Council approves revised PlayLA project plans and accepts LA28 funding for youth sports expansion

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council ad hoc committee approved a set of revised project plans and funding allocations for PlayLA, the city’s youth sports partnership program with the LA28 organizing committee, expanding programming and pilot sports and reconciling an overage from the 2023–24 season.

Veronica Polanco, chief innovation officer for PlayLA at the Department of Recreation and Parks, and Austin Dimas, chief operating officer for PlayLA, presented the department’s revised and proposed project plans for fiscal years 2023–24, 2024–25 and 2025–26. Polanco told the committee PlayLA has prequalified 90 sites, including 30 recreation centers and 37 pools, and that the program offers 55 able-bodied sports and 14 adaptive sports (with 25 Olympic offerings and nine Paralympic offerings among those activities).

Polanco said PlayLA exceeded expected enrollment in 2023–24 by roughly 85,000 participants, producing a reconciliation gap of about $4 million that LA28 has been asked to cover. For the 2024–25 revised project plan Polanco reported a projected enrollment of about 217,000 participants; for 2025–26 the department proposed a project plan requesting $33,125,000 with a projected enrollment of about 229,000.

Polanco described new pilot programs for 2025–26 intended to be both responsive to community need and sustainable after the Games: a cricket development program built around Woodley Park’s competitive cricket field with USA Cricket and local associations; expansion of pickleball where courts already exist and which the department said is well‑suited to inclusive play for adaptive and able-bodied participants; and a basketball development pathway modeled on the soccer development pilot, with regional hubs leading to competitive play and scouting opportunities.

PlayLA officials said the program is experimenting with tiered competitive programs that can include travel and tournament participation. Polanco noted travel and tournament costs drove the reconciliation overage for 2023–24; PlayLA charges participants $10 per month for some offerings and subsidizes travel and tournament expenses for teams.

Councilmembers used the presentation to press Rec and Parks and LA28 on several fronts. Councilmember Kevin Rodriguez asked for measurable, tangible procurement and workforce outcomes — not just commitments — and said he expects the next committee report to show specific local‑business engagement efforts and concrete results. Councilmember Nithya Padilla asked whether PlayLA had explored legacy investment structures for program funds and requested clearer reporting on the LA28 funding pipeline; PlayLA staff pointed to an exhibit showing a $160 million LA28 allocation through 2028 and said roughly $50 million would remain after the 2025–26 plan if approved.

Polanco outlined other partnerships and program details: a Students Run LA (SRLA) collaboration that would use LA28 travel funding to bus student groups to larger training venues; an RFP and a vendor bench for equestrian programming and adaptive equestrian clinics; and workforce and coaching pipelines that will include certification offerings in partnership with national governing bodies and local professional teams (Polanco cited a partnership with Angel City to scale soccer coaching certifications for girls’ programs). PlayLA staff also said they will expand community school parks programming (sites on LAUSD campuses used for weekend and summer recreation) and provided a count of 10 current community school park sites with an additional five planned for 2025–26.

Committee members sought clearer metrics for enrollment and outcomes, asked how Rec and Parks is ensuring local residents get priority access to limited slots, and pushed Rec and Parks to coordinate more directly with LA28 on athlete‑practice access to city facilities and on marketing so residents know PlayLA programming is funded through the Games partnership. Polanco said PlayLA conducts local outreach, partners with faith‑based and community organizations, participates in citywide events and will expand digital storytelling and marketing next fiscal year in coordination with LA28’s marketing team.

After discussion, the committee approved the PlayLA-related items (agenda items 6, 7, 8 and 9) on roll call. The clerk recorded seven yes votes and the items were adopted.

Votes at a glance

- Items 6–9 (PlayLA revised project plans, funding allocation acceptance and related reports): approved on roll call, 7 ayes, 0 noes, outcome recorded as approved.

The committee requested that Rec and Parks and LA28 return with clearer, measurable procurement and workforce goals, a list of community school park sites and updates on volunteer recruitment and wayfinding coordination with Metro and LAWA.