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District proposes partnership with local recreation group to pilot Bridge Development League for grades 5–8
Summary
District athletics staff proposed a pilot partnership with ICRC (Bridge Development League) to market youth basketball by zoning teams to middle‑school feeder patterns and using district gyms for games and practices; board discussion covered potential impacts on other community leagues and inclusion of special‑needs students.
The district presented a proposed memorandum of understanding with a local recreation provider (ICRC) to pilot a Bridge Development League (youth basketball for grades 5–8) that would use district gyms and district marketing to increase participation and strengthen the pipeline to middle‑ and high‑school athletics.
Coordinator Steven Puckett described the pilot as a low‑overhead partnership in which ICRC would continue to organize leagues, select volunteer coaches, and run games while the district would provide a point‑of‑contact at each school, marketing support, and access to facilities. Puckett said the goal is to engage students who otherwise don’t participate and to create a feeder pathway aligned with school teams and feeder patterns.
Trustee discussion focused on several topics: - Potential effect on existing community leagues (YMCA, church leagues) and whether the district’s involvement might reduce participation or revenue in those organizations. Staff said the aim is to capture students not currently participating and to collaborate rather than displace other providers, and trustees asked administration to research potential negative impacts. - Inclusion and special‑needs programming: Trustees asked whether the partner offers adaptive or special‑needs options; district staff said they would follow up with more details. - Logistics and staffing: The district indicated it would offer stipends for district staff who fill specified roles (point of contact, marketing, etc.) and would seek to recruit volunteer coaches; the pilot would begin with basketball in the winter season, with possible expansion to other sports later.
Next steps: The administration will finalize any job descriptions and MOUs with the partner if the board directs; trustees asked staff to collect additional information on inclusivity, competition with other providers and volunteer/official availability before expanding the program beyond the pilot.
