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.