A Pueblo city councilor believes the city should waive its youth recreation program fees to increase participation in city-led programs and eliminate potential socioeconomic barriers.
Dennis Flores, council vice president, said he’s concerned about sedentary lifestyles, obesity rates and COVID-19 pandemic effects, among other factors affecting youth in Pueblo. He pitched the idea to waive program fees for city-led youth programs in 2023 to two members of the city’s parks and recreation staff during a work session on Tuesday.
The city charges a registration fee of between $48 and $95 for its different youth programs, but Flores said the city could dip into its American Rescue Plan Act funds to supplement the loss of youth sports programming revenue, which in 2022 totaled $99,643, according to the city’s parks and rec department. It also offers scholarships for nearly all of the programs.
There were 1,909 participants across all programs in 2022 and $10,519 in scholarship money was awarded.
“My whole thought process was, “Let’s keep and get (kids) active by opening up our sports and programs,’” Flores told the Chieftain. “I thought it would open up more avenues for kids that never use city facilities.”
The rate of obesity among Pueblo youth is also a concern of the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, which made tackling youth obesity a priority in its assessment plan after collecting input from community members and leaders. Addressing youth obesity is a big reason why the health department is focused on providing and enhancing access to healthy and affordable foods across Pueblo County.
A 2019 study by PDPHE found that 38% of 4,677 Pueblo County students had an overweight or obese body mass index, which calculates body fat based on a person’s height and weight; of the 38% who measured as overweight, 22% were obese. Students from Pueblo School District 60 and Pueblo County School District 70 in first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth grades participated in the study.
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Michael Sexton, the city’s assistant director of parks and recreation, said his department has offered free programs before “but the numbers weren’t there.” He suggested that if the city did waive fees, parents might feel less committed to the program that they signed their kid up for because there’s no monetary investment.
“Not having the buy-in and commitment from parents — the kid might be excited to do it — but sometimes something comes up, (parents) forget and realize they don’t have a (monetary) commitment, and didn’t pay to bring their kid so they don’t show up,” Sexton said.
Flores said he learned about the concept after reading that other Colorado cities had adopted it, including Colorado Springs, where youth sports participation has more than doubled since the city introduced free registration.
In 2019, Colorado Springs’ youth fall and soccer programs had about 1,300 participants when no free registration was offered. The city’s Olympic USA Branding Task Force then set out to initiate a pilot program that sought to increase youth sports participation by offering free registration.
A donation from internet service provider Comcast helped kickstart that pilot program, which was set to launch in 2020 but was shelved with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the program was implemented and 600 free registration spots were offered. The effects of its launch were immediate — the city’s fall and spring youth soccer programs accumulated more than 3,400 participants that year.
The city raised more money after that, exclusively through donations from Children’s Hospital Colorado, the Chapman Foundations and Dakota Foundation, among other organizations, and used it to offer 900 free spots in 2022. The fall and spring youth soccer programs again pulled in more than 3,400 participants.
“(Participation more than doubling) is proof in the pudding that when that barrier is removed, more kids play,” said Vanessa Zink, chief communications officer for the city of Colorado Springs.
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The city is spreading out the $340,000 it raised to date for the program over subsequent years. This year it is using some of the money to expand those free spots toward select age divisions in T-ball, baseball and softball, in addition to youth soccer programs.
The majority of those free registration spots are available in areas where there are lower-income populations, and the city asks families that don’t need the free spot to leave it for families that do.
“The intent really is to get kids playing who wouldn’t otherwise be able to play,” Zink said.
Zink also said the city views the sustained participation rate from 2021 to 2022 as “encouraging” because it shows kids who secured free spots continued to play youth soccer a year after graduating from lower divisions.
When discussion about adopting the free registration program began, Zink said staff within the city’s sports recreation department also shared a concern that parents wouldn’t stay committed to the program because they weren’t paying. But, to date, the city “hasn’t heard major complaints or concerns from coaches about kids not showing up for the rosters,” she said, and teams and games haven’t been negatively impacted if some kids don’t show up.
If a participant doesn’t show up for a certain number of practices, a coach can report that to the sports recreation department, which can then remove a person off the waiting list and place them onto a team, Zink said.
Children’s Hospital Colorado has donated to the free registration program both years. Zink said she suspects it’s because the program “speaks to their mission,” which includes addressing the state’s youth mental health crisis.
According to a 2017 study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, being active, getting sweaty and roughhousing protect children against depression. Nearly 800 6-year-old children were examined in the study, and after two years of physical activity, showed fewer symptoms of depression, which “suggests physical activity can be used to prevent and treat depression already in childhood,” according to Silje Steinsbekk, a professor in the university’s department of psychology.
Councilor Larry Atencio said the fee should stay in place, citing similar concerns raised by Sexton, who said gathering donations or introducing a scholarship program to offer something similar to what’s offered in Colorado Springs are a few ideas that have been discussed with the city’s finance department.
Councilor Vicente Martinez Ortega said he supports the idea.
“To reduce all monetary barriers is phenomenal,” Martinez Ortega said.“It’s a great idea for this year, and if part of delivering that message is that it’s for this year only, then maybe (parents) value that a bit more.”
Flores said he wants to explore and understand the concept more and that he might introduce it for further discussion during the city’s annual retreat on Feb. 18.
Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.
