Flag football program loses priority field status

A popular flag football program recently failed to meet Costa Mesa residency requirements to gain priority and discounted access to city fields, a scenario that could all but force the operation out of town.

Newport-Mesa Friday Night Lights claimed that 869, or 86%, of its 1,005 K-8 participants attended schools within the Newport-Mesa Unified School District boundaries, according to data from a city audit provided Wednesday to the Daily Pilot.

City officials were only able to verify that 47%, or 412 children, fit that requirement.

To show residency within the school district, parents of Friday Night Lights participants had to submit a utility bill, report card or some other verification to prove their children live within the school district zones or are enrolled in an area school, public or private.

The findings will boot Friday Night Lights in fall 2016 from its current, higher-priority status as a “Group 3” user to a “Group 5” — a distinction that gives the league significantly lower priority to use sports fields throughout Costa Mesa.

Friday Night Lights would have needed to prove at least 90% of its participants are Newport-Mesa schoolchildren in order to maintain its Group 3 status.

As a Group 5, the league would also pay more for city fields, should it even get them after other higher-priority groups put their claims, from $25 an hour to $35 an hour.

Given all those volunteer-based, nonprofit groups with higher precedence than Friday Night Lights next fall, “The chance for them to get fields as a Group 5 are pretty slim,” said city spokesman Tony Dodero.

Dodero added that the league’s paperwork contained various “discrepancies,” though he did not elaborate.

Friday Night Lights spokesman Eric Longabardi acknowledged the organization did not meet the threshold of having enough Newport-Mesa kids, but as a result of the city’s audit, it means that hundreds of Costa Mesa children — who he says form a majority of the league’s roster — won’t be able to play.

“They’re telling those kids to pound sand,” Longabardi said, adding that his group has asked to see the audit but was denied.

“What are they hiding?” he said. “I thought they were all about kids playing football — giving access to kids playing recreational sports.”

Friday Night Lights wasn’t the only league to fail residency requirements.

Four other adult leagues didn’t make the cut: Newport Beach Women’s Soccer, the World Athletic Kickball Assn., International Soccer League and Surf and Sun Softball.

Those groups are now considered “Group 6” users, which have even lower field-use priority than Group 5s.

For several years, Costa Mesa and Newport-Mesa Unified have established a tier system to use city’s fields, which are in high demand and short supply, especially those with lighting that permit nighttime play.

Dodero noted that groups not achieving priority status are being given their notices of violation far in advance of fall 2016, which allows them ample time to come up with alternative locations.

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Rocky relationship

Friday Night Lights has exponentially grown in its membership numbers since starting in Costa Mesa in 2011, from about 100 children in its first season to more than 1,000 now.

However, that growth has been marked by troubled relations with City Hall.

In February 2014, in a confidential memo, Costa Mesa CEO Tom Hatch accused the league of misleading the city.

Friday Night Lights, he alleged, made misstatements to avoid paying nearly $50,000 in fees for use of the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex. At the time, the league played on the city-owned complex for free because it claimed to be a nonprofit that didn’t pay its officials.

A particular point of contention for Hatch was whether Scott Mahaffy, the league’s commissioner, was compensated to do his job — which would have disqualified the league from the free use of Jack Hammett.

According to city policy at the time, only volunteer-based nonprofits — like AYSO or Little League teams — got such fee waivers.

Friday Night Lights later paid the money back.

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Leinart league keeps local standing

The Matt Leinart Flag Football League, a competitor to Friday Night Lights, was also audited by city officials, but has maintained its status as a Group 3 user because, according to city officials, it contains enough local schoolchildren.

The group submitted a roster of about 450 participants for fall 2016. Of the 416 children it claimed are Newport-Mesa schoolchildren, City Hall confirmed that 409 are.

Being a Group 3 entitles the league, which is operating under the nonprofit SoCal-Elite, high priority for athletic fields and $25 hourly rates.

Like Friday Night Lights, however, Leinart’s group has had its own troubles.

This summer, City Hall discovered that Leinart registered at City Hall under the former USC and Mater Dei star’s nonprofit foundation — not his for-profit company.

Officials then charged Leinart nearly $25,000 in back fees, a fine based on $77 an hour for its prior use, as a for-profit company, of the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex.

His league also ran into similar troubles in Irvine, and consequently paid tens of thousands of dollars in back fines.

Friday Night Lights organizers argue that they are being retaliated against by the city and unfairly booted out of town to favor Leinart.

“We believe that the city has broken, then bent, then created the rules to assist their friend, Matt Leinart, to become the main operator in Costa Mesa, despite his record, background and way of doing business,” Longabardi said.