A California father says what was meant to be a relaxed afternoon of tennis with his children turned unexpectedly awkward when park rangers questioned whether he was giving paid lessons without the required permit.
Sam Dogen, a San Francisco dad of two, told News Outlet that he had taken his 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son to Golden Gate Heights Park after the family returned from a trip to Hawaii.
“I took the kids out for what I thought would be a nice afternoon… to get over the jet lag, be outside in the sun and go play some tennis like we’ve done many, many times,” Dogen said.
Roughly 20 minutes into the practice session, Dogen said, two rangers with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department came over and asked if he had a permit to teach tennis on the court.
A San Francisco father says city park rangers approached him while he was playing tennis with his children at Golden Gate Heights Park. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images, File)
“I was immediately thinking to myself, ‘What are you talking about? These are my kids,'” he recalled.
Dogen said the misunderstanding was cleared up only after one of his children stepped in and clarified the relationship.
“He’s my daddy,” his son told the rangers, Dogen said.
The family was never cited, but Dogen said one ranger told him the penalty for teaching without a permit could have been $192.
Sam Dogen speaks with News Outlet during a video interview about his encounter with San Francisco park rangers. (Brittany Miller/News Outlet)
Dogen emphasized that the encounter ended with what he described as an educational warning, not a citation. Still, he questioned why the interaction happened at all.
“There was nobody waiting,” he said. “It was just a surprise to me. Why even bother trying to disrupt a perfectly nice afternoon, father with his children?”
The Recreation and Parks Department previously told The San Francisco Standard that rangers routinely check whether people providing instruction on public courts are operating commercially, since paid tennis instruction requires a permit.
“This was a routine interaction,” department spokesperson Tamara Aparton told the outlet. “Because paid instruction is not allowed on public courts without a permit, rangers will sometimes ask questions to determine whether someone is providing commercial instruction or simply using the courts for personal recreation or coaching their kids.”
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department routinely checks whether people providing instruction on public tennis courts are operating commercially. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images, File)
Dogen said he understands why the city regulates commercial instruction, but added that he believes parents teaching their own children should be treated differently.
“Raising children in a city as expensive as San Francisco is hard enough,” Dogen told News Outlet. “When you add law enforcement officers who aren’t friendly, it gets even tougher.”
He said his immediate concern during the interaction was making sure the situation stayed calm with his children standing nearby.
“My only instinct was to de-escalate and keep my six-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son safe,” Dogen said.
Looking ahead, Dogen joked that he may carry documentation with him the next time he takes his children to the public courts.
A family’s game of tennis came under scrutiny by San Francisco park officials. (David Gray/Getty Images, File)
“I’m going to get their birth certificates and carry them with me in my tennis bag just to prove they’re my children,” he said. “I’m not going to get a permit to teach my children.”
Dogen said he hopes the incident prompts city officials to take a more family-friendly approach to enforcing park rules.
“My hope is that San Francisco becomes a more welcoming place for children and families, not a place where a father teaching his own kids tennis on an empty court gets threatened with a $192 fine,” he said.
