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Beach Chalet Fields

Figure 1: Aerial Photo of Beach Chalet Soccer Fields, from Pro Soccer Showcase’s “Nor Cal San Francisco Beach Chalet
Soccer Fields” (Pro Soccer Showcase).

Between 48th Avenue and La Playa Street, on the westmost portion of Golden Gate Park,

lie the Beach Chalet Fields. Four full-sized soccer pitches enclosed within a cradle of dense

Monterrey Cyprus; Just four lanes and a clump of trees separate this half-mile patch of grass

from the edge of California. Two thin Dutch windmills jut out of the trees on either side. In the

evening, the sweet smell of firewood wafts over the field from the bonfires, drowning out the

briny scent otherwise present. The squawk of gulls and crash of waves is muffled by the constant

ping of balls being struck. While the complex might not look impressive compared to those in

more rural areas, in a city as tightly packed and expensive as San Francisco, this is the crowned

jewel of athletics fields. This was not always the case.

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The Beach Chalet fields were originally constructed in 1933, eight years after the

restaurant of the same name, which is adjacent to the northwest corner of the fields and is still in

operation today. Originally built as a baseball field, it is unknown as to when soccer began to be

played, but for most of the last twenty years it has been the primary sport.

Pre 2015, the Beach Chalet fields were a decrepit mess. Consistent neglection of the

ground resulted in patchy, overgrown grass. The nets were severely damaged if present at all.

Oftentimes, there would be more geese on the field than people. The most vexing problem,

however, was the drainage. Uneven, poorly planned pathways created massive pools of water

when it rained, some of which were wide and deep enough that they cut off entire regions of the

surrounding area from being accessed. An infamous pool frequently formed at the entrance gate,

forcing players and parents to decide between walking to the other side of the field to an

alternate entrance, or spending the next hour and a half with wet ankles.

Figure 2: Photo of Beach Chalet Soccer Fields prior to renovation, from San Francisco Recreation and Parks’ “Beach Chalet Fields”
(San Francisco Recreation and Parks).
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During this time, Beach Chalet was generally avoided by organized teams or clubs, who

sought permits for better fields. This meant that there was always ample space for the casual

player, and pickup games were frequent. The field became somewhat of a fallback option for

people who didn’t want to risk having their space taken by a club with a permit. After the

renovation was completed, the dynamic changed completely.

The sport of soccer has experienced a major surge in popularity across the last few

decades, especially in areas with high Latin American populations, and high populations of

young people. San Francisco has both. According to a 2020 survey from Statista, seventeen

percent of Latin Americans reported being “very interested” in soccer, the highest percentage of

the ethnicities polled (Lange). Just seven percent of White Americans reported the same. In a

separate survey, Statista reported that the population of people aged eighteen to twenty-nine

represent the largest proportional interest in soccer, and I expect that if they polled people aged

ten to eighteen, it would be an even more resounding demonstration of its growing prevalence as

a youth sport in this country (Lange).

It is clear that San Francisco, despite its size, has the potential to be a relatively lucrative

market for soccer. By the late 2000s, this was being realized, and by 2015, capitalized upon. On

February 7th, 2015, the San Jose Earthquakes finished construction of their brand new $100

million soccer-specific stadium (Demirjian, 1). The stadium, now known as PayPal park, marked

the first soccer-specific MLS stadium in the Bay Area. As San Jose native and four-time US

soccer athlete of the year, Landon Donovan said, “New stadiums drive entertainment, when you

have beautiful stadiums in this part of the country, combined with these demographics, with the
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Hispanic community here, then it becomes a no-brainer” (Wilner). Donovan was correct. The

San Francisco Bay Area had the right demographics, and sufficient interest in soccer for the

development of a new stadium to be a worthwhile undertaking.

In December of the same year, the newly renovated Beach Chalet Fields were open to the

public for the first time. The $12.2 million dollar project was a significant investment from the

city and received immediate attention (San Francisco Recreation and Parks). What used to be a

neglected field desired by few suddenly became by far the most desired field in the city. Clubs

were scrambling to reserve permits for the upcoming spring season, and players were flocking in

numbers.
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If you go to Beach Chalet now, you will see a field dominated by players wearing either

emerald-green shirts, or sky-blue shirts, the respective colors of the San Francisco Glens and SF

Figure 3: Players from the San Francisco Glens Soccer Club celebrating a goal at the Beach Chalet Soccer
Fields, from San Francisco Glens SC's "A Pathway to College and the Pros" (San Francisco Glens SC).
Elite Academy soccer clubs. On any given day, one can expect to find nearly three quarters of

the half-pitches available occupied by teams from these two clubs, a far cry from the diverse

group of casual pickup games, rec league teams, and men’s league teams that were commonplace

before the renovation. These two clubs are by far the largest in the city, both with nearly three

times the teams per age group compared to every other club, and the only ones with teams

competing at the USDA/MLSNext level, the highest division in California youth soccer (San

Francisco Glens SC). They desire to have the best coaches, players, teams, and, of course,

facilities.
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While the renovation was undoubtedly a positive project for the city, the current reality of

the Beach Chalet Fields’ demographics highlights its negative fallout. As soon as the fields

became desirable, the major clubs used their economic and political leverage to reserve as much

space as possible for their teams. In fact, the technical director of SF Elite Academy was, until

last year, a board member of the park service which deals permits, creating a very clear conflict

of interest. While the park service has the implemented the relatively progressive policy of

giving public school teams priority over private school teams for field space, the demographic

shift to wealthy, elitist (often white) clubs and players is clear to see. Danny Cardoza, A San

Francisco native, and current coach of the San Francisco Vikings 2005 team noted that the Beach

Chalet Fields “are where I spent a big portion of childhood,” adding that “the transformation of

the fields is incredible… the pitches are beautiful now”. He also acknowledged the negative

impact of the field’s renovation, describing how “Beach Chalet used to be a place my teams

could go without a permit… and be confident that we would have a field to play on… Now I can

rarely even get permits for my team” (Cardoza).

While the argument can be made that the smaller, less wealthy clubs can simply take the

vacant field space elsewhere that the large clubs used to use, we shouldn’t strive to build a

system in which the best resources funnel up to the large, wealthy actors, which in turn vacates

space for the smaller, less wealthy ones. Instead, there should be a system in which size and

wealth is not a relevant factor in allocation.

The current reality of Beach Chalet Fields makes a broader point about a problem

plaguing soccer in the United States as a whole. Recalling the Statista poll, it is telling how Latin
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Americans account for a significant portion of soccer fans and players in the United States, and

yet they remain a large minority among professional, semi-pro, and collegiate players. The issue

with soccer in America is that it is too commercialized, too “pay-to-win”. To provide a child

with the best resources as they relate to soccer (thus maximizing their chance for success),

parents must fork over thousands of dollars a season, with the price rising continually. Last year,

SF Elite Academy was charging nearly $4000 a season (SF Elite Academy). As soccer in the

United States is structured like this, it is no coincidence that USMNT positions have been

occupied by large majority white players (although this has begun to shift in recent years). If the

United States could leverage its Latin American population in the way France has leveraged its

North African population, our national team would perform a lot better. But that might mean

sacrificing profit for long-term benefit, which the country is not very good at.

The Beach Chalet Soccer Fields: Still located between 48th avenue and La Playa, still

briny in the afternoon, and smoky in the evening, still enclosed within a beautiful shrub of

Cyprus trees, still watched over by the two lanky windmills. The field’s fundamental identity has

not changed a bit, but beneath the surface lies a sad symbol of the systems of wealth inequality,

gentrification, and corruption which have plagued the Bay Area for decades.
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Works cited

Cardoza, Daniel. Personal Interview. March 5, 2022.

Demirjian, Leah. “Avaya Stadium”. January 28, 2015.

https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/avaya-stadium-6472

Lange, David. “Level of interest in soccer in the United States as of January 2020, by age”.
Statista, Statista Inc., February 16, 2022.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/883453/soccer-fans-age/

Lange, David. “Level of interest in soccer in the United States as of January 2020, by ethnicity”.
Statista, Statista Inc., February 16, 2022.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1074249/soccer-fans-ethnicity/

Pro Soccer Showcase. “Nor Cal San Francisco Beach Chalet Soccer Fields”.

prosoccershowcase.com/locations/sanfrancisco/

San Francisco Glens SC. “A Pathway to College and the Pros”.

https://www.sfglens.com/pathway
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San Francisco Recreation and Parks. “Beach Chalet Athletic Fields”.

https://sfrecpark.org/facilities/facility/details/Beach-Chalet-Athletic-Fields-411

SF Elite Academy. “MLS Next”. https://www.sfeliteacademy.org/next.html

Silicon Valley Business Journal. “$132M deal worked out for San Jose pro soccer stadium”.
April 15, 2008. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/04/14/daily20.html

Wilner, Jon. “How the Bay Area became America’s soccer Hotbed”. The Mercury News., July
27, 2016. https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/07/27/how-the-bay-area-became-
americas-soccer-hotbed/