Park Stories

Stop lying to yourself and step up to the plate By Ron Ciancutti Now in its eleventh season, The NFL Today television show precedes the weekly Sunday 1 p.m. football game with five men who exchange predictions, status reports, and game scores. Most of the hosts are former football players and coaches, and their knowledge gives viewers an inside track on issues that matter to the game. The “anchors...

Learn how to engage your audience By Silvana Clark At a parks and recreation conference, I watched a speaker begin his presentation by saying, “Soooooo, I want to tell you a story.” He then went on to relate how his daughter had all the latest toys, games, and age-appropriate video games. He described many of these in detail. His story was punctuated with unnecessary details about the hair color o...

Teaching youth how to identify, handle, and overcome it By John Engh  One of the great exercises that the National Alliance for Youth Sports offers in its Academy for Youth Sports Administrators is to make a list of all the reasons that sports are great for kids. We’ve done this with groups hundreds of times through the years, and the lists are nearly identical. Making friends, socialization, lear...

Providing options to support a lifetime love of the game By Gerry Healey, Brock Atwell, and Sue Omanson Given the right parameters, softball is a team sport that can be played and enjoyed for a lifetime. Located in the Chicago area, the Naperville Park District has found that offering adults ages 19 to 90+ the opportunity to play the sport they love on a schedule that works for them is a winning c...

Removing barriers so all can have access to musical instruments By Sue Murray There are times when two projects coincide and achieve a perfect outcome. A prime example was in 2020 when the Modesto ROTARY Club (MoRo) in California was preparing to celebrate its centennial year. MoRo has supported numerous local projects, from constructing a pavilion at a downtown park and planting trees to helping...

Skatepark-development pitfalls to avoid By Alec Beck While there are many challenges in developing a public skatepark, a few common pitfalls can be easily avoided. Skating around these snares can help create the most popular recreation facility in town as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Building resilient parks one ingredient at a time By Cheri Ruane “Stone Soup” is a European folk story in which hungry strangers, carrying nothing but a cooking pot filled with water and a stone arrive in a town and convince each of the townspeople to share a small amount of their food to make a meal that everyone enjoys. It is a lesson on the value of sharing and the potential synergy borne of co...

L.A. County takes a data-driven approach to reimagine conservation By Clement Lau On December 6, 2022, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the 2022 Parks Needs Assessment Plus (PNA+) Final Report as its 30x30 plan. The goal is to conserve 30 percent of lands and coastal waters by 2030 to address climate change and protect biodiversity. The federal government and various...

Outdoor, play-based learning supports school curriculums and unlocks new worlds for children By Jefferey Spivey

Sanitization and public-health partnerships can keep park visitors safe By Jefferey Spivey Splash pads are a hallmark of summertime family fun for communities across the country. Typically free to use and open to the public, they’re an accessible and affordable way to keep children entertained when school’s out. Many parents also look to splash pads as a safer alternative to pools—visitors can eng...

It’s not just for seniors By Sue Nelson There are more than 3-million U.S. fitness professionals helping more than 73-million Americans stay healthy through exercise, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. The fitness industry plays a central and essential role in promoting and maintaining mental, physical, and social health and well-being. 

Upgrades and enhancements provide incentives for patrons to return By John Dzarnowski To remain relevant and attract visitors, municipal aquatic centers must make upgrades and add interest despite the challenges presented by budget constraints and the fluctuations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of forced closures of facilities, many aquatic leaders lost revenue, and funding for progr...

Advice on navigating the road ahead with a sense of purpose By Anthony Iracki By most accounts and standards, a young professional is someone who is deemed “35 and younger.” While I will take that assessment for my own benefit (who wants to admit they’re getting older?) I will also honor what I see as a time-honored tradition among my colleagues and use my recent 35th birthday as a moment to “bow...

Prepare coaches and parents to respond to medical emergencies By John Engh Fewer than 48 hours into the New Year, fans watching the final Monday Night Football game of the season between Cincinnati and Buffalo saw a chilling scene when the Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and medical personnel rushed to tend to him. 

Instead of focusing on fake By Ron Ciancutti Most days I take the same on-ramp at the same highway intersection. On this particular day, I was greeted by a giant orange sign that warned me of a “Flagman Ahead.” There wasn’t. In fact, the area looked like construction was going to begin because of the machinery parked all over, but there were no workers in sight. Perhaps they were just “staging” th...

Today’s aquatic facilities are more welcoming and inclusive By Mary Helen Sprecher Swimming pools are as much a part of summer as the end of school, Popsicles, and bright, sunny days. And with the worst of the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for those facilities to welcome back the crowds. Or is it? Nationwide, pools have undergone plenty of changes to become more inclusive and user-fr...

Developing a risk-management program to prevent accidents in aquatic facilities By Gerry Dworkin Drowning is a significant health concern within the U.S., and is one of the leading causes of unintentional-injury deaths for people of all ages. Drowning is the third-leading cause of unintentional-injury death for children ages 14 and under, and the second-leading cause of death from all causes for c...

Examine supporting facilities for a positive user experience By Stephanie Fujimura Most people who think about accessibility in aquatic facilities probably consider pool features such as lifts, ramps, and stairs. While aquatic function is the primary purpose of such a facility, they should not overlook the role that supporting facilities play in the overall user experience. A holistic facility is...

#SplashSavvy Campaign aims to assist in a drowning emergency By Kevin Goodrich and Vic Hathaway According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4,000 unintentional drownings occur in the United States every year. The town of Marana, Ariz., hopes to reduce that number. As someone in a position of responsibility to contribute to decreasing the number of drownings as the to...