Intramural softball has a long waiting list this spring, a problem likely to be improved when the fields at Lane Avenue and Kenny Road are ready in 1999.This quarter, there are 80 leagues for softball, each one with four teams, said Patrick Loucks, a graduate assistant in recreational sports. Each team has 13 members, which adds up to 4,160 players in softball.Although 12 teams were raised to league status because of forfeit or absence at the captains’ meeting, there are still 35 teams on a waiting list, said Beau Rugg, assistant director of recreational sports. Because of the limitation of space and budget, 320 is the maximum number of teams the softball intramural program can promote this year, Rugg said.Currently, there are four fields each at King Avenue and Coffey Road fields. In order to schedule softball at regulation standards, it is impossible to accommodate more than that, Rugg said. The condition of the grounds also makes it difficult to add teams, he said. The old facilities at the King Avenue Field make it difficult to add more teams. “Quality is as important as quantity,” Andy Thompson, an office assistant of recreational sports, said because people park at the King Avenue field during football games, the ground is worn out. Bad weather also makes playing difficult, because it worsens the condition of the fields, Thompson said. “The best field is a dirt field,” he said. “When it rains, water doesn’t run off too well, and they have to play on the grass.” Next year, Lane Avenue Park will open, which will consist of eight more diamonds with better facilities, Rugg said. “That gives us the space advantage of programing as many teams as we want.” Rugg said four fields will be used at the Coffey Road, eight at Lane Avenue Park and the King Avenue field will no longer be used. Compared to last year, intramural sports must operate with a smaller budget in order to take care of the budget over-run from last year. Money was spent for replacing new equipment and paying wages to more officials than the program expected last year, said Diane Jensen, an associate director of recreational sports.Next year, intramural sports will get about the same amount of money as this year. The program will be looking at ways other than the allocated budget to fund as many teams as possible, Jensen said.