EDITOR:
As a resident living next to the Creekside Development at I-435 and Hwy. 45, and living through the dirt, mess and smells of the construction, and as a lifelong fan of ball played on diamonds, I finally pulled in to see the ball fields (a prominently cited justification for clearing various governmental and regulatory hurdles).
While they are beautiful, I was shocked to see only baseball fields, no fast pitch softball (FPS) fields. FPS is one of the fastest growing sports that is technically and athletically demanding, exciting and faster paced than baseball. FPS has sustained a doubling of college programs over the past 10 years, become an increasingly popular TV and spectator sport, spawned a nascent pro league, resulted in multiplying vibrant travel tournament leagues up to and including Olympic feeders. It is an important high school women’s sport option for athletes.
Few female athletes will play ball in Creekside.
Such tone deafness by the developers and our Parkville politicians is illustrative of the carefully orchestrated separation from taxpayers and affected neighborhoods that has characterized this whole process.
However, as a teaching point, parents can point to it as an example of thoughtless sexism as they drive past.
–Richard A. Hopkins, M.D.
Platte County
