Girls League Goes to Bat for Decent Restrooms

Not so long ago, it was embarrassing to host fast-pitch softball games at Rossmoor Park. According to players and fans who had made visits to the women’s restrooms at the park, they were an absolute disgrace.

Ashley Viola, a pitcher for the Los Alamitos Girls Softball League, which uses the fields exclusively, said the bathrooms smelled so bad and were so dark that nobody wanted to venture into the foul interior.

“Some stalls didn’t even have doors,” the 11-year-old said.

Thanks to league officials, however, that is a thing of the past.

“It’s really nice now. It doesn’t have a bad smell anymore,” Ashley said.

Prodded by mothers and their athletic daughters, league officials decided to do something about the problem.

In January they approached the Rossmoor Community Services District with a proposition. Let us renovate the bathrooms, they said, and you don’t have to pay for a thing.

Even though the proposition had not been an item on that evening’s agenda, the surprised directors recovered quickly and gave their blessing.

“This group stepped forward to provide for the community,” director Linda Goodrich said. “There’s no question the restrooms needed to be refurbished for a number of years, but the board didn’t have the funding.”

Coach Tom Bitner, owner of Innovation Construction in Long Beach, pitched in with labor and some supplies after the league spent several thousand dollars on materials.

Tiles and toilets have been replaced, plumbing has been repaired, new lighting was installed, there are new mirrors, and both the men’s and women’s bathrooms have new hand dryers.

The privacy matter was also resolved, with partitions being installed in the women’s bathroom.

All of this is just in time for opening day of the season Saturday. It will feature a morning ceremony for the players that participated in a national softball league tournament.

Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Fullerton) is scheduled to present congressional achievement awards to the players at 8 a.m.

Ana Cholo-Tipton can be reached at (714) 966-5890.