Providence recreation leaders review 2024, set 2025 goals; soccer partnership, swim and basketball expansions highlighted

The Providence Recreation Department reviewed 2024 accomplishments and set program and operations goals for 2025 at the Recreation Advisory Board meeting on Feb. 10.

Director Holland of the Providence Recreation Department summarized the year-to-date figures and organizational changes, telling board members the department is piloting online registration and facilities-management tools and has begun converting participants into formal “members.” He said the system pilots and new hires will support expanded programming in 2025 and improve recordkeeping for maintenance and rentals.

The report said total visits to Providence recreation centers in 2024 were “just a little under 18,000,” averaging roughly 60 visits per day; the department is using that attendance data to guide program placement and staffing. The department also cited summer-camp data showing an average of 45 campers per day and an attendance-to-enrollment rate of about 63 percent, which staff said they plan to address by changing registration and pricing policies.

Why it matters: department leaders told the board they now have two years of usable participation data and new digital tools that let them track facility rentals, maintenance requests and program registrations. Staff said those capabilities should let them target outreach, identify underused sites and reduce single-point failures when individual staff are absent.

Key program and operations items

- Soccer partnership and expansion: Francisco Martinez, an organizer with the Guatemala Soccer League who worked with the department in 2024, addressed the board and described his group’s existing neighborhood academy for low-income Providence families. Martinez said the league is prepared to continue a multi-site partnership: “we want it indoor and outdoor,” he told the board, urging expansion to at least one or two additional locations in 2025 so leagues are closer to families’ neighborhoods.

- Youth basketball changes and female participation: The department changed the former “Biddy Basketball” into a Youth Basketball Development League in 2024 and centralized some games at larger facilities. Registration numbers reported to the board show 374 boys and 145 girls currently enrolled; the championship is scheduled for March 8. Director Holland told the board, “We’re having a problem with keeping [female participants] in the door,” and staff said increasing girls-only programming, a February break women’s camp and clearer schedules for practices and games are priorities for 2025.

- Swim programming and splash pad: Staff said swim lessons are scheduled to start March 10 (Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 4:30–6 p.m.; 30-minute lessons; $10 per lesson) and that open swim will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30–6 p.m. and Saturday mornings (time depends on pool schedule). Board members were also told a splash pad is planned for spring at the park adjacent to the Rogers recreation center; staff said the facility should be well suited to younger children who cannot use the main pool.

- Camps, registration and pricing: The department proposed allowing families to register for individual weeks of summer camp (rather than requiring sign-up for an entire multi-week block) so available slots are used more efficiently. Staff said they are also evaluating minor price or registration-fee changes and will continue offering waivers where needed; board members cautioned that communicating any fee changes carefully will be important.

- Systems and facilities: The department has deployed an event and space booking platform (Event Manager) and is beginning use of an asset-tagging and maintenance tracking system (Asset Essentials) shared with public property teams. Staff said the maintenance request system produces better accountability; the department reported an average request completion time of about 17 days, and directors said the joint system routes requests simultaneously to recreation and to public property so both offices see and can act on problems.

- Staffing and partnerships: The department reported several recent hires and role changes, including a director of special projects (David Onyam), a media content manager (Xander Mon), operations support (Luisa Chitang) and a community-center director focused on engagement (Seth Sigranatos). Staff also described volunteer recruitment work and a new volunteer sign-up form on the department website that will let people indicate whether they want to coach, help with skills/drills or assist at events.

Discussion, concerns and next steps

Board members and staff discussed signage, marketing and school partnerships as critical to boosting participation at centers not attached to schools. Staff explained that adding a formal MOU with schools would be needed to create routine busing drop-offs at recreation centers, and they said they are working to strengthen those relationships.

Directors told the board they intend to use the 2025 season to refine basketball scheduling (to give parents practice/game days earlier) and to pilot adding one to two additional soccer locations with partners. Staff said they will continue converting registration to online-first systems, expand Spanish-language outreach, and use the new data tools to create measurable goals tied to center performance evaluations.

No formal votes were recorded on program changes at the meeting. The board set the next agenda to focus on the department budget once the mayor’s budget is released in April.

Ending

Department leaders and board members closed by thanking center staff and volunteers and said the department will return to the board with budget implications and refined program proposals for 2025 prior to the next major registration and summer-camp cycles.