By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s park programs for kids may be the envy of other communities – but they need more ballfields, more swimming lessons, and some snowday activities to keep parents from going crazy.
The first community focus group for the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department held on Wednesday evening identified strengths and weaknesses of the city’s youth programs.
Parents listed off items they liked about the department:
- Strong summer programming.
- Well-run starting sports programs.
- Reasonably priced activities.
Tutsy Asmus told of her relatives in Toledo who bring their child to Bowling Green for softball and swimming.
“They will come to Bowling Green to sign their daughter up,” she said.
Her husband, Mark Asmus, said his coworkers listen with envy and disbelief as he talks about BG park and rec programs.
“I work with a lot of people in Findlay who pay twice as much or more for not as much,” he said.
Ryan Patton told of his conversation with kids from Oregon using the skate park in City Park. “They drove to Bowling Green for the skate park,” he said.
Though the parents had positive comments about the programming, they also would like to see some changes.
First, the city needs more softball and baseball fields, Patton said. “It’s been a dire need for years.”
Community focus group on parks and recreation youth programs.
There is one field at City Park, and several at Carter Park, but it’s not enough, he said. “We don’t have a dedicated softball field,” so the girls teams have to play on adult fields, which are different, Patton explained.
The fields don’t need to be perfect, he said. Teams often take any spot they can find for a practice field, since once games start for the season the fields are not available for practice.
Patton said his team sometimes practices at a local church field. “It’s horrible, but I take it wherever I can get it,” he said. “They just need a place to go.”
Enough space is needed to avoid injuries to others. “You don’t want to hit a baseball or softball into a bunch of kids playing soccer,” Patton said.
Second, the city needs more swimming lessons.
“That’s one of the most cutthroat signups,” Tutsy Asmus said. Every parent tries to get the 10 or 11 a.m. class slots, because the unheated pool is just too cold for the 9 a.m. classes, she said. An indoor pool would solve that problem, she added.
Next, access to the community center, which sits on the far northwest corner of the city, is not easy for children. The Asmuses said they live very close to the center, but would not allow their children to travel there themselves.
“There should be a sidewalk,” Tutsy Asmus said, and maybe a speed limit lower than 50 mph on Haskins Road, her husband added.
Finally, parents would like to see more winter programming – especially on snow days.
“Winter is long and kids get antsy,” Tutsy Asmus said. And on snow days, parents can go a little crazy with nothing for their children to do. “If there were something on snow days, we’d be all over it.”
Some other specific ideas for youth programs included:
- More activities for very young children.
- Big Wheel races at City Park.
- Gymnastics, since the BGSU program is “very pricey.”
- Obstacle course with ropes, monkey bars, trampoline.
- More weekend and evening programs for families with working parents.
- Tumble time for little kids with mats and balls.
- More geocaching in outdoor areas.
- Indoor preschool soccer.
- Curling for kids.
Some mixed reviews were given for youth sports coaching, which often is done by volunteer parents.
“A lot of the coaches, their hearts are in the right places,” Patton said. “You’re just thankful for the volunteers.”
But one experience with a volunteer soccer coach who often missed practice and didn’t understand the sport ended the Asmus’ participation.
“It was very messy,” Tutsy Asmus said. “It left enough of a sour taste in our mouth that we left the soccer program.”
But overall, Tutsy Asmus said her family’s experience with the park programs has been very positive – which led to them to attend the focus group.
“Our main impetus for coming here was to make sure nothing went away,” she said. “We’re so pleased with the things we do here.”
The comments from Wednesday’s focus group will be used to develop the park and recreation department’s five-year master plan update.
To get citizen input, four more focus groups will be held – with each one targeting a specific topic. The comments will be restricted to the topics for each forum, which are:
- April 13: Natural area parks (Wintergarden and Simpson.)
- April 20: Fitness, aquatics and events.
- May 11: Active parks (City Park, Carter Park, etc.)
- May 18: Future directions.
All the meetings will be held at the Bowling Green Community Center, beginning at 7 p.m. Free child care will be available.
Anyone interested in a particular topic, who is unable to make it to that meeting may email comments to the focus group moderator, Shannon Orr, from Bowling Green State University at skorr@bgsu.edu.
