Be an active voice in our community and contact our local representatives to voice your objection to the cricket field that has been "approved" to be installed at Northlake Community Park. 

Send an email to the following:

Lisa Kaplan, District 1 Councilwoman: district1@cityofsacramento.org

Jackie Beecham: jbeecham@cityofsacramento.org

Sacramento Recreation: srecreation@cityofsacramento.org

City Manager Chan: hchan@cityofsacramento.org

Jeff Nittka Park Planning and Development: jnittka@cityofsacramento.org

Jason Wiesemann, Park Planning and Development: jwiesemann@cityofsacramento.org

Feel free to copy and paste all or some of the following to highlight the Community's concerns!

Safety: A cricket field is more than just a pitch, it is an entire field that requires at least 240 ft radius of space from the center of the pitch. As pictured in the diagram of the Northlake Community Park, the proposed cricket field will bleed into other areas that have already been established in the park including the basketball court, the walking path around the permitter and the children's play area. Without the proper fencing, a cricket ball will surely travel at high rates of speed into the above-listed areas. People will be hurt and property will be damaged. The city of Sacramento is urged to conduct an Environmental Impact Survey to assure that these safety concerns will be accounted for prior to the installation of the cricket field.

Practicality: Northlake Community Park is adjacent to Highway 99 which leads directly into Intrastate 5 where cars travel at high rates of speed. There is currently no proposed fencing or wall to be built to keep the cricket ball from flying over to Highway 99 and striking a moving vehicle which would be disastrous to say the least.

Logistics: The Northlake Community Master Plan is only 50% through completion. Currently, there are only two ways to enter the community and both are off of Elkhorn Boulevard which is already only a 2 lane road under construction. The elementary school has already broken ground at the southern end of the community and the Community Park is en route to the school location. Once the community is completely built, traffic will already be heavy with the number of new residents as well as with school goers from outside of the neighborhood so traffic will be impeded on the local streets. With the growing popularity of cricket and the lack of established cricket fields in the city of Sacramento, Northlake Community Park will attract league tournaments from all over the Northern California region as well as visitors who will attend to watch the match. We simply aren't built for that type of event. Cricket players and watchers deserve a properly built space, such as one that can be found at North Natomas Regional Park, where they can join en masse and enjoy the sport without impeding nearby traffic.

Parking: Yes, parking is already a concern for the Community Park and we have been told that a parking lot will not be built for the park. Current park goers are already parking along the street to use the park's amenities. And should there be literally any other sports amenity built at the park, it would attract local players who have the option of dozens of other parks to play their sport nearby. Conversely, cricket leagues will only have Northlake Community Park for all of their practices, league tournaments and drills so the park will be regularly full of cricket players and watchers and the streets will be filled with cars before residents can even have a chance to access the park. We are not talking about a neighborhood sport like soccer or volleyball that can be moved from one park to another within the city. This is a sport that needs a dedicated pitch and field so cricket players will seek out Northlake Community Park for the sole purpose of needing a field to play their sport. Our park is not built for such a major attraction on a regular basis. 

Lack of gender equality: Cricket is currently dominated by grown men in Northern California. Although there has been a very recent grass-roots movement to invite women to play, there are no established women's or co-ed teams within the city of Sacramento. As such, Northlake Community Park will be used primarily by men on a regular basis, which excludes nearly half of the community population by default.

For these reasons and more, we are asking the city of Sacramento to hold a town-hall to hear the concerns directly from the community members. Cricket players and cricket goers deserve a proper field that will accommodate all of their needs and unfortunately, Northlake Community Park cannot meet those needs. An installation of a cricket field at Northlake Community Park will negatively impact the community members who wish to use the park for reasons other than cricket as well as local residents who wish to park along the street to visit the park with their families. The city of Sacramento is urged to find a more suitable location for a properly built cricket field that will house league tournaments from all over Northern California and can be enjoyed by the many visitors who will come to watch the game. 

Thank you.