Giants’ move to Langley riles parents
Some fear team’s games will disrupt kids’ activities, cause parking issues
Many Langley parents are not fans of the Vancouver Giants, fearing the hockey team’s move to their community will disrupt their children’s sports teams and activities.
In recent months, they’ve emailed, phoned and taken to online forums and Facebook groups to air their concerns about possible game and practice cancellations, parking woes and relocated activities.
“The fears came up early on,” said Marcel Horn, president of the Langley United Youth Soccer Association, which has about 3,100 members.
But the Township of Langley says accommodating the more than 20 user groups that call the Langley Events Centre and its surrounding facilities home has always been a balancing act.
“It’s not about one user. Some parents perceive that when they believe a new group is impacting our decisions,” said Peter Tulumello, the township’s acting director of recreation, culture and parks. “This is a major multi-sport complex with fields and sports amenities, and many, many user groups that are all vying for use of our facilities at one time.”
Tulumello said the township has an allocation policy to deal with all of its user groups, such as gymnastics, tennis, lacrosse, university sports and youth soccer, and does its best to avoid conflicts. In terms of the Giants, some sporting events had to be rescheduled or relocated to other township facilities to accommodate game nights, but for the most part it was done with minimal fuss, he said.
“I think the thing is people want to sensationalize without knowing the details,” Tulumello said.
Another issue is parking, which is often in short supply when multiple sports and activities are taking place at the same time. Parents have worried that if their child’s sport is scheduled at the same time as a hockey game, they won’t be allowed to use the centre’s lot and will be left hunting for parking.
Tulumello said that to his knowledge, the parking lot will remain open during games, though the number of available spaces will be limited.
Horn said Langley United — one of the largest user groups at the facility — has worked for months to come up with a plan that results in no game or practice cancellations and attempts to deal with the area’s limited parking, which he hopes will ease parents’ concerns.
They’ve redesigned part of the parking area adjacent to the soccer fields to reduce bottlenecks, added parking spots for volunteers and coaches, designated a drop-off area and arranged with a nearby church to use 166 of their parking spots. Horn said this should alleviate current and future parking issues.
He said the key now is to educate parents and reduce the club’s “automotive footprint.”
“I’m very proud that Langley United has been at the root of understanding the concerns, addressing them, and then working collaboratively to put foundational work in,” Horn said. “You can fix a problem when you work through it.”