Contact with Salmon Bay staff

For any of you interested, and for the sake of transparency - below is the content of the email I sent to Neil Gerrans, interim principal at Salmon Bay, after my discussion with him at last Saturday's game:

Hi Neil –

Sorry for the delay on getting in touch – work’s been crazy!

Thanks again for the civil conversation last Saturday. Per our discussion, I’m reaching out as a contact for our hockey league in the hope that we can have open, positive discourse about our community co-habitation. The following are some bullet points outlining us and our activity:

• We’ve been around for over 10 years, playing in a small handful of different communities
• Before Salmon Bay, we were playing at Adams until they built portables making the shared space too confined for all community members
• We’re constantly looking for playing surfaces that will allow us to engage in our game while still being a part of the community – they are very hard to come by
• Our ‘standard hours’ are 1-4pm on Saturdays, although we’ve been known to start later, and finish later
• We’ve tried to get the answers/permission from various sources – the community parents in the park, the previous administration, Ombudsman etc. – and we always try to ensure that we’re playing in cooperation, not in defiance, of the schools, parks and community.

That last point is the one I’m sure is the most pressing, simply because we are a large group of men, women and children, and we take up a lot of space! We have had some discussions with a couple of parents who have actively voiced their displeasure with us for being there, but we’ve also had a great amount of support in the area, with families engaging us about the game, having their children watch etc.  I know you’ve expressed concern about safety and the equipment on the grounds – the nets were refurbished and repainted, so should now be at a level that the kids can use them during the week without concern. As to the plastic boards – we returned them to the area your crew had placed them but if we need to remove them altogether please let us know and I’ll come and get them. We are also very conscientious on watching for community members coming and going during our games, holding play to ensure passage, as well as keeping the ball ‘in field’ when we play. In the 6 years I’ve been a part of the league I’ve seen a non-player accidentally struck, on the arm, only once. Of course the game moves fast and it can be intimidating, and we try to respect that perspective as well.

And please know that in no way do we consider that space to be ours to use exclusively… we wait to play if there are community members playing when we get there, and we try to clean up and leave as soon as we’re done.

Please contact me at this email if I can answer any more questions, address any complaints, or if there are school activities coming up that need our awareness - you can also read more about us at seattlestreethockey.com (although this is a members site, with adults, so language can be crude at times.) I’m happy to be the voice of our group, but know that I hold no true responsibility/liability for them; I just know that it’s easier to have a main contact.

Thanks and we look forward to working with you in cooperation,

Cheers,

Rob Sorensen

I'll keep the group updated on any developments but please, as always, let's be aware of our surroundings, keep our manners with the community, and remember that although we're not entitled to any special treatment we too should be allowed to use the community play space if we follow the rules.

As always, feel free to comment, join in, take over etc. but remember that the internet sees and hears all.

thanks,

rob