Articles
Youth Sports Administration 101: Managing Staff Members And Referees
Each league has its own set-up and needs for staffing and referees. Some programs may be reliant on volunteers to supervise fields, keep score, and referee while other organizations are able to staff these positions.
A Return to Racing
If you ask runners why they love to run, most will say it’s the sense of freedom and adventure—the power of forward momentum. When the pandemic forced countless races and programming to halt in 2020, the running community was deeply affected.
Youth Sports Administration 101: Lead The Charge
To participants in a program, coaches are its face, so it is imperative that the goals and expectations be engrained in them. A coaches meeting is the kick-off to a season, and teams generally begin practice shortly thereafter.
Youth Sports Administration 101: Effective Communication
Running a program at a high level requires an effective communicator. One can never communicate too much! Keeping participants, staff members, referees, coaches, and other volunteers in the loop with every aspect of a program is the key and can only help an operation.
The View From A Rooftop Park
San Francisco is known for its beautiful parks and landscapes. A few that come to mind for both residents and visitors are the Presidio, Crissy Field, Golden Gate Park, Dolores Park, and McLaren Park.
Ace In The Hole
Faced with the same challenges of other municipal-golf programs, the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took a creative approach. What resulted was a facility that provides recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities and the entire community.
Things To Do At Day Camp
In the early 1980s, I had my first real job at a parks and recreation department. It had a strong sports program but lacked the typical day camps, craft programs, or dance classes that most other departments had.
“A” For Effort
Go for a walk between neighborhood subdivisions in Colesville, Md., and you’ll stumble upon a unique urban oasis. Maydale Conservation Park, managed by Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), features an idyllic stream, a meadow, trails, wetlands, and woodlands across 24 acres.
Successful Sparring
Basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and tennis are staples in the sports diets of Americans and are routinely offered through parks and recreation programs. But one sport that’s finally making its mark is boxing.
Punching Up
As I was driving home from my first boxing class at Mount Tabor Park, I called my grandfather’s cell phone. I wanted to tell him about the excitement on the kids’ faces and their hard work on the different punching bags set up across the gym.
Identifying User-Fee Traps
What do you do when some users will pay a higher fee if they have to, but others cannot? Do you set the fee lower and sacrifice revenue? Or do you set it higher and accept that some users will be priced out of the activity?
For The Love Of Chocolate
The absence of fun gatherings during a year of lockdown was especially deflating for parks and recreation staff in the city of Fairfax, Va., a small community located 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. The staff members take pride in organizing large community events throughout the year for residents and visitors, and canceling one event after another was very dispiriting.
Club All-Access
The Grapevine Parks and Recreation’s Club All-Access in Texas is an adaptive recreation program for adults ages 18 and older with special needs. The purpose of the program is to create opportunities for participants to engage in a variety of activities geared towards vocational readiness, health and wellness, independent living, and life skills, along with creating authentic social connections with peers.
The Growing Importance Of Virtual Programming
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced the world to virtual yoga, online happy hours, digital birthday parties, and even live-streamed weddings. Now, citizens of every generation and technology experience level are
Finding Ways To Play
As COVID-19 left a wake of canceled events last summer, a small New York town took a new approach to recreation, offering skateboarding lessons, tours of Yellowstone, and riverside concerts.
Citizen Engagement In Parks Programming In 2021
Leaders in parks and recreation have learned that virtual programming isn’t a COVID-19 programming stopgap. Rather, it’s an opportunity to engage users through innovation to become a vital resource in recreation programming.
Putting On A Triathlon
Thirty-two miles of powdery, sugar-white sand caressed by rich blue-green Gulf waters create the perfect playground for nearly 4.5 million annual vacationers on the Alabama
Didn’t Miss A Beat
The Festival International de Lousiane was about a month away from hosting its 34th annual cultural celebration when the world shut down during the 2020 pandemic. Instead of taking over Lafayette’s downtown area and welcoming 300,000 festival goers, the team was suddenly faced with giving up or diving into something brand-new.
Lacrosse, Anyone?
Fast-paced, exciting, and inclusive, lacrosse remains one of the nation's fastest-growing sports at the youth and high school levels. Over the last two decades, its rising popularity has pushed the game far beyond its traditional Northeast footprint into emerging areas from coast to coast.