Weekly pickup soccer turned a community lifeline after the Eaton fire
For more than a decade a group of fathers from Altadena has gathered every weekend at Loma Alta Park to play pickup soccer, a ritual that began in 2012 and grew into an informal sanctuary after the Eaton fire devastated the neighborhood
When the fire swept through the area in January 2025 the park was left scarred but the county later rebuilt the facilities reopening the fields as a place for residents to reconnect and recover
In December 2025 the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began enforcing a county code that treats gatherings of twenty‑five or more as organized events requiring a permit a rule that was applied to the fathers’ games despite the group never exceeding a dozen players
Deputies issued citations to five members on March 15 and informed the group that they would need to pay one hundred ninety‑two point four eight dollars each week for a three‑hour slot a fee the department said would help offset budget shortfalls and protect the county from liability
During a meeting with Norma E Garcia‑Gonzalez director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation the fathers were told the activity was being run like an adult soccer league a characterization they rejected especially after Supervisor Kathryn Barger offered to cover the fee for six months which they declined
Sheriff’s Parks Bureau Sergeant David Nisenoff pointed to signage that restricts the field to baseball arguing that cleats used by the players were damaging the surface while the fathers continue to seek a way to return to Loma Alta Park and restore the community‑building space that has become essential to their recovery