The soccer field at Mission Playground is not really full of activity like other San Francisco parks. However, it is more likely to change when its knee destroying blacktop is restored by a more user friendly surface. The field will reopen with a brand new synthetic grass field in the winter. However, the local soccer players see the development as a mixed blessing. The playground’s hard surface has kept players and sports organizing groups from applying for permits which make the field very few in the city with uninterrupted play hours.

Synthetic Grass: Though the players are looking for the new turf but they are worried that they will lose the only place in the city where they can’t be kicked by an organized group with a city permit. This was a comment of an old soccer player Layo Rodriguez, who played on the field for 7 years. People have always complained about the hardness of the surface which is ultimately painful for their knees. The Mission Playground field renovation differs from other because it is used largely by adults, not young people. The group executive director Susan Hirsch said that the foundation has donated $500,000 for work on the field and secondary field repair.