Hofstra's Julia Apsel (17) throws a pitch during a college softball game between the University of California Bears and the Hofstra Pride at Norman Regional of NCAA softball tournament at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Okla., Saturday, May, 20, 2023.
Mira Mesa, California – Just days before dozens of youth teams gathered at Hourglass Community Park for the Summer Heat Tournament, one of the host organizations—the Mira Mesa Girls Softball team—faced a devastating setback. Thieves broke into the team’s storage room, making off with thousands of dollars in essential equipment and leaving behind a trail of damage.
The estimated value of the stolen items is roughly $14,000. Among the losses were branded canopies and a generator—tools critical not just for the tournament, but for the team’s day-to-day operations. The vandalism was discovered the morning after the break-in, when team members arrived to find the storage room damaged and their equipment missing.
The incident comes as a blow to a community organization that serves many players from Title One schools, where economic hardship is often a reality. The league had spent years gradually building up its inventory through grassroots fundraising. Now, that progress has been wiped away in a single act of theft.
Despite the loss, the team pressed on, participating in the Summer Heat Tournament as planned. Community support has begun to emerge in response to the theft, including a GoFundMe campaign aimed at helping the team recover financially. Still, the impact of the crime is likely to linger well beyond a single weekend.
Raising registration fees is now under consideration as a way to replace what was lost, an option the team had long worked to avoid. For families already struggling to make ends meet, increased costs could mean fewer opportunities for children to participate in organized sports—programs that offer social connection, physical activity, and confidence-building.
The park where the theft occurred is jointly operated by the City of San Diego and the San Diego Community College District, as it sits on the campus of Miramar College. The team filed a police report with campus authorities last week, but as of Sunday, they had not received any updates on the investigation.
For now, the Mira Mesa Girls Softball team is focusing on moving forward, hoping that community support and renewed fundraising efforts can help fill the gap left by the theft—and prevent it from casting a shadow over the league’s future.
