KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Carter community in East Knox County is seeing its youth baseball season disrupted for the third season.
"Don't have anywhere to play baseball, they're coming here practicing inside of a construction site," Buck Coker, a coach and parent with the youth league, said.
The Carter Sports Center is currently undergoing renovations to make it ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible and overhaul the light system. According to parks and rec officials, the county partnered with the city to secure a location for the Carter teams to play and practice at Holston Fields.
Community members said joining a city league would only put more strain on the players' families.
"We're running the risk of either traveling a whole lot to city leagues that we're nowhere near or try to work with these local county leagues who is going to be inconvenienced as well to try to accommodate us in their parks," Derek McCoy, head coach of the U-12 team, said.
They also shared concerns about the state of the baseball fields at the park.
"The fields have not seen any maintenance," McCoy said. "We need clay to build these mounds up. The drainage was supposed to be fixed because we know these fields hold water... that was not done. You know, the concrete looks phenomenal but we stopped at the concrete."
The county said Carter's teams have been invited into a new league with city teams. They believe this will increase the number of teams and kids they compete against this spring. Parents and coaches said they hope for a quick return to their home field.
"It's positive for our community, it's good for our park," McCoy said. "The revenue that can be brought in from all of these things, and just the overall convenience of just being able to come to your backyard, play for your hometown, and be able to have this Carter pride."