Park Stories

Take a step back and look at what players need to aspire to be great By John Engh When I run into people from my youth-sports days, they tell me what a great coach my dad was and how they still remember some of the ways he motivated them to work harder and be better.  

Reach out to the elderly and children with messages of kindness and caring By Ron Ciancutti

Universal locker rooms evolve to offer more utility, accessibility, and privacy By Jefferey Spivey Much about fitness has changed over the last few years, including the advent of virtual classes and the meteoric rise of pickleball. However, in gym facilities across the country, one of the more noticeable changes has little to do with exercise.

Drawing the line for optimal playability By Mary Helen Sprecher  The only thing more prevalent than pickleball these days is this question: “Should we line our tennis courts for pickleball, too, or just have separate pickleball courts?”

Score a victory by incorporating infrastructure to mitigate flooding By Thomas P. Shay Many parks, recreation, and athletic facilities serve as community hubs where residents gather to compete, play, socialize, and enjoy the outdoors. These prized community assets can play an even bigger role by incorporating infrastructure to manage stormwater, mitigate flooding, and achieve water-quality goals....

Using data and partnerships to determine sports-field placement By Clement Lau Park planning has become increasingly data-driven in recent years. For instance, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) collects and analyzes a high volume and variety of data to prepare major plans and studies, with key examples including the 2016 Parks Needs Assessment (PNA), Community Parks a...

Understanding all components of a project budget By Thomas Betti Envisioning the possibilities of a new community center or sports facility is exciting, but when the costs of a project add up, the last thing anyone wants to see is a surprise. To bypass aggressive finger-pointing, the best advice is to avoid any comparison with similar facilities and to invest in information-gathering that will hel...

Retaining instructors is the key to a quality program By Stephanie Chelar The heart and soul of any fitness center is its group-exercise program. Nearly 40 percent of members will participate in these classes at some point, and the American College of Sports Medicine designated group fitness within the top-three trends of 2020 (Thompson, 2019). So, it makes sense that the makeup of a group-fitness...

How a former golf course became the first veterans park in Geauga County, Ohio By Sandy Ward At the center of Geauga County, Ohio, along the main artery Route 44, lies a new park with more heart than most. Veterans Legacy Woods quickly gained recognition as the county’s 27th park and its first dedicated to U.S. veterans.

Horseshoe Bay Nature Park offers visitors an opportunity to explore the region’s natural heritage By Sarah Yant Visitors to Horseshoe Bay Nature Park are welcomed at the entrance by a cedar coyote fence bearing the park’s distinctive logo: a purple Texas thistle nestled in the curve of a horseshoe. It’s a fitting symbol for a place whose existence bridges the past and future and strengthens the ti...

Making the position part of the youth-sports lineup By John Engh  My memories of being a volunteer coach of my kids’ teams rarely involve anything to do with the sport I was coaching. Sure, I remember some of the conversations with players after a particularly fun game, certain kids making great plays, and those times when one of my lesser-skilled players rose to the occasion and did something in...

Conversations can lead to common-sense solutions By Ron Ciancutti Long before business meetings included projections and metrics, the people sitting around a table talked about how things were going. They asked about the families and inquired about the “work family”—the gang that worked together all day. In the park system where I worked, there were separate groups under the parks and rec umbrella...

Aquatic-fitness classes explode in popularity thanks to a dedicated instructor By Mike McLaughlin Envision 112 people in a pool jumping and shooting baskets, pulling aqua dumbbells through the water and thrusting them into the air, while doing kicking exercises underwater. They smile, laugh, and sing along with the music as energetic instructors run them through a three-hour event. The 2022 Sunflo...

Creating a rec center with a farmhouse feel By Zach Bisek and Lauren McKissack What began as a homestead fueled by the Gold Rush and then turned into an agricultural hub, the town of Berthoud, Colo., has not-so-slowly morphed into a growing destination for young families and modern-day Coloradans looking for a slower pace of life and lower living costs than in its neighboring cities. With both a p...

From napkin sketches to developing lasting landscapes By Douglas Gerber Whether a master-planning idea emerges from public-outreach efforts, community initiatives, or common needs, an idea takes hold and exploration ensues. These flashes of brilliance may have significant impacts on the built environment, but where to begin? This article will explore how that idea can be developed into a defined p...

Use shade to increase use of sports facilities By Mary Helen Sprecher One of the great advantages of sports is they bring people together. Let’s face it—it’s just plain fun to catch up with friends, whether watching kids in Little League or finishing a great game of pickleball or tennis and wanting to unwind and talk. In other words, the social experience is its own part of the game. If your park...

Focus on ability instead of disability By Heidi Lemmon Public skateparks have come a long way in the last 25 years; they are no longer single- or even double-use facilities. Chances are your park is being used by skateboarders, BMX riders, scooters, rollerbladers, roller skaters, and even wheelchairs. All genders, all ages, abled and disabled riders, create a huge melting pot of active users who m...

Help players develop a lifelong love for a sport By John Engh When I was younger, I couldn’t wait for the next season to start, and it didn’t matter for what sport. Baseball was my first choice, but basketball, football, soccer, and wrestling were all big in my house. My two older brothers were big into wrestling. And while my mom was the real jock in the house, having played two varsity-level spo...

Carousel restorations honor tradition while preserving recreation for the future By Jefferey Spivey When visitors buy a ticket to the Balboa Park Carousel in San Diego, their likely objective is a few minutes of traditional, family-friendly fun. But they’re actually experiencing part of the city’s history. 

Day-to-day communication keeps MLB coming back to Lee County facilities By Jefferey Spivey Throughout 2023, one of the biggest stories in major league baseball has involved new rules with the addition of a pitch timer, bigger bases, and limitations around defensive shifts. The changes are designed to shorten the average length of games and encourage more viewers to tune in. So, all season long, di...

Building cool parks to beat the urban, heat-island effect By Rupsa Roy, Julie Eaton Ernst, and Indrani Ghosh  Parks and open space function as critical infrastructure for public health as well as for mitigating and adapting to climate change. This is especially evident in island environments, where there is limited vegetation, paved surfaces, and dense development. These compounding factors result...

 From less mowing to attracting pollinators, there are plenty of reasons to consider them By Lydia Major and Nikki Schlepp The benefits of turf alternatives have been debated for years. Members of city councils, the parks commission, or perhaps even community members have touted the benefits: fescues that need only occasional mowing, saving staff time and reducing fossil-fuel consumption; clovers...

Attracting teams for tournaments and the keys to keep them coming back By Mike McLaughlin So, you have built a premier sports complex. How do you make it pay? By keeping it busy every day. “When you build a leading-edge, multi-use facility, sustainability is the number-one concern,” says Darren Tolin, Shawnee County Parks + Recreation (SCP+R) sports supervisor in Kansas. “It’s a double-edged sword...

Driven by demographic shifts, the sport is growing at the municipal level By Mary Helen Sprecher There’s no end to the number of sports that have been brought to the USA through immigration, such as soccer, field hockey, and rugby. And that’s not even taking into consideration other popular fixtures on the competition calendar like wrestling and track and field. The fact is, one would be hard-pres...

Dividing a baseball field brings three times as much activity By Casey Wooddell “The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”  --Moliere, French Playwright In Oxford, Ohio, this quote fits well for a field-renovation project that’s been ongoing for nearly half a decade and has finally wrapped up. Divvying up one adult softball field into three youth baseball and softball diamonds is almos...