UPDATED: SOCCER'S BACK BABY!!! HOA Bans Soccer Practice on Soccer Fields

[Melbel]

Our charming HOA, the majority of which is now grumpy old men (GOM), decided, during an unnoticed meeting (actually an email exchange) to ban all soccer practice on our community field. The president even went so far as to send a letter to the soccer league threatening to arrest parents and their children for trespassing if they attempted to attend practice. The Board justified its decision on unsubstantiated accusations of rule violations, in addition to trumped up liability concerns.

This has brought negative publicity and embarrassment to our family friendly community with great recreational amenities. The actions are illegal under Florida law, but ultimately the community would pay expensive fees and costs to litigate.

To make matters worse, the Board refused to hear any resident concerns at the regularly scheduled and noticed board meeting last week, and instead scheduled a "special" meeting this week when many families are on spring break. We had to reschedule our travel plans to attend the meeting.

The president also censored the community website, taking down comments that did not support his decision.

We plan to seek recusal/resignation of the president, or at a minimum, fill his up for election seat in May with a family friendly resident. Unfortunately, even though the GOM are a minority in the neighborhood, they have more time to serve on the board, as compared to busy families.

DH has coached DD1's team for 4 years now, holding practice in the neighborhood. It would make it much more difficult to do so if we had to hold practice elsewhare.

The GOM messed with the wrong family. We are truly pi$$ed and ready to do battle tonight.

[wellyes]

Good gracious, WHY?? That is crazy. Were rowdy practices being held at 6 a.m. next to the president's house or something?

[elektra]

What's the field supposed to be used for then??

[Melbel]

Good gracious, WHY?? That is crazy. Were rowdy practices being held at 6 a.m. next to the president's house or something?

Friday practices are a bit more crowded the the field/playground/basketball courts, especially now that we finally have nice spring weather. I have been there chasing around DD2 and can honestly say that everyone was well behaved and having fun. The GOMs have been trying to do this for YEARS. They currently have a majority on the Board, but not for long. They would seriously drain the pool too if given the chance.

[Melbel]

What's the field supposed to be used for then??

Exactly our point. This was clearly the intended purpose of the fields.

[wendibird22]

Does the league carry liability insurance? If so can they provide a copy of the certificate to the HOA? Maybe eve list them as insured/indemnified? Then they couldn't claim it's a liability issue.

[Melbel]

Does the league carry liability insurance? If so can they provide a copy of the certificate to the HOA? Maybe eve list them as insured/indemnified? Then they couldn't claim it's a liability issue.

Thanks for the suggestion. Our league has already done this. The Board is still complaining that siblings may also be present/and or the team members may play on the playground before/after practice, neither of which would be covered by the league policy. This may be true, but this is the case any time we have guests visit. So long as the resident is complying with the proper ratios (4 guests/resident) and supervising their guests, this should not be an issue. Florida statutes expressly provide that residents and their guests shall be entitled to use the common area subject to reasonable restrictions (i.e. ratios, supervision, not an outright prohibition).

[Octobermommy]

DO you have a lawyer in the neighborhood that agrees with you and would be willing to do some pro Bono work?

That is the problem with hoa, the grumpy old men always are on the board.

[DrSally]

DO you have a lawyer in the neighborhood that agrees with you and would be willing to do some pro Bono work?

That is the problem with hoa, the grumpy old men always are on the board.

I think this may be the way to go, since they seem to be trying really hard to circumvent the intended purpose of the field, and the parents.

[elizabethkott]

That's just dumb.
I'd take up having practice in the street in front of the GOM's houses until the issue is resolved.
Run drills, do sprints, loud calesthenics...
And bounce balls.
At 9:59pm.
:icon_twisted:

[crl]

Well, that's absurd. Good luck at the meeting!
Catherine

[Melbel]

DO you have a lawyer in the neighborhood that agrees with you and would be willing to do some pro Bono work?

That is the problem with hoa, the grumpy old men always are on the board.

My DH and I are both litigation attorneys. There is also a family friendly attorney on the Board. While we could prosecute the case pro bono and recover the court costs, the HOA would have to retain an attorney to defend the suit, as well as pay the court costs. Thus, the homeowners would be the ones to pay. Litigation would also bring press coverage which would be bad for the neighborhood. While we will still plan to play the litigation card and resort to litigation if necessary, it may be in the best interest of the community to oust the GOM instead. There are a lot of angry residents. This could get pretty ugly and counterproductive. As attorneys, we know how to to channel our energy. Hopefully, the other residents will not get out of hand. I have a bottle of wine ready to open for a post meeting glass (perhaps with a twisty staw).

Sometimes I feel that we live in Del Boca Vista (Seinfeld reference; the episode where Jerry's dad was ousted happened to be on last night).

[elektra]

Sometimes I feel that we live in Del Boca Vista (Seinfeld reference; the episode where Jerry's dad was ousted happened to be on last night).

LOL! Sorry I know this is no laughing matter, but I can TOTALLY hear the way George's dad says Del Boca Vista in my head right now, and I literally just cracked up out loud reading that.

[Melbel]

Good news - common sense prevails. My DH had already met with the attorney for the HOA over lunch, so he did most of our speaking. When the GOM tried to limit each speaker to 3 minutes, many residents insisted that my DH be given their minutes. He hammered in a cross examination sort of way the HOA President (main GOM) early on, but then played nice with helping to draft some resolutions. The HOA also agreed to right an apology letter to the league for their rude, unprofessional, factually inaccurate letter. :cheerleader1:

[bubbaray]

Good news - common sense prevails. My DH had already met with the attorney for the HOA over lunch, so he did most of our speaking. When the GOM tried to limit each speaker to 3 minutes, many residents insisted that my DH be given their minutes. He hammered in a cross examination sort of way the HOA President (main GOM) early on, but then played nice with helping to draft some resolutions. The HOA also agreed to right an apology letter to the league for their rude, unprofessional, factually inaccurate letter. :cheerleader1:


YEAH! I saw this when I was at work today and was pi$$ed on your behalf.

The world may hate us litigators, but we do come in useful sometimes, LOL.

[MamaMolly]

Woooo-hoooooo! I'd still work hard to change the make up of the HOA. Today it was the soccer field. What is next?

[TwinFoxes]

Good news - common sense prevails. My DH had already met with the attorney for the HOA over lunch, so he did most of our speaking. When the GOM tried to limit each speaker to 3 minutes, many residents insisted that my DH be given their minutes. He hammered in a cross examination sort of way the HOA President (main GOM) early on, but then played nice with helping to draft some resolutions. The HOA also agreed to right an apology letter to the league for their rude, unprofessional, factually inaccurate letter. :cheerleader1:

So cool! I would have loved to have seen this. :)

[KpbS]

Yea!!! Great update :cheerleader1: Del Boca Vista cracked me up.

[niccig]

Good news - common sense prevails. My DH had already met with the attorney for the HOA over lunch, so he did most of our speaking. When the GOM tried to limit each speaker to 3 minutes, many residents insisted that my DH be given their minutes. He hammered in a cross examination sort of way the HOA President (main GOM) early on, but then played nice with helping to draft some resolutions. The HOA also agreed to right an apology letter to the league for their rude, unprofessional, factually inaccurate letter. :cheerleader1:

Well done. They definitely messed with the wrong family. I agree with a PP that you need to oust the GOM from the board. Start now - work out who will run, and get your supporters to vote for that person, or gather proxy votes, if that is allowed. Then you can run things fairly for all.

[elizabethkott]

Woo Hoo!!!!! :cheerleader1:
Poop on grumpy old men!!!!!
I still think you should run drills outside their houses, tho. :icon_twisted:

[wendibird22]

Sometimes I feel that we live in Del Boca Vista (Seinfeld reference; the episode where Jerry's dad was ousted happened to be on last night).

Perhaps you can oust the President on account of his car like Jerry's dad!

Glad to hear that common sense (brought about by a swift butt kicking) prevailed!

[arivecchi]

Great news! Agree with Melissa, everyone hates lawyers until they get into a dispute......

Way to go to your DH! :cheerleader1:

[DrSally]

Great news!