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Saratoga County committee authorizes youth team sports grants and forms review subcommittee
Summary
The Health and Human Services Committee approved agreements for three youth sports organizations, described how state rules changed to allow funding for municipal/school property improvements, and proposed a subcommittee to review outreach and program administration.
Saratoga County—s Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 4 authorized county agreements to distribute state youth team sports funds to three local organizations and discussed forming a subcommittee to review program outreach and administration.
Becky, the county youth coordinator, described the second year of the program and how applications were evaluated by an advisory youth board: "So it is year 2 of the youth team sports funding. And, last year, we had 22 applicants. We funded 7. And this year, we had just 6 applications like Sandy said." She said applications are scored anonymously and that the top scorers received a percentage of what they requested, with remaining funds allocated down the ranking.
The committee approved resolutions authorizing agreements with Half Moon Girls Softball for $13,035; Old Saratoga Athletic Association for $32,470; and the Galway Baseball/Softball League for $50,000. Committee members stated the program—s state allocation for the county is $112,000 and that the state allows a 15% administrative fee to be withheld for departmental administration.
Committee members noted a recent change in state guidance (referred to in the meeting as the LCM) that allowed applications for permanent improvements on municipal or school property, an issue that had made some projects ineligible in the prior year. Becky said the change was made after county advocacy because many small-town teams play on school or municipal property.
Committee chair and members discussed outreach gaps and proposed forming a three-member subcommittee to review the application rubric, historic outreach and where applications have come from, and to advise whether the process is getting funds to high-need communities. The committee approved the agreements; the chair asked for volunteers to serve on the subcommittee in the coming days.
The committee recorded that the youth funding comes entirely from New York State revenues tied to state-run betting, and that the county match is not required. Committee members asked staff to publish application timelines to supervisors and county rec directors when the state opens the next application window.
The committee approved the resolution to enter into the three agreements by voice vote.
