Alta Mayhugh | Williston Herald Stephanie Tangedal, parent of children in Williston Parks and Recreation sports programs, speaks before the park board Tuesday evening regarding her concerns about the disorganization of the programs and how she's witnessed bad coaching from some of the coaches. The park board reached an agreement to form a committee to discuss the issues.
On Tuesday during the regular monthly meeting of the park board, parents Stephanie Tangedal and Niki Leininger, with assistance from other people in the audience, spent an hour talking to the park board about these concerns.
Need for organization
Tangedal said tournament information should be available as soon as possible to parents so they can prepare for traveling with their children, whether it be notification via e-mail, text message or by posting the information on the parks and recreation website.
"Parents are not getting the information in a timely manner. I feel there should be better organization," she said. She gave an example of a tournament planned in Grand Forks, and how she didn't find out until the last minute even though Jeremy Ludlum, recreation superintendent, told her it would be on the website on a certain day. Ludlum said he was supposed to get that information at a specific time and didn't receive it, thus he couldn't post it on the Web site at that time.
"I can't spend every day looking at every parks and rec Web site (for tournament information)," he said.
Leininger questioned whether Ludlum had assistance in organizing the programs.
"I have a hard time keeping my own family's schedules straight. Does Jeremy have help? Maybe we need more people helping with the organization," she said.
Tangedal agreed, saying she wasn't trying to put down Ludlum because she sees him being involved in many programs. Darin Krueger, Williston Parks and Recreation director, said when he came to Williston four years ago, Ludlum was the only one coordinating the sports programs and most people still come to him for help, even though Krueger is splitting Ludlum's duties with Nick Arola, recreation coordinator, and Mike Amundson, recreation coordinator in charge of communications.
Tangedal asked how are the parents to know whom to call about certain programs. The names aren't in the brochure because if one of the contact people leaves, the wrong name will be in the brochure, Krueger said.
"We have to know who to talk to," Tangedal said.
Ludlum said one thing that makes it difficult in trying to communicate with parents is some don't show up at parents meetings where he dispenses information.
At a recent Babe Ruth tournament meeting, only 10 out of 45 parents showed up, he said.
Leininger said it would help to receive an e-mail a few days before the parents meeting because the brochures get lost.
Coaching woes
The parents then moved on to the issue of coaching, or lack thereof.
"Coaching for youth softball, baseball; there's no coaching. There's no supervision. They don't give them direction. They need supervision," Tangedal said.
Last year, she said the 7- and 8-year-old program was awesome because the coaches had the children do drills; there seemed to be a sense of direction.
"They're not doing drills this year," she said.
Leininger said the best coaches needed to be with the younger set so the children could learn basics such as throwing and catching. Also, it may not be a good idea to allow anyone to play in All Stars, because some are ready and some aren't.
"You have kids that don't really want to be there. Are we causing more harm than good?" she asked.
Solutions
Board President Larry Grondahl said there needs to be a program syllabus and a coach's training manual. Board Member Joel Wilt suggested forming a committee of parks and recreation staff, park board members and parents to help identify the issues. Grondahl asked Wilt and board member Darcy Collings to meet with Krueger to perhaps create a "recreation enhancement committee."
It may take up to a year to make changes, but forming a committee would help, Grondahl said.
Tangedal is willing to be part of the solution.
"We're not here just to complain, we're willing to help," she said.
Comments
player wrote on Jul 29, 2010 8:22 AM:
player wrote on Jul 28, 2010 12:56 PM:
Baseball Fan wrote on Jul 26, 2010 4:31 PM:
lets be proactive wrote on Jul 23, 2010 4:42 PM:
how does a person become active in the parks & rec sports for our children?
What can we do as parents?
I know showing up at games and encouragement would be outstanding...but,
how active in these sports can we be as parents?
how can us as parents participate in bettering the communication about games & etc..
...lets better the programs instead of bickering...
it does not show our children anything positive if we speak ill of positive experiences for their lives.... "
Mary wrote on Jul 23, 2010 11:16 AM:
Ryan Leininger wrote on Jul 23, 2010 10:06 AM:
Al wrote on Jul 23, 2010 9:45 AM:
annoyed wrote on Jul 23, 2010 8:37 AM:
2cents wrote on Jul 22, 2010 11:51 PM:
K wrote on Jul 22, 2010 8:26 PM:
Shanna wrote on Jul 22, 2010 5:45 PM:
Dave Slette wrote on Jul 22, 2010 12:52 PM:
Baseball Mom wrote on Jul 22, 2010 12:19 PM:
With that being said, I do also believe that there is a bit of narcissism with the comments about those who should be able to play and those who shouldn't. From the beginning of organized sports there have been children involved that don't want to be there. You will never be rid of that. I don't believe it is fair to cut little kids from a program. Even at the high school levels, there are no cuts for lack of althletic ability in baseball. That is just something that we ALL have to deal with, Moms. Get used to it. As for the kids who don't even want to be there, I would suggest talking to the parents, but good luck with that.
As for league, my son was involved in Little Leauge within the past 10 years and if you wanted to have your child work on skills, you signed him up for All-Stars. The only time skills were worked on in league was the first week or 2 before teams were picked. After that, all they did was play games. I'm not saying I agree with it, but that is just how it has been. I do agree with the moms on 1 point of the Rec being disorganized about games and tournaments. You need to make sure the parents are informed. There is no reason that this can't be accomplished with 3 people supposedly working on it. "
parent wrote on Jul 22, 2010 11:37 AM:
Then the comment that said only the rich get the attention. My son plays baseball and gets playing time and attention he needs and we are far from rich and do not have a "last name" that means anything. "
Baseball Mom wrote on Jul 22, 2010 10:53 AM:
Jeremy has a lot of programs to try to organize not just baseball and I think he does a good job and is easy to communicate with.
If parents would just let their kids play and the coaches coach things might go a lot better. "
very frustrated wrote on Jul 22, 2010 10:14 AM:
Nadine wrote on Jul 21, 2010 8:27 PM:
In years past if i had an issue with the little league i was always able to go to Jeremy and discuss my complaints.
He always listened to what i had to say, checked into it and always got back to me with an answer or a suggestion. As for the all star program, we all no that kids develop and mature differently, i would hate to see kids having to get cut at the age of 9 and then lose there desire to play baseball. Just my opinion. "
A Former Resident wrote on Jul 21, 2010 6:51 PM:
Mom of 3 wrote on Jul 21, 2010 4:41 PM:
Six years ago I put my son in a WPR soccer program and I couldn’t have been more disappointed. We basically showed up Saturday morning and the kids competed against each other, which is understandable given the low number of kids that signed up. However, there was no direction, zero encouragement and the coaches just let them wander aimlessly around the field while they chatted with parents.
I actually tried to enroll my son in baseball one year, only to be told, “oh by the way” they travel for games which was never mentioned in the brochure that year, nor by the attendant at the Parks and Rec building. I would have liked that information before I enrolled him so that I could have made a more informed decision. Unfortunately, I found out several weeks later and through another parent!
This August my middle son wants to play Football and I will be there for the meeting August 2, which I hope has not changed! I hope that the money everyone paid for this program is worth it and our children actually receive some encouragement and direction. "
gimmeabreak wrote on Jul 21, 2010 2:21 PM:
Highly Annoyed Parent wrote on Jul 21, 2010 1:02 PM: