rocky Mountain PBS.
Graffagna said he’s never seen any drinking alcohol on the field since it’s “definitely not a drinking-friendly activity.”
Spencer Barringer has played soccer at the field about four times a week for more than three years. He played with the group on the same evening that the Dora Moore coach reported being harassed by a member of the pick-up team. Barringer said he didn’t witness the encounter or notice an intoxicated player.
Two days later, Oct. 3, Dora Moore’s principal Abe Janson called Barringer, telling him the pick-up team was no longer allowed to use the field.
Barringer and a group of players accessed the field the following weekend, despite the locked gate. They triggered an alarm that brought DPS safety officers and Denver Police to the scene.
DPD officers detained Barringer and charged him with trespassing on the property. Players from the pick-up team have not used the field since.
Last year, the district had briefly locked the gates on the soccer players after complaints of litter and dogs on the field, Barringer said. Barringer then applied for a community use key from the DPS Community Use Office. The gate was unlocked soon after he received his key. Barringer thought the issue was resolved.
However, a community use key is not the proper channel for gaining group access to a DPS facility. Groups who want to use district facilities outside of normal school activities, whether they are affiliated with the district or not, need to get a permit.
The pick-up soccer team has regularly played on the field without a permit. Barringer said until last month, he had not heard from the district that the team needed one.
For the soccer players, this permit would cost $60 per hour, with a minimum two-hour rental time, plus a $25 application fee. That means it would cost the players $145 per pick-up session.
“We aren't organized, so we never know who's going to show up,” Barringer said. “We'd probably have to have someone at the gate collecting money from people, which doesn't really make sense for pick-up soccer. Most people go and play there because it's free anyways.”
Since Barringer violated the rules of the facility, he wouldn’t be approved for a permit now anyway.
Barringer has been fighting to reinstate the pick-up team’s access to the field and unlock the gate during non-school hours.
He spoke at a DPS public comment session Oct. 9 about the issue.
“Over the last year, I’ve called the community [safety] number multiple times over dogs on the field, as well as drug users on the field, including some that had left paraphernalia. So in good faith I’ve been trying to do what [the principal] wants us to do to make it safe,” Barringer said to the school board.
Barringer also talked with staff at District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds’ office about the issue. Rocky Mountain PBS reached out to Chris Hinds’ office for comment but did not receive a response before deadline.
Barringer stood on the corner outside the school Oct. 18 with a cardboard sign that read, “Soccer isn’t a crime. Empty playgrounds hurt the whole community.”
“I really think that we aren't causing any harm by playing soccer on the weekends. I actually think that it's a positive for the community. I feel like we need to protect such a public forum,” Barringer said.
While protesting outside the school, Barringer spoke with at least 15 community members who stopped to ask him about the sign and were concerned to learn the gate had been locked and the soccer game shut down.
Dora Moore PTSA president Lane Harlow spoke with Barringer after passing his protest on her bike. When the district discussed shutting down the pick-up game last year, Harlow said the PTSA defended the soccer players’ use of the field.
Harlow wants the playground and field to be a community space, but she also wants to protect the safety of students, teachers and other members of the Dora Moore community.
The informality of the pick-up team makes it difficult to address issues that come up when using a shared space. The team has a group chat with some long-time participants, but most players just show up to see if a game is happening that day.
“You still need some form of leadership that can kind of hold people accountable and that people know they can go to talk to when problems arise because conflict always arises in community,” Harlow said. “We would love to see [the pick-up soccer team] back. However, that is going to require some leadership.”
The Dora Moore field is popular among soccer players for its size and turf surface. Congress Park — a dozen blocks away from Dora Moore — has a grass soccer field, which is less ideal because it’s not as manicured and harder to maintain. Barringer tore his Achilles tendon playing at Congress Park due to the uneven surface.
The closest public turf alternative is the pair of newly built soccer fields at Skyline Park downtown at 16th Street and Arapahoe Street. Barringer and other players from the pick-up team have started playing there instead.
These two fields are smaller — each big enough for a six-on-six game — but they have lights, so they’re ideal for weeknight games in the fall and winter. Skyline Park isn’t far from Dora Moore, but it isn’t as convenient for many of the players who live near the school, and players need to pay for public transportation or parking to reach the new fields.
The fields opened in August and are part of a short-term renovation project near 16th Street Mall but are not permanent. Denver Parks and Recreation has a few turf fields dedicated to soccer — the closest one six miles from Dora Moore — that require reservations and advance payment.
Community members who want to access the Dora Moore facilities outside of school hours must fill out a DPS key checkout form and pay a $25 deposit, which will be reimbursed after the key is returned if the keyholder doesn’t break any rules.
DPS only allows key pick-ups on weekdays at its Community Use office in Sun Valley, which is on the other side of Interstate-25 from Dora Moore. The office is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., making it harder for people to pick up a key if they work during the week.
For some neighbors, like Sean Keefe, the process of obtaining a key lessens the appeal and ease of using Dora Moore’s facilities.
“Being able to walk on and play basketball is nice. I've always appreciated it. If I had to use a fob, I would just go elsewhere,” Keefe said.
“I'm all for the safety of the school,” he added. “You have to secure schools. There's no doubt about that. But I've always appreciated that this has felt and has served as a community center point.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.