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Bath recreation meets goal
HOT SPRINGS - Bath County Parks and Recreation director Mark Nelson compiled an annual report outlining the department's achievements throughout the year.
"We are one of the last locations on the East Coast that does not charge our youth to participate in youth sports programs," Nelson pointed out. "This is a credit to all our citizens and everyone deserves a hand. The fees in other localities that I have heard of range any where from $40 to $425 for a child to play Little League baseball."
Nelson listed other successes for the department, including:
n A Christmas program for children, giving gifts to more 400 kids in the last two years.
n Securing sponsors for basketball, baseball, and volleyball leagues, which allowed the department to provide more than $10,000 in new uniforms, and update equipment. "We have bought new baseball helmets, shoulder pads, catcher's equipment, and some new bats," Nelson said. "Football helmets have been sent back to the company and recertified. We will need to replace football helmets in about four years. We have changed size of basketballs used in our rookie league to a size that is more suitable to these children's hands."
n The new skate park, now opened about one year. "We have had some minor issues occur and have dealt with them and are still currently dealing with and working on the noise issue," he said.
n The playground at Mountain Grove has been renovated.
n The Millboro pool has received new diving board stand. "Both pools have received some new furniture and hopefully will receive more in the upcoming year," he said.
n New windows have been installed in the recreation building, along with new floors and fresh paint. "The painting project will continue to the rest of the recreation property as time permits," Nelson said.
n Both Valley ball fields have been refurbished with sod, infields and bases. "We are currently trying to raise money for dugouts. We still have two fields in much need of work - one is the T-ball field at Valley the other is the Millboro softball field," he explained. "The T-ball field is currently being worked on and plans for the softball field will be completed by the end of summer if money allows."
n Safety issues at the old Millboro school facility have been addressed and "we have worked with other county entities to find the best use for this property," he said.
n Girls' volleyball has been split into two age groups.
Issues and complaints
Nelson said, "We receive complaints about having loaded teams. We have addressed this by going to a draft done by the coaches. This will not solve this problem due to the different abilities of the children. It is very possible to load a team by simply having one exceptional player on it."
But he says the department has reestablished a working relationship with the school system. "Our job will be much more complicated due to the sharing of all facilities, not just the high school, and will make cooperation on both sides a must," he said.
Complaints about coaches include volunteers not paid for their services. "More often than not they are coaching because no one else wanted to," Nelson said. "Due to numbers of children it is not always possible to place a child on a certain coach's team as requested."
Also, he said, there have been complaints about teams starting practicing later than other teams. "There are several reasons for this," Nelson said, "the first being registration forms not being turned in on time. We cannot draft teams if we don't know who is playing. More often than not we have to add players to teams after they are already practicing. This issue not only makes us start late but it also causes problems with getting uniforms out and schedules done."
Other complaints include not getting schedules, rescheduling games, certain referees, and Little League rules.
Goals for recreation
"We wish to better what we already offer and add new and exciting programs. We want to be the best at what we do and will accomplish this through trial and error," Nelson said. "We asked our community for its support and would like to remind all parents that even when a decision is not the best for your child we are trying to do what is best for the greatest number of children."
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