Tuesday, October 25, 2016

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TUESDAY OCTOBER 25, 2016 VOLUME 106 ISSUE 11 www.UniversityStar.com

Unicycle Football League hopes to find permanent home By Stacee Collins Assistant Lifestyle Editor @stvcee Unicycle football has been a part of San Marcos culture for eight years, but the league is now searching for a permanent home after hopping from downtown parking lots to roadside alleys. The Unicycle Football League began in 2008 as two teams started playing for fun, but has flourished into eight teams that play every Sunday. Now, players and organizers are hoping to build their very own stadium. The process of being able to afford a stadium will take at least two years, said Chelsea Dasha, Unibrawds member. Unibrawds is the official cheer team. Although the UFL has set up a GoFundMe page for the stadium, the league is focused on finding a space to play throughout the current season. UFL had a partnership with Gold Crown Billiards, but the company had leasing issues which restricted the league’s use of the parking lot. Teams have played at various locations across town, including the San Marcos Activity Center parking lot. However, fees became too expensive and organizers had to cancel the partnership. Since the league currently has no location to play, organizers are reaching out to local businesses for a temporary or long-term space, said Ross Pelc, community outreach coordinator.

“If we can find a business to work together with, we could help that business,” Dasha said. “We helped Gold Crown Billiards substantially by bringing our crowd of 100 to 300 people every Sunday.” Dasha said league members have been responsible and selfsufficient when using business’ lots. The UFL provides its own insurance, DJ, cleanup crews and more. In addition, the league conducts river cleanups, participates in city parades and aims to unite the community. “We’re at our strongest point in our development, and now we do have something to offer to businesses in the community,” Pelc said. Dasha said the league has gained national attention from CNN, Discovery, the Travel Channel, Welch’s Grape Juice and more. However, the UFL’s big debut will be 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 on Fox Sports. NFL officials and camera crews visited San Marcos to feature a 15-minute spotlight on unicycle football. “Last May, they came out and filmed a couple of practices and interviews,” said Josh Palmer, operations manager. “Most of it will be focused on how it’s unique to San Marcos.” The league has received praise from many organizations around the country, and Pelc said the city of San Marcos should take notice of this. “We feel like we’ve been pushed into the

back alleys and side streets,” Pelc said. “We haven’t been given an opportunity to show what we can do and how much we can help out the community.” The league would relocate to available areas outside of San Marcos, but that could cause a loss of visibility and fan base, Dasha said. The league has considered unused firehouses or empty lots up for sale in the floodplains. “All we have to do is pour concrete slab down,” Pelc said. “We don’t have any permanent structure, so there’s nothing to be destroyed. There’s tons of places that aren’t being used by the city right now that we could potentially have as great arenas.” UFL organizers have even considered striking a deal with Texas State to possibly utilize some of the spaces on campus, such as Bobcat Stadium or Strahan Coliseum. However, Pelc knows the population is steadily growing, and land is becoming more valued. Because the UFL is a limited-liability company under the Chamber of Commerce, no revenue is coming in. Dasha said raffling is the reason the UFL has persisted throughout the years. “(Raffling) is supported through the local businesses that we have great relationships with,” Dasha said. “They give us prizes and gift certificates that we can sell as raffle tickets. That’s our alternative to charging people.” Along with advertise-

The San Marcos unicycle football team poses for a photo Oct. 20 during a meeting at Tantra Coffeehouse. The team held a meeting to discuss their field being taken away. PHOTO BY CASSANDRIA ALVARADO | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

ments for the businesses, sponsorship packages are offered for companies to be announced at the game through banners and booths. Fans can get in free of charge to watch a 5-on-5 flag and tackle game, which is essentially American football played on unicycles. Dane Walter, UFL player for the Gnarwals,

has been a part of the league since 2009 and said teachers, business owners and people from all backgrounds participate in the game. “If we had a place that we owned, we could do groundbreaking stuff and reach out to the community more,” Walter said. “We could even start putting on festivals.” Walter said being able

to connect with the community more through partnerships with local businesses would be beneficial to the city. “We love San Marcos,” Dasha said. “We have a lot of respect for our community, and that’s why we think we could be an asset to anyone that would work with us.”

Q&A

POLITICS

with City Council Place 2 candidate Lisa Marie Coppoletta By Rae Glassford Senior News Reporter @rae_maybe

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If you are elected, how do you plan to help balance development with the environmental measures necessary to protect our river? I have an unparalleled track record in this race as an environmental activist and advocate. I’m very concerned about three aspects of our approach to development: flooding, fiscal conservatism and building a foundation for future generations. Regarding that foundation, it is important for us to protect our heritage trees and to use incentives for green industry. I think it’s important for us to be very mindful when planning developments here in our community. As a neighborhood commissioner, I have a track record of being a watchdog for the safety of the student population—I got three ordinances passed to that effect. The first one was an ordinance that required landlords to notify students if their property was located in a flood zone prior to signing the

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lease. So when students fill out the rental paperwork, they have to sign an acknowledgement that they are aware they’ll be living in a flood zone. The second ordinance I got passed regarding development was that when a flood hits a renter’s apartment, the landlord is required to repair that. Previously what they were doing was just ripping out the carpet, and now they have to clean up the walls so that people aren’t moving into unhealthy conditions. It’s important that we balance ecological concerns while allowing development to continue so that we have ample, affordable housing here in our community. Our city is currently experiencing a massive growth in population, which has led to a disparity between existing infrastructure and the number of individuals who must be accommodated. Have you proposed any potential solutions for addressing this disparity, and if so, what are they? Right now, we’ve had a very robust push for infrastructure in our community. Private residents endured three years of

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TxDOT road construction for the HopkinsHunter Road project, which has opened the gateway for lots of development like Kissing Tree. We’ve also had a lot of infrastructure development downtown, which has impacted our small business owners because of the sheer duration of the construction. So now, I think it’s important that we be mindful when we create new housing complexes. We want to make sure they’re affordable and in appropriate areas so that residents and students can live in harmony. What single social, economic or political factor do you envision as playing the most important role in our city’s future? In other words, where do you see San Marcos 20 years from now? The immediate goal is that we need to make sure we are resolving the issues resulting from the flooding that we’ve experienced here, specifically the May flood and the All Saints Flood. We need to make sure that everyone is provided ample resources by the city in order to complete the recovery process, and that may take some time.

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Long term, I would like to see that we preserve our heritage and the historic district. I would like to make sure that as we continue to move forward, we are mindful of the Native American artifacts and human remains here (and) that we require shovel tests and give developers incentives to do that. Twenty years from now, it’s important to me that we still have our heritage trees, that we still have a viable downtown, that our small businesses are still thriving, that our

were the first residents here in our community. What kind of relationship do you feel the university and the city should have? It’s important for all elements of our community to be unified. What happens in the school district, at the county level, in the university—it all impacts the residents here in our community. There’s a lot of dialogue and opportunities for

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I have an unparalleled track record in this race as an environmental activist and advocate. I’m very concerned about three aspects of our approach to development: flooding, fiscal conservatism and building a foundation for future generations. neighborhoods are protected, that our students have well-paying jobs when they graduate so they decide to stay here and that we don’t erase the historic legacy of the Native Americans who

that to occur, like our program ACT (Achieving Community Together). As a neighborhood commissioner, we worked with students on a myriad of issues that not only allowed us to raise aware-

ness, but also allowed us to force bonds among the community members and the students. There’s also a lot of outreach downtown—there’s a wonderful downtown association. To me, it’s paramount that we eventually have a tenants council here in our community, and it’s something that I have been pushing for 30 years. What is your biggest priority for San Marcos?

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My anthem for this year is flooding first. Like I said, fiscal conservatism and building a foundation for future generations are also top priorities. But it’s most important that residents who are just getting back into their homes after the flooding are coming back to houses that have been fully renovated. That’s key. Obviously, it’s important to be mindful when making taxpayer investments. Often times, I’ve noticed that we’re spending a lot of money on outside consultants, and I think those would be wonderful opportunities for student internships and local residents and opportunities for job openings for city staff members.


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