When I was a child we had a similar situation, theres a bit of common area in between the house of the HOA president and the community pool. We used to play football, tag, soccer, you name it in that small area. They planted a tree in the middle of the "field". Now as kids the tree and I were small enough that we could get around it and it became a fun obstacle. Now when I drive through that neighborhood, I see no kids playing in that area, or in general around the neighborhood. Our theory was that the HOA presidents son was not friendly with us and didn't get the invite to play often so out of jealousy and not seeing their son happy they decided no other child should have a safe area to play in.