Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Sports Standards topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
St. Mary's County advisory board endorses update on youth-sports community-standards program
Summary
The advisory board reviewed a progress memo on the county's Raising Community Standards in Youth Sports program, heard annual participation figures and outreach plans, and endorsed sending an update to the Board of County Commissioners; staff recommended future facility access restrictions for noncompliant volunteer leagues.
The Parks & Recreation Advisory Board on Jan. 7 reviewed a memo on the county's Raising Community Standards in Youth Sports program and voted to endorse forwarding the memo to the Board of County Commissioners.
The memo, presented by staff, reported that a coordinator hired in November 2006 has completed about a year with the program. Staff said they have processed roughly 1,000 coaches for criminal-background checks and nearly that many coaches have completed the required coaches' training. Under the program, leagues that use public facilities must participate in the program, require background checks for up to two coaches per team (the county pays for two per team), require completion of a coaches' training program, and obtain parents' signatures on a code-of-ethics pledge.
Program staff said 11 coaches (about 1 percent) were disqualified under the program's listed disqualifiers last year. Staff reported stronger compliance in county-run programs (for example, programs run at Leonard Hall Recreation Center) with 97 percent of those coaches attending the training. Volunteer-run independent leagues achieved about 67 percent completion of background checks and 69 percent completion of required training, countywide, staff said.
The memo noted outreach steps including posting the guidelines and a brochure on the department's website, distributing brochures to leagues, and an online list of coaches who have completed training and background checks so parents can monitor teams. Staff said the department's coordinator and another staff member will attend league meetings this season to help increase compliance.
On enforcement policy, staff recommended that after the coming fall season leagues that remain out of compliance be ineligible to reserve or use county fields. Presenters said they intend to use discretion for leagues making demonstrable efforts to comply. The advisory board voted to endorse sending the memo and status update to the Board of County Commissioners; one board member indicated an abstention during that vote.
Board members discussed operational challenges the volunteer leagues face, including difficulty recruiting coaches, teams with a single coach (which can affect the per-team'two-coach metric), and scheduling of training. Board members suggested local publicity to recruit coaches and offered to assist with outreach materials.
The endorsement is an advisory action to the Board of County Commissioners; the commissioners will decide whether to adopt any change in policy or enforcement.
