CITY REPORT SUGGESTS WAYS FIELD EQUITY CAN BE BOOSTED.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

Extra space and time slots for softball games may become available in San Fernando Valley parks to help resolve a dispute over lack of fields for girl athletes, city parks officials said Wednesday.

Speaking to a City Council committee, the officials presented a report listing seven Valley parks where additional playing hours are available and at least 17 sites where new diamonds could be built.

Councilman Mike Feuer, chairman of the council's Arts, Health and Humanities Committee, said the report details ``changes within Recreation and Parks that I think are going to dramatically improve opportunities for girls and young women.''

A task force of community members, coaches, legal representatives and city officials will study the list to see if better scheduling and additional fields could make room for girls softball.

The report attempts to address complaints raised by the West Valley Girls' Softball League in a lawsuit that boys were given the best fields. The lawsuit was amended in September to include girls' sports citywide, said American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney Rocio Cordoba.

``At this point we're very happy that the city will explore meaningful opportunities for girls to participate in sports throughout the city of Los Angeles,'' she said.

Abby Leibman, executive director of the Women's Law Center, co-counsel in the lawsuit, cautioned that the task force must distribute playing time equitably.

``When we talk about sharing, we mean realistic sharing, not the girls can have it during El Nino and the boys can have it during April, May and June,'' she said. ``There has to be real access.''

Balboa Sports Center, Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, Ritchie Valens Park, Sylmar Park, Chatsworth Park, Reseda Recreation Center and Sun Valley Recreation Center all have extra hours available for softball or baseball games, city Recreation and Parks Department officials said.

Six other parks, including Branford, David M. Gonzales, South Weddington, Chatsworth Park South, Mason and Valley Plaza, have room for one or more additional baseball or softball diamonds.

A number of other city properties, now mostly or entirely open space, could accommodate baseball or softball fields, the report stated. Those include Woodley Park, Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

Feuer said he hopes to assemble a task force to review those options within the next few weeks.