Kickball team accused of trying to boot members of public from Dolores Park

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A sunny day at San Francisco's Dolores Park brings out sunbathers, jugglers, and their pets. So when sports teams that pay the city money to rent part of the park come in and demand their space, there can be trouble.

Thursday, a kickball team with SF Social Sports clashed with some members of the public when they tried to make them move.

Connie Chan with the city's recreation and parks department said in a statement, via email: "Our park permit system is put in place so kids can enjoy their birthday parties, people can happily have their weddings, and our communities can engage in civic celebrations safely in our parks. In this incident, this group has a permit for an area at Dolores Park to play sports on Wednesday, and Thursdays from 6:30PM to 8:00PM since 2016. We want everyone to play in parks, kick-ball or any other fun and safe activities, but what is important is that everyone treats each other, and our parks with respect, with or without a permit."

Some people ABC7 News spoke with say the city's reservation system is flawed.

"The problem that leads to this is that the city doesn't make it clear about what's going on," said one park visitor.

Cameron Ladewig says they shouldn't rent out Dolores Park at all. "It's kind of difficult to kind of come in and regulate, 'Hey we've taken up this area, we've paid this amount of money,' when people have already staked their claim here."

"If those individuals are nice and understanding, there's more than enough space out here for everyone," said San Francisco resident Shane Barker.