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Home My WebLink About8.1 Lacrosse Program FeasibilityG~~~ OF DU8~~2 i9r~~~~~ CITY CLERK ~`~~~~~ STAFF REPORT ~c~LC~~s~ DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL File # ^[q]~® ~3]~ DATE: March 2, 2010 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Joni Pattillo, City Manager SUBJE Feasibility of Lacrosse Programming Report Prepared by Rich Jochner, Recreation Supervisor EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In 2009, the City Council adopted a high priority objective to study the feasibility of developing a lacrosse team, classes, or training for youth in Dublin. Staff has completed research of existing programs in the Tri-Valley to assess demand for lacrosse in Dublin and will present the findings to the City Council. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council receive the report. ~~~ Submitted by: Parks and Community Services Director Reviewed by: Assistant City Manager Page 1 of 3 ITEM NO. DESCRIPTION: In 2009, the City Council adopted a high priority objective to "study the feasibility of developing a lacrosse team, classes, or training for youth in Dublin" (III-A-9). Staff has completed research of existing programs in the Tri-Valley to assess demand for lacrosse in Dublin. Based on the research it appears the demand is marginal but growing. The following is a summary of the research. According to the 2007 US Lacrosse Participation Survey, lacrosse continues to be one of the fastest-growing team sports in the country. US Lacrosse reports that its youth membership (ages 15 and under) has doubled since 1999 to over 60,000 teams. Since 2001, the first year the US Lacrosse Participation Survey was published, the number of active lacrosse players has grown 89.3 percent to 480,627 players in 2007. In response to that trend the City of Dublin has offered junior lacrosse camps on six occasions including All-West Lacrosse (2005, 2006), Skyhawks Lacrosse (2003, 2007), Stick School (2008) and the Dublin Sports Academy Lacrosse (2009). All-West had atwo-year total registration of 78 of which only seven participants were Dublin residents. All-West dropped Dublin as a location on their camp schedule beginning in 2007 due to low registration. The Skyhawks and Stick School camps were cancelled as they failed to reach the minimum required attendance. The Dublin Sports Academy camp, taught by the current Dublin High School Varsity Boy's Coach, had 29 participants of which 24 were Dublin residents. Dublin High School Lacrosse Teams Staff interviewed the Dublin High School (DHS) Athletic Director and Varsity Boy's Lacrosse Coach. DHS has four teams serving a total of 80 players. Teams include boy's varsity and junior varsity, and girl's varsity and junior varsity. The high school season runs from February through May. Through the interviews, Staff learned that participation at try-outs has increased but many boys choose baseball over lacrosse and many girls choose competitive club soccer over lacrosse. Currently, less than half of the DHS players come from junior club programs and the remaining typically come to the team with little or no experience. Local Lacrosse Clubs Staff found that there are five lacrosse clubs currently in the Tri-Valley area. Four of the clubs are non-profit groups open to the public, similar to Dublin Little League and Dublin United Soccer. Four of the clubs are affiliates of the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association (NCJLA) and have spring seasons. It appears only two of the clubs are currently serving Dublin residents including Pleasanton Lacrosse and Triple Threat Lacrosse. Pleasanton Lacrosse is a non-profit juniors program (elementary & middle school age) with 330 players. Approximately 40 of those players are Dublin residents. Triple Threat Lacrosse is afor-profit juniors program with 50 players of which 10 are Dublin residents. Triple Threat has a traveling team geared towards athletes seeking college recruitment. This program holds practices in Dublin during summer and fall at Fallon Middle School and Ted Fairfield Park, as well as in Danville. Other Tri-Valley lacrosse clubs include: • San Ramon Raptors Lacrosse - NCJLA affiliated juniors program with 85 players in their first year (2009). • Diablo Scorpion Lacrosse - NCJLA affiliated juniors program with 550 players in their ninth year. This is the largest club in the area serving children of the San Ramon Valley School District (Danville, Alamo and San Ramon). Page 2 of 3 • Livermore Phantom Lacrosse - NCJLA affiliated juniors program serving the Livermore Valley. The Livermore Club split away from the Pleasanton Club a few years ago. Options for Expanding Lacrosse in Dublin The general consensus of the local lacrosse clubs and the DHS lacrosse coaching staff is that interest in lacrosse is slowly building in Dublin, but not at the rate that other communities have shown. If the City Council has an interest in expanding opportunities in Dublin for participation in lacrosse, Staff would recommend focusing on renting fields to existing clubs that may want to have a satellite league in Dublin. Since there are so many established programs in the area it does not make sense at this time for the City to compete or duplicate efforts by coordinating its own league at this time. These groups have been effective at running the leagues and have room to expand participation. Offering a City sponsored league would have a financial impact to the City to hire coaches, line fields and purchase equipment. One factor that limits individual participation is that the sport could be considered cost prohibitive to some due to equipment and uniform expense, especially for boys who must wear helmets to compete. It is anticipated that lacrosse field rentals may increase with the opening of the Fallon Sports Park this summer. The synthetic turf fields at the Fallon Sports Park will have hash marks in the field surface to make it easy to temporarily line the fields for lacrosse. Staff plans on promoting this rental opportunity to local lacrosse clubs. Staff will continue to look for opportunities to contract with the existing clubs to provide camps, clinics and tournaments in Dublin. As mentioned previously, the Dublin Sports Academy Lacrosse Camp at DHS had 29 participants last summer with the majority of participants registering for the sport/swim option (lacrosse in the morning, followed by swimming at the Dublin Swim Center in the afternoon). Staff plans on offering the Sports Academy Lacrosse Camp at DHS again this summer. This camp will help fill the need fora "feeder program" for the high school team. Parks and Community Services Commission Input Staff presented this report to the Parks and Community Services Commission on February 8, 2010. Although no formal motion was made, the Commissioners concurred with the Staff recommendation to focus on renting fields and creating partnerships with existing lacrosse clubs in the area, rather than start a City operated program. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: A copy of the Staff Report was sent to the Parks and Community Services Commission. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Lacrosse Comparison Page 3 of 3 ~ °6 ~. a Q H L 0 d y 0 V J ~ ~~ ~ o ~ ~°~ ~ ~ .«. 00 *r ~, ~ O o O ~. 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