An effort to increase recreation for kids
MEDICAL LAKE – A contract with Skyhawk Sports will bring skill building sports clinics to Medical Lake. A resolution added to the June 20 city council session was approved through the first reading.
Another program called SuperTots will also be included. According to Mario Williams, the program director, this will bring opportunities for children between 18 months and five years old.
Being a resolution, this contract was able to pass in a single reading. Only laws need to go through two readings for passage according to Mayor Terri Cooper.
According to Medical Lake’s Parks and Recreation Director, Glen Horton, the main goal is to continue expanding recreation activities. He said if everything goes well the clinics could start as soon as July 10.
“I feel like this is a benefit to the city because we’re not currently offering sports clinics,” Horton said. “Skyhawk already runs these programs and has wanted to come into Medical Lake before.”
The biggest challenge will be getting everything in place and ready on such short notice. He would like everything to be in place by the second week of July.
Mayor Cooper said the only thing that needs to be added is an amendment to the resolution that would show detailed invoicing for each program.
According to Horton, the city will get a percentage of each registration and there is no cost to the city to bring the program out there.
Twenty percent is what municipalities ask for on average, but Horton said to keep the overall registration costs lower Medical Lake is only asking for 15 percent.
Skills camps are different than leagues, and each camp is offered independently but could run in conjunction with sports leagues according to City Administrator Sonny Weathers.
During the council meeting on June 20, Mayor Terri Cooper said the group also works in other regional communities like Liberty Lake.
“We looked at doing it ourselves,” Cooper said. “But the hiring process right now, and the time it would take to get all the equipment, so this is a great way to just rule it out and get those clinics to the kids.”
In the past, residents would need to drive their kids into Spokane to find sports clinics, but this would eliminate that.
It would save parents time, money, and even the trouble of finding downtown parking.
Williams also said this would benefit some of the coaches that live in the West Plains, because they won’t have to make the drive into Spokane.
Horton anticipates getting kids from Cheney and possibly Airway Heights to register as well, because the travel to Medical Lake will be faster and more efficient than travel to Spokane.
In turn, Horton said this can also help boost local business because when people are in town, they may stop to get groceries or have lunch somewhere.
One of the main goals of the city is to increase regional tourism, and this should be a step in that direction according to Horton.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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