Youth baseball, basketball and soccer organizers report growth, partnerships and facility needs

The Sports and Recreation Committee on Feb. 3 heard reports from multiple youth sports organizations that highlighted participation growth, community partnerships and facility and equipment needs.

Gary Stelges, president of the Youth Baseball Association of Royal Palm Beach, said spring baseball opened with evaluations and the first practices started that week. Stelges said the league fields 26 baseball teams and 10 softball teams for the spring season and noted roughly 40% of players were in the tee‑ball age group. He described partnerships that include weekend camps and youth outreach from former professional player Tristan McKenzie and promotions with the Miami Marlins that brought league participants to a major‑league game.

A representative identified in the transcript as “Miss Brooks” — who provided a handout and registration information for a local basketball program — said their program fields multiple teams across middle‑school and high‑school age groups, is running tournaments and uses web platforms for registration. She described coaching volunteers and planned tryouts and distributed a printed summary to the committee.

Veil Hasson, president and director of coaching for the Royal Palm Beach Strikers soccer program, said the club runs both recreation and competitive programs and reported roughly 662 recreation registrations for spring with 56 rec teams, plus dozens of competitive teams. Hasson said the club operates player development pathways (recreation → all‑stars → competitive development → competitive teams), pursues coaching education and provides video and performance tracking systems that follow the ball and individual players during games. He requested storage on site for equipment and a fenced storage area for goals, and again asked for turf at a field the club uses to protect playing surfaces.

Across presenters, speakers noted common needs: more field space, storage for equipment, possible camera or tracking systems to capture game film and safety/maintenance of fields. Organizers also described community sponsors that help keep registration costs lower and said they coordinate with school and university coaches for clinics and development opportunities.

Committee members and staff suggested opportunities to explore shared investments — for example, a tracking camera or wearable performance trackers that could be made available to teams on a fee basis — and asked organizers to coordinate proposals with staff ahead of grant or capital requests.