Funding for baseball, softball and T-ball slashed

Funding for baseball, softball and T-ball slashed

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Sherri Ellington

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Friday, July 15. 2011

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Recreation funding for baseball, softball and T-ball has been cut from the pending 2012 county budget.

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#1 Anonymous on 07/15/11 at 06:54 PM

Dixie Youth. Go For It!!!

#2 Anonymous on 07/15/11 at 10:14 PM

What about football?

#3 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 04:43 AM

If recreation dept funds this, why are the parents having to pay for everything? What exactly does the dept pay for with these funds?

#4 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 05:50 AM

How much funding did the county cut?

#5 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 07:42 AM

I understood from reading the print edition of the Herald Gazette that funding for the football program was not cut.

#6 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 07:52 AM

I don't think the registration fee covered the entire cost for your child to participate in these programs. The cost per child to play covered uniforms etc. There are costs associated with providing recreational sports that people never consider.....umpires, field maintenance, baseballs, bats, helmets.

I say get used to it. Tax money does not support school sports and if your child is going to make it in high school sports, you need to be willing to join the appropriate sport's booster club to raise funds or pay the price out of your pocket. It is not inexpensive to support an athlete through the years, however it is very rewarding to watch your child succeed at a sport he or she loves.

#7 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 08:08 AM

Hmmmmmm, let me see if I have this straight,

If you use the service, YOU PAY FOR IT.

If you do not use the service, YOU DO NOT PAY FOR IT.

And the problem with this plan is,,,,,,,what?

#8 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 08:31 AM

Just curious to know what agreement the Association has with the County. Will the County maintain the fields while the Association keeps proceeds from concessions, fees, etc... If so, how much will the Association pay the County for use of the fields?

#9 brad bryan on 07/16/11 at 08:59 AM

Why just cut baseball, softball and t-ball? How did those sports get selected?

#10 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 09:47 AM

I know other counties charge $160 to play football plus the children have to buy their pants and some other gear. The LC rec department already has all of the gear (pads, helmets, pants, jerseys). They use them every year.

#11 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 01:51 PM

Study what Pike Co. is doing... It seems to work well for them. The most pressing question is... Is there enough leadership in the LC community to make a volunteer program successful? It won't work at a high level, if the movers-&-shakers in the community don't step-up to the challenge.

#12 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 02:12 PM

The funds have been going into a general account. What kind of smart idea that is. Similar to the way social security works. Put it in a hat and draw our or distribute it where you want to. Complete f up this county is. I can really see 130-140 per player playing sports in this ragged ass system that is in place. I was already pissed that $70 was way too much for what kind of service we got out of it. They have lost their freakin minds i guess. Have fun with that. I hope only 10 people sign up for this crap and they have to go under until new rules and regulations are in place. Un-freaking-believable.

#13 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 02:27 PM

Here Ya' go...

http://www.pikebaseball.com/index.html

Copy & paste the link into your web browser.

#14 duh on 07/16/11 at 02:41 PM

Did you NOT read he first sentence of this article???

"Recreation funding for baseball, softball and T-ball has been cut from the pending 2012 county budget."

HAS BEEN CUT = the department will no longer fund these programs therefore the $$$ have to come from somewhere SO the registration fees have been raised and a volunteer association has been formed to run the programs and raise funds to keep them going.

Some people live in their own little worlds and think you just roll a ball out there and let the kids play at little to no cost but, to run a decent program, you have to buy uniforms and equipment for the players to use, umpires for the games among other things.

Pike County has been doing this successfully for years and it recently paid off as their high school team played for the state championship in baseball.

I hope the people of Lamar County who want to see our kids excel from a young age up through their high school years will buy into this line of thinking and get out and support the program.

Buddy Lanier does one heckuva job with what the counnty allows him to work with. It shouldn't be this way but it is what it is. I salute Mr. Lanier for his efforts.

I hope this has helped to clear up any questions.

#15 .75 cents on 07/16/11 at 02:48 PM

The print edition of the paper states that the rec department will continue to fund the football program this season but is looking to turn it over to a volunteer association much the same as baseball, softball, tee ball in the very near future.

It will be interesting to see if the folks here support this and make it work or just let our sports programs die out so that those who do want to play will have to go to neighboring counties to do so and have an out of county fee tagged on to the regular registration fee.

If this happens our recreation department will be left as nothing but a county funded landscaping business.

#16 Anonymous on 07/16/11 at 05:38 PM

That's a fair question. Does anybody actually know anything about the volunteer association that has been formed...? Who is heading it up, and how is it structured...? Do they have officers, and how often do they meet for planning and executing the funding and plans for the new program? Would like to see an investigative report on how this is being laid-out for the community to have an opportunity for their kids to participate in youth sports.

#17 Ode on 07/17/11 at 10:43 AM

Brad, I thought a GSU grad could figure out why the funds were slashed on baseball, softball and tee-ball at this time because we have a year to get the athletic association started and football is in our laps at the present time, so we will start on slashing the FB funds as soon as the season ends.

Parents will have to get off their hinies if they want their kids playing recreational sports.

#18 Anonymous on 07/17/11 at 11:09 AM

That's another fair question. Is it because of the popularity of football over the other sports? Is there some type of discrimination against the spring sports vs. the fall sports?

#19 anon on 07/17/11 at 02:29 PM

The answer to the football question is covered in the print and e-edition edition. Sorry but if H-G didn't put in this free online peek to the story I'm not going to repeat it. We pay a subscription to H-G to get the full story.

#20 H B on 07/17/11 at 03:55 PM

Do you suppose if the Commissioners cut out their salary's and expenses that the budget would balance without a tax increase?

#21 It's Me on 07/17/11 at 07:17 PM

why dont they just shut Lamar County Schools down? they are worthless anyways

#22 mb on 07/17/11 at 09:33 PM

Have had kids in the rec dept for years in several different sports. We have never minded paying the fees. Lamar Co has always been cheaper than surrounding counties and it shows. What is bad is how other parents still complain about the cheap fees and have their childs fees payed by "donated funds" that is not made available to all types of people and families. We have seen numerous parents over the years spend way more money at the gas station on lottery tickets than they would ever spend on their own children to play sports and learn teamwork and to have pride in themselves!!!

#23 It ain't Me on 07/17/11 at 11:49 PM

Great idea. Then our kids who want to get an education would have no where to do so and the kids who don't would have more time to do whatever it is they do. You really want to help solve the problem, take your negative attitude and your kid and move somewhere that makes you happy. We won't miss you one bit.

Good luck!

#24 Anonymous on 07/18/11 at 06:25 AM

notice they didn't say anything about basketball.wonder why that is?

#25 Jessica Manley on 07/18/11 at 08:10 AM

You people should be ashamed to be part of our community! Lamar county is a wonderful place, and it is sad that this is happening, studies have found that children that play sports perform better academically, it is sad that the county is having a short fall with the budget, this would be a good time for us parents to step up to the plate, and pay the extra cost to fund these programs…in my option if you don’t have the money you shouldn’t play, sorry but that is my option. I think that volunteer programs may bring this cost down. WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP???? So we do not lose this asset to our community?

#26 Kristen Albritton on 07/18/11 at 08:21 AM

That still doesn't answer his question. Why not soccer? It doesn't make sense to me that the county will cut programs before cutting some of the people who work there. The county CANNOT justify five employees for soccer alone. After all, shouldn't we fill positions based on the need and not the other way around?

#27 anonomous on 07/18/11 at 08:47 AM

soccer is self supporting meaning it cost less to run that program there for the county does not lose money on soccer....however the other sports are not self supporting as of now and the tax payers pay the extra expenses

#28 Anonymous on 07/18/11 at 09:01 AM

Upson County has Lamar beat in ALL of their registration fees... Lamar is not at all the cheapest... On top of that Upson has a far better Association and Department and is much better run than Lamar...

#29 Kristen Albritton on 07/18/11 at 11:23 AM

The problem that I have with this idea is not the increased fees. I totally agree that we should cover a more reasonable amount of the costs. My problem is that I don't understand how requiring that an association be started will save money if we are increasing the fees as well. That is what the county is proposing; that they will no longer do anything for baseball/softball other than maintain the fields when requested. Why cut county funding for the programs, which are the reason that the rec department exists, instead of cutting back on the fixed expenses, such as employees? I'm not saying that the folks at the rec don't do a good job, because they do. I just don't believe that we can justify keeping all of them if their only responsibility will be taking care of the fields for the associations and managing soccer. Soccer is not played by so many in our little town that its management requires five people.

#30 Anonymous on 07/18/11 at 11:44 AM

Upson is the best county around here.

#31 why? on 07/18/11 at 01:53 PM

football is soaking up the all the money. Quit taaking all of the money from other sports. Football takes all of the money. They fund everything for football. IF All of the other sports have to do fundraisers then football can too. I mean really. Split the money evenly and then do fundraisers to get the money. Im tired of the unfairness

#32 Anonymous on 07/18/11 at 02:34 PM

The rec has more than just soccer, tball, baseball, and softball. They offer other sports as well. Read the article. Soccer pays for itself. That is why it isn't getting canned. Football fees are going up next year which is the budget that this discussion is about. 2012. I am sure that eventually there will be no more employees out there and the county will still be in debt and our children will be the ones suffering. It sure is easy to point fingers and say get rid of people working there but how many people will actually step up and do something if those workers are gone? OAN - none of the commissioners have children or grandchildren that play ball so what do they care? Go to the meeting tomorrow and speak your mind to these commissioners and let them know what you think. Maybe it will help. I doubt it but it doesn't hurt to try.

#33 The Bottome Line on 07/18/11 at 03:14 PM

Maybe this will clear things up for those who understand reasoning. Baseball and football are the most expensive sports to fund because of the high cost of the equipment involved, football being the highest. Soccer and basketball are relatively inexpensive to fund. You roll out a ball and uniform a kid and, voila, you got a game. Soccer and basketball can be funded totally through the registration fee and the concessions. This is not the case with football and baseball.Someone posed the question as to why the fees would go up for baseball and football if a volunteer association takes over these programs. To answer that, think about it, if the county government is cutting the funding of these programs the money has to come from somewhere. So, in essence, someone has to get off their butt and work to make the association successful so that the progams continue to exist. I'm just like every other red-blooded, tax paying American. I hate to hear when rates are being raised. But I understand that in order for my kids to have a place to play there has to be something done if our mismanaged county government is broke and can't fund the programs anymore. Therefore, I have no problem with volunteering my time to help out and paying more money for my kids to have the opportunity to play the games they love. I don't have concrete numbers in front of me but I do know that up until now it costs double in neighboring counties for a kid to play a sport than what we have had to pay for our kids to play here. If we are to keep up with these other programs then we have to level the playing field and it's going to start with this association and it's success. Pike County has used the volunteer association to run their programs for years and have been very successful with it. I don't want to take my kids out of Lamar County to play elsewhere. I want to stay right here and beat these rivaling counties every chance we get. If you are a parent and you love your child and this community and want to see both succeed, please, Please, PLEASE keep your kids here and volunteer for this association and let's make this thing work.

#34 Kristen Albritton on 07/18/11 at 03:51 PM

I don't think reasonable parents have a problem paying extra fees or helping out. No one wants to be a burden on the tax base so that our kids can play ball. The part that doesn't sit right is the fact that the rec is asking parents to take over baseball/softball/tball completely while not reducing their staff. How is this saving money? If the fees go up, fine, that's no problem. If we need to spend extra time helping out in the offices or fields, that's fine, too. But I would like to hear how we justify asking the parents to do a job that we are paying for through our taxes. This is not personal, I think Buddy and his team do a fine job. This is purely from a financial perspective. It doesn't make sense.

#35 Anonymous on 07/18/11 at 06:46 PM

That's a great take on the issue. There are many communities, that make their youth programs successful with volunteer associations, all over this state. Pike Co. is a great example of one that does it, and does it in a big way. They are all onboard over there from the rec program, all the way thru middle & high school.

Attend one of their high school baseball games, and you will see a huge and enthusiastic crowd. They take pride in their community, in their kids, and in their schools. And, it shows with the success that they have in their athletic programs, especially baseball.

If you live in Pike Co., it means something to play varsity baseball. It's prestigious, and the kids are held in high esteem for being a part of a program, that is recognized as one of the stronger ones in the whole state of Georgia. Their fans don't just show up 5-minutes, before the games start. They're there early. And, they're loud, and they're proud. That's who they are... They have the blueprint that our folks need to look at to see where we're falling short.

Bottomline, (no pun intended) is that 'community-leadership', in supporting their youth programs, is the engine that drives the train. You get out of it, what you put into it. Pike Co. romances their product, and they market it very well. Let's hope that the leadership in Lamar Co. will do the same.

#36 Jessie on 07/19/11 at 07:25 AM

Recreation ball is just that, Recreation! It's not a requirement that the county provide funds for kids to play ball. If parents want their child to participate, they should be willing to be pay the prices set to cover all the expenses. Why should taxpayers who don't care anything about using the ballfields or football equipment have their tax dollars sent to a purely optional program for those with the money to pay the expenses? If anything the funding should go to creating a truely universal community center to give the kids a safe place to play.

#37 Pro Lamar on 07/19/11 at 08:02 AM

Even with community volunteers, there still have to be official county recreation staff on hand at these events. Do you realize the hours these people spend at the recreation department? They are sometimes there from first thing in the morning taking care of office business until late at night supervising games. If you ask me, that is a lot of work for five people who are only going to get paid for a 40 hour week. Imagine if you cut out two or three of these positions the work that would be left for the remaining employees to do. I urge you to go out and sit in that office all day one day to see what those people do. No volunteers are going to put in the hours the employed staff does and not get paid for it. Volunteering to work a concession stand and/or other fundraisers to financially support the programs. The politics of the actual recreation job itself and all that it entails is a total different breed of cat.

#38 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 08:59 AM

Regardless there are some families that can’t afford to play any ball and us Lamar county citizens PAY FOR IT!! I know because I had a mom tell me that whatever her child wants to play there is funding for it! THIS IS WRONG! This is what is wrong with our government, that they take from the middle class to fund for the poor. Parents have no excuses to get off their lazy butts and come up with the $$ to allow their children to play ball. I know I would if MY CHILD was set on playing ball. I would find the Money to pay for it!

#39 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 09:23 AM

The rec dept is a "community center". They have parks, tennis courts, basketball courts, etc. that are open all the time to every member of the community. If we want to talk about things that shouldn't be paid for with tax payer money, lets look at the senior center. How accessible is that to the majority of our county? We are spending $80,000 on a department that only serves a small part of our community and cut funding from a department that serves so many?

#40 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 09:28 AM

Regardless of what you "know"...I KNOW that the rec dept is not taking sign ups with out money. There are other private programs out there that are independent of county money that help some parents but those are limited as well. Why don't you call the rec dept and ask if you have to pay for your child to play? Then maybe you will get your facts straight.

#41 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 09:59 AM

You are exactly right. No volunteer is going to put in the time that is required to do this job. If this is implemented, the rec will no longer oversee spring sports (except, of course, for soccer). I hope that I am wrong, but we will be hard pressed to find individuals who are willing to make the financial commitment or the time commitment required to see this through. In the end, Lamar County will no longer have rec ball. Our kids will either go to other counties, or will join travel teams. I'm sure that some people are just fine with that.

#42 Confucius on 07/19/11 at 11:11 AM

To those of you who are affected by this.
- Fundraisers
--- Sell popcorn
--- Sell candy
--- Sell cookies
--- Wash cars.
Get up and earn the benefits you seek and don't rely on someone else to pay for it.

Lesson in life - if it is important to you then go out and work for it: Otherwise, forget about it.

You all elected these magical money managers so embrace them or somebody else. Eventually you will get it right based on the law of averages alone

Confucius say
- the best way to keep one's word is to not give it in the first place.
- when solving problems, dig at the roots instead of hacking at the leaves.

#43 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 11:27 AM

actually...the rec dept will allow a child to sign up without the money....they are very good about allowing families pay a bit at a time. And many coaches pay out of their own pocket for a needy child to play...I know...I have been a volunteer coach and have done it myself...so perhaps it is you that need to get your facts straight

#44 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 12:42 PM

This is ridiculous. I am 100% certain of what I know. Call them. See what they say. Then get on here and talk about your facts.

#45 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 01:34 PM

I agree. When a parent association takes over this program, no one should be allowed to play completely for free. There are already too many handouts being given by other government programs. We need to be able to teach them the concept of "if you don't work, you don't eat." In this case, if you don't work, you don't play ball. I do understand that some can't afford and I don't want any child to do without. But there is nothing wrong with requring something in return... Make the kids serve as ball boys/water boys at other games. Make the parents work the concession stands. You can play for free if a TRUE need is there, but you will work off the $ in exchange for your time. It is only fair. If this scenario is presented up front to those requesting their child play for free, maybe they will come off of some of their beer/ cigarette/ drug/ lottery money and fork out some money for their kids.

#46 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 02:37 PM

#7.1.1.1.1: said "I just don't believe that we can justify keeping all of them if their only responsibility will be taking care of the fields for the associations and managing soccer."
Are you for real? Do you know what it takes to operate a recreation department? It is a lot more than just cutting the fields and managing a sport.

#47 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 04:12 PM

We're fixin' to find out what kind of leadership that we have in LC.

#48 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 04:35 PM

The people of Lamar are truly amazing...in any article concerning raising taxes, everyone is dead against it, but once any cuts are mentioned, everyone starts crying about how this cut can't happen!

Make up your minds - higher taxes or fewer services - One or the other!!!

#49 Anonymous on 07/19/11 at 05:01 PM

Isn't that exactly what it is? With the crappy state of our facilities, I'd say that's all they are doing.

#50 Anonymous on 07/20/11 at 07:30 AM

Obviously you haven't been to other counties and looked at their facilities. Lamar has a great facility and it is well taken care of. Some people will never be satisfied no matter what is done. If it is so horrible now, what do you think it will look like when there is no one out there working?

#51 Anonymous on 07/20/11 at 09:12 AM

I don't think they are complaining about cutting the sports... It's the cuts that aren't being made that we should be complaining about... If there is no Recreation Department then why have all those employees there? Obviously our county wants their cake and eat it too! They only want to save $70,000 when we are in such a deficit? Cut those jobs you will probably save over $100,000 at that point!

#52 Anonymous on 07/20/11 at 03:06 PM

The problem that I see with your reasoning is that the county needs to save $800,000. Even if they shut down funding for EVERYTHING at the recreation department it would only be about 1/3 of what they need to save. There needs to be cuts across the board to fix this. Why not cut some from other departments? Why just cut the recreation department? Seems almost as though someone in high places in county government has something against that department. There is plenty of other non essential spending going on in all departments. Go to lamarcountyga.com and look at the budget. It may surprise you.

#53 Anonymous on 07/20/11 at 03:58 PM

What was discussed at the commissioner's meeting last night on this issue?

#54 Anonymous on 07/21/11 at 10:31 AM

I do agree they should cut other departments as well not just recreation... I was merely only stating what they were talking about with the recreation department... So I don't see where your problem lies with my reasoning? I can change my comment so that includes other departments then you wouldn't have a problem with it...

#55 Anonymous on 08/05/11 at 08:33 AM

Check our the Middle Georgia Storm Organization on Facebook for softball. B Heaton and Eddie Hammond have the FIRST successful travel team out of Lamar County.

#56 Eddie Hammond on 08/05/11 at 05:15 PM

Thanks for the plug for our travel organization. B. Heaton with my small help and others' formed the team as a 12U in early 2009 mainly due to lack of attention from our local rec. dept. to girls softball. We have daughters who were committed to one day playing at the highest levels in the sport, and were looking for the right guidance to get there. There were other girls in the county with the same goal, as there are now. Any opportunity for these girls to play against elevated competition were taken away from them consistently, i.e. all-stars were cancelled, resources were used elsewhere. There were normally only 2 or 3 teams to play against each other, with little growth. Two years later we still have much of that core group together in the 14U travel circuit. We (Middle Ga. Storm) offered to pay rec. player fees for our players last year to help keep up participation numbers for the county, and for budget help. We asked for absolutely no money to be spent on our team. We payed for our own uniforms and essential equipment out of our own budget. We only asked that we have the opportunity to sign up for field use, and possibly practice with existing rec. team(s). For reasons we can only guess, (we are right about the reasons) our offer was declined. We have been treated as outcasts by local rec. since the organization was formed. We took our lumps in the beginning because of competition outside of Lamar, and we have been told over and over that we couldn't succeed, or even continue to exist. Many people have worked hard, and now we have two teams in the organization (14U and 16U)with plans for further expansion, and have recently broken through with much success on the field, as well as in the community, and classroom. Our plans are to expand the organization to younger age groups as well. We may very well be the association that the county needs as far as girl's softball is concerned. Because of the benefit that the school system is receiving we are able to use the field at the middle school for practices, and we are thankful for that. I belive we can benefit the entire Lamar County fastpitch community as well. I have rambled on just to say thanks to the person who gave us the plug on line 25, and to let everyone know there are other people deserving of thanks for our organization existing. www.leaguelineup.com/midgastorm

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