TLDR 
City of Pleasanton does not have a cricket field for children or adults. A request to allocate one has met with misinformed, biased and discriminatory criticism that is completely unjust. Please help us end this injustice by supporting our petition. Please write to Parks and Recreation Commissioners, at apawlak@cityofpleasantonca.gov and hmurphy@cityofpleasantonca.gov, letting them know that you support Option #2 for a cricket field in Ken Mercer Park, Pleasanton.

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City of Pleasanton has a sizable population that descends from CommonWealth Nations such as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Amongst many other things, one thing common to the people of these nations is their love for the sport of Cricket, also known as gentleman's game. Lack of a sports field where Cricket can be played year-around, whenever City parks are open, means keeping the diverse population of Pleasanton from enjoying, playing and learning the game of Cricket. Not only this devoids the adults from playing the game they grew up playing and watching, but it also prevents us from teaching this game to our kids.

Nearby cities such as Fremont, San Ramon and Livermore have identified this need of their local residents and have allocated some sports fields for cricket. But for someone like me who grew up playing the game of cricket and would like to see my kid to learn the sport, I do not have any options within my own city. 

So far, I was ok with this thinking there may not be many like me here. But about one year ago, I met with a few friends who played cricket. In a very short span of time of just about 6 months, I personally have come across at least 100 individuals who reside in Pleasanton and want to play cricket.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I got to know that the City of Pleasanton recently put out a survey with three options to allocate a dedicated field for cricket. However, this never reached the wider audience, and especially the cricket lovers like me, for unknown reasons(?). 

Some of the responses made complaints about noise level for the neighbors next to the sports park. The argument falls flat when you consider that the city has an ability to curb that noise by simply putting in a City Ordinance such as no noise before 7am (currently 6am for all public parks in Pleasanton as per Article 96.01). Second argument I  heard opposing the cricket field is that a cricket ball is dangerous to the walkers. Again, it fails to consider that it carries the same risk for baseball. Also, cricket can be played with a hard tennis ball just like softball. Also, a simple solution such as increasing the height of the netted fence especially around the sidewalks can help prevent injuries to the walkers due to any kind of ball flying out of the park whether it is a baseball or a cricket ball. 

Every time there has been a discussion of allocating a cricket field in Pleasanton, it seems it is killed before it gets a wider audience. I would like to ask some of those respondents that it's literally named a sports park and you are saying no to playing sports in a sports park. If there were valid reasons I would certainly understand. But, in one of the responses to the recent survey, some comments made show a completely discriminatory attitude that some people have against their own neighbors. And that's what this petition is for. e.g. "Comment #89 No to cricket in sports park" or "Comment #111 : This is not a popular sport, why using our tax money to work for the minority?".

I find this discriminatory attitude utterly disappointing having lived here for several years. I do pay my taxes, and I am glad that I never think the same way when my tax money is used for services and recreational sports activities that I do not enjoy.

If you find this argument valid, please sign this petition as well as write to Parks and Recreation Commissioners, at

apawlak@cityofpleasantonca.gov

and

hmurphy@cityofpleasantonca.gov

Please let them know that you support Option #2 for a cricket field in Ken Mercer Park, Pleasanton.