03/31/2004 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • The participant numbers and games played are accurate as this information is derived from either MYSA or club systems. However, as you can imagine, the sport of soccer does not necessarily require a striped field or goals for which to practice. Therefore practices at non- official fields whether Lino Lakes parks are park areas of other communities are not represented in the analysis. The other difficulty with practice times is that neither the city of Lino Lakes nor any other practice facilities in our communities require that a coach to register or document with any of the localities. While some coaches wanting to have some guarantee for Lino Lakes field usage may schedule through the city, other coaches will "take their chance's" by just showing up at a field knowing that they can move to another grassy spot if the field is unavailable. Therefore the practice session information was derived by a combination of published schedules, field utilization assumptions, and feedback from coaches known to have practiced on non -Lino Lakes fields. To the best of my knowledge and ability to attain the data the information provided in this RFI is true and accurate. At this time I am proud to report that the proportion of Lino Lakes participants in our `Traveling League', inclusive of all U9 and older players, is equal to the percentage of the games and practice sessions provided on the fields of the city. Of our total traveling program 59.4% of our participants are Lino Lakes residents and the 59.1 % of the combined games and practice sessions were at Lino Lakes city maintained fields. Our much smaller U6 -U8 recreational program only requires two small game fields and a practice area, which has been graciously provided by the city at Lino Park and Marshan Park respectively. In the recreational program 52.6% of the participants are Lino Lakes residents playing on only city fields. This program, compared to the traveling program, does not require much field space and we have been able to provide this program utilizing these two small areas within the city of Lino Lakes. Unfortunately when the recreational numbers are combined with the traveling league totals, it seems as if 68.0% of the total games and practice sessions are being provided by the city compared to a 57.5% resident participation. While the percentage difference is not extraordinary it can seem as if there is an undue burden on the city. I would encourage the city staff, when analyzing the information, to understand the differences to field quality and maintenance as well as the size of the program if allocation decisions need to be made. As an additional note, the CSC's has had a long -term understanding with the city whereby the city completes the initial striping of the fields and subsequent markings are the responsibility of the club. The CSC believes that this volunteerism not only helps the city keeping the costs of soccer fields low but also engages parents within the community. The CSC provides the volunteers, equipment, and paint required to keep the fields marked during the season. We are also proud to note that we have invested in the community soccer fields by providing goals and nets. The club believes that these investments not only benefit the community but are important to the ongoing relationships to the cities that provide fields. If there are maintenance items such as nets, or the city is considering adding additional fields please do not hesitate to call and inquire about funding from the club. I have provided the following information to be considered in the analysis.