It’s easy to understand the opposition to the DeKalb School District 428 plan to trade 41 acres of property near Fairview Cemetery and Huntley Middle School on the south side of DeKalb.

The property, known as Kiwanis Park, is big and flat. It has been an ideal spot for youth soccer leagues including the American Youth Soccer Association, which has more than 750 players, to hold several games at once, all in a central location.

Of course, District 428 officials aren’t trying to unload the land just to aggravate the community’s soccer moms. Although they say they don’t have any use for the property, they’d probably be OK with sitting on it for awhile if it weren’t for the $42,000 a year they’ll owe developer ShoDeen Construction in 2013, an obligation carried over from when they bought the high school property several years ago.