SAINT LOUIS, Mo. — Christe Mirikitani knows a curve ball when she sees it. The former Mizzou Tiger led her team to a Women's College World Series in the 90s before becoming a chiropractor. But years after working part-time as a private pitching coach, Mirikitani is seeing a major curveball off the mound.
"They told my dad that if I don’t cease and desist teaching girls pitching that they will sue him," said the Ellisville native.
“We were only out here eight hours the entire week: from 6 to 8 on Mondays and Thursdays and from 4 to 8 on Tuesdays," she said.
Mirikitani spent more than six years teaching girls how to pitch in her parent's backyard, the same yard she grew up playing pitch and catch in. She made two little mounds along with a backstop. All was well until roughly two summers ago when Mirikitani says the police were called to the Ballwin home (Country Creek neighborhood) due to a noise complaint.
She says one neighbor complained several times about the noise coming from the back yard, along with some lights that turned on during the summer from 8:00-8:30 PM.
“You can’t even really see his house because of the woods and the creek," said Mirikitani.
"I would think the neighborhood would be happy about that. That the community would be glad that some kind of service is going on like that. But this one neighbor is not," she said.
Mirikitani said she reached a compromise with the home owner's association, but last fall, roughly a year later, a community meeting was held and the HOA voted to disallow the softball business out of Mirikitani's parent's back-yard.
“In this particular case, I can’t imagine any court, any judge, any jury, is going to say, ‘what is going on here is bad for the community,'" said Jay Kanzler, Mirikitani's attorney.
Kanzler says the Country Creek HOA by-laws indicate that homes can have a business in-doors but not outdoors. He feels Mirikitani's business should be an exception.
“What they’re doing here doesn’t violate the spirit of the indentures of the by-laws. In fact, it’s exactly what you would want to see in the neighborhood. And that is people playing catch. If playing catch in your backyard is against the law then we’re all in trouble," he said.
5 On Your Side attempted to reach the Country Creek HOA trustees several times to no avail. However, there was at least one neighbor, who requested to remain anonymous, who provided a short statement, saying in part:
“I wish her the best as she can take the business to her home, parks or many softball facilities we have in our area."
Mirikitani has spent the last few months at a public cage in Ellisville for the time being. However, she hopes that a compromise or exception can be made with the HOA to allow her to return to her childhood home for instructing youngsters.
“The cages are great and I’m grateful to be there but it’s closed-in and hot in the summertime and it’s loud and it’s just not like you’re on the mound in a real game," said Mirikitani.
And she also says her lessons are about more than just softball, hoping that her business has proven to be a positive influence on the neighborhood.
“Teaching young girls, empowering them, giving them self-confidence and so many life lessons, if that’s the precedent being set back here then let's [have] everybody do it. It’s a great thing that’s happening," she said.
5 On Your Side also spoke with the City of Ballwin. They told 5 On Your Side that the city typically doesn't involve itself with HOA by-laws and that no ordinances are being broken as long as the business "doesn't affect the character of the neighborhood."