Last Week!

So I just finished up my last week of my internship. It just flew by! I can't believe that it is finally over. I really enjoyed my internship experience. Even though I have worked in youth sports before, being an intern really gave me a wonderful opportunity to shadow employees in many divisions of the department. It really opened my eyes to how everyone in the department works together and how they meet to make decisions for programs and events. Especially with the reduced budget, some programs, especially those that are free to the public, cannot pay any part time staff wages so they have to depend on donated time from the full time employees which really keeps the employees department-wide supportive of each other's events.
I have been involved in many projects such as the accreditation of the department, the creation of flyers and coaching material, park closures and clean up, special events, park construction, sports site supervison and many, many others. I have gained a great deal of experience and knowledge that I can use in the future.

The Sun was Shining!

So there was no rain yesterday which meant that we were finally able to end our spring sports season. Yay! All of the certificates, pictures and trophies were handed out successfully to the players and it feels good to get the season behind us. There is no time to rest though. We are already in the process of getting the summer season under way. All last week I put together our database to organize our participants who have already registered.
On Wednesday, I did have the pleasure of creating a new map of Glendale schools that we use to help form the sports teams. The previous one we had had the schools plotted (some in the wrong area) and the schools were handwritten which made it a bit difficult to read. The new one I created was larger, and included a bigger area of the map and I also added many schools that surround Glendale because we did quite a bit of marketing to schools in Phoenix since the city cut youth sports programs due to budget cuts.

Oh the Rain!

So the last games from the season were rained out. I went out to the fields at 8am just to check to see if they weren't too wet in case it stopped raining before the game. But the fields were practically lakes so even if the rain let up there was no way that they would be playable. So the rainout hotline was updated so that the field closures could be relayed to the parents and coaches. The games are being rescheduled for this coming weekend. Normally, if games are rained out they are not made up, they are simply gone but since the rained out games are the final games of the season we have to play the games so that we can hand out the team pictures, certificates and trophies. So hopefully there will be sunshine this Saturday so that we can end this season.

End of the Spring Season

After a long 8 weeks the youth sports spring season is finally coming to a close. The past two weeks I have been completely swapt with end of the season items. I had to create and print participation certificates for every player in our leagues and I also printed certificates of appreciation for our volunteer coaches. On Tuesday, the trophies came in so I had to first make sure that the engraving was correct, they sent up the number of trophies that we ordered and also put them in groups by coaches. Yesterday, the picture packets arrived from the sports photographer so i checked the packets and made sure that all were accounted for. Getting the end of season items all put together is not a difficult task in itself but it can be put on hold because we deal with outside vendors with the trophies and pictures so I constantly had to be in contact with them to ensure that they would deliver the items on time.

But I completed the project and everything is set to go out to the fields tomorrow. All I have to do now is hope that the rain stays away or we may have to postpone a week.

Its a busy life in Youth Sports

Well i have not been on the blog lately. I have been working a great deal of hours on top of my other job. So let's get down to it. On March 22nd, I work at Glendale's first Folk and Heritage Festival. It was held at the Historic Area of Sahuaro Ranch Park. This event was a two day festival that had five stages of entertainment such as bands and interactive workshops. I was the lead for the children's activities, which basically meant I was the contact for the event cordinator to ensure that the area was problem free. And I got to carry a radio. Always cool. Halfway through the day, the wind had started to whip through the event with a lot of force and since it was held outdoors it posed a problem. I had to move the children's arts and craft area because there was too much flying dust in the area it had previously been and it was causing a health and safety hazard to children. Soon after moving, the wind continued to beat down the children's craft area, so we had to pack it up early. The staff in that area was sent around the entire festival to put down all of the pop-up tents for fear that the wind would carry them causing them to injure a patron. Aside from the wind, the event was successful.

Spring Sports

We have started the youth sports spring season. The sports that we offer are football, cheer, basketball, box soccer, t-ball and kickball. The ages for the sports depends on the sports but there is at least one sport offered for ages 3-14. My primary responsibility is to move about the five sites and make sure that there are no problems, games start on time, officials show up and outside groups aren't causing trouble. I am also a substitute if a site supervisor calls in sick, which has already happened twice. I'm hoping for good health for the staff for the rest of the season!

Basketball Skills Challenge

This past Saturday, the youth sports division held a FREE basketball event for boys and girls ages 9-14. The Basketball Skills Challenge is the same challenge that NBA players compete in during the All-Star Weekend only for kids. The participants are split into age groups and separated by gender. The 3 with the quickest times receive ribbons and the top finisher gets the chance to compete in a regional competition at an NBA game.
We had about 50 participants compete in the event which is a decent number. The event is not too widely known because many cities have dropped all of their free skills competitions because of all of the budget cuts. The City of Glendale has two free events coming up soon that are offered to children. The first is Pitch, Hit and Run which is a baseball/softball skills competition on March 28th at 4pm at Paseo Racquet Center, 63rd Ave & Thunderbird. The second competition is the Hershey's Track & Field Games which participants compete is various running and field events on April 17th at 6pm at Centennial High School, 14388 N. 79th Ave. Please spread the word about these free events because they might not be offered for very much longer

Skate Competition

Last Saturday I worked at the Union Hills Classic Skate Competition at Foothills Skate Park. It is a very exciting event because there are a lot of people who are passionate about skating and this competition is the chance for them to show off what they have been practicing.

I worked in the registration are before the start of the event. Even though there were signs posted indicating which line participants were suppose to wait in so they can receive their competition packet there were quite a bit people who were very confused.

For those who don't know much about skate competitions, here is the run-down of the event:
Participants are split into divisions based on their age and gender. They are given an allotted amount of time to perform their various tricks around the skate park and are judged by how well they perform the tricks and how difficult they are. After everyone in their division has competed then there is a "jam" where all of the participants in the division skate around the park performing tricks for last minute points.

1st, 2nd and 3rd place is awarded in each division and the winners are given trophies and winners goodies. All and all the event was great and I had fun working.

Week of Meetings

Last week, I went to a fee team meeting where Recreation Coordinators and managers discussed various options to increase revenue for the parks and recreation department. Basically, fee increases are proposed at this meeting and the peers discuss whether or not it is feesible, and if not, proposals are revised and submitted for the next fee team meeting.

The next day, I went to a Deputy Managers Meeting where multiple departments, not just parks and recreation, met to discuss current situations in their areas. It was interesting because I saw how the departments interact and are all linked in one way or another.

The last meeting I attended was an accreditation meeting. The city parks and recreation department is taking steps to become an accredited agency through the National Parks and Recreation Association. All full time staff are placed in groups to satisfy accreditation standards.

Youth Sports

I am an intern for the City of Glendale. I will work mostly in the Sports and Aquatics Division emphasizing in youth sports but I will have the opportunity to work in different divisions and in a variety of facilities.
The past two weeks I have been working on the registration of participants for the spring sports season. I also had to prepare equipment bags, rosters and schedules for volunteer coaches so they are able to start practices with the youth teams.