AGENDA REPORT
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council partially waive fees for City and/or School District field and facility usage during the fiscal year of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 for American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), Beverly Hills Little League (BHLL), and Beverly Hills Basketball League (BHBL). League presidents and staff recommend reducing the fee the leagues pay for fiscal year 2021-22 by the percentage their participation rates declined, thereby waiving $15,161 in field and facility use fees.
INTRODUCTION
At the January 26, 2021 meeting, the City Council approved waiving fees paid by American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and Beverly Hills Little League (BHLL) for City field usage during the 2020 fall sports season (October through December 2020), as youth sports organizations were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City Council also approved waiving fees for both AYSO and BHLL at the August 3, 2021 meeting, for the 2021 spring sports season (January through June 2021), which was still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
City Council is now asked to provide direction on a request by American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), Beverly Hills Little League (BHLL), and Beverly Hills Basketball League (BHBL) to partially waive fees for City and/or School District field and facility usage during the fiscal year of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
December 6, 2022
E-14
Honorable Mayor & City Council
Christopher M. Paulson, Recreation Services Manager
REQUEST TO PARTIALLY WAIVE YOUTH SPORTS ORGANIZATION
FIELD AND FACILITY USE FEES FOR AMERICAN YOUTH SOCCER
ORGANIZATION (AYSO), BEVERLY HILLS LITTLE LEAGUE (BHLL),
AND BEVERLY HILLS BASKETBALL LEAGUE (BHBL) FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2021-22 DUE TO THE ONGOING IMPACT OF THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC.
None
Meeting Date: December 6, 2022
As the impacts of the pandemic have fluctuated in the past year and many County Health Department regulations have expired, staff worked with the presidents of each league to determine how much, if at all, their programs were impacted during the past fiscal year. The leagues acknowledged that their participation rates have improved since the first year of the pandemic but have not returned to pre-pandemic rates. As a result, league presidents and staff recommend reducing the fee the leagues pay for fiscal year 2021-22 by the percentage their participation rates declined.
The Community Services Department supports this request based upon the continued public benefit provided by our youth sports organizations to the Beverly Hills community; the City values our long-standing collaboration with these organizations in providing youth sports and athletic programming and embraces City efforts to support these community-based organizations during this challenging time.
DISCUSSION
The City Council granted a fee waiver for the Fall 2020 season and Spring 2021 season to both AYSO and BHLL on January 26, 2021 and August 3, 2021, respectively. Each league was still impacted, although not as gravely, this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in mid-March 2020 resulting in a loss of participation and revenue for the organizations. The youth sports groups have requested the City waive field and facility usage fees in the total amount of $15,161 for fiscal year 2021-22 for AYSO, BHLL, and BHBL.
The Fall 2021 season for AYSO and BHLL opened under COVID-19 restrictions that required youth in sports to be tested regularly, and vaccines were only available for people aged 12 and older. Vaccines were not yet authorized for the 5-11 age group, which is a significant size group that comprises the majority of participants in the three leagues, until November 2, 2021. As a result of these challenges, AYSO and BHLL continued to see reductions in participants, and BHBL was not sure whether to pursue a season in early 2022 or if they should sit out another year due to the pandemic.
Ultimately all three leagues launched this past fiscal year, and all had reduced numbers as compared to pre-pandemic counts. This is most likely linked to ongoing pandemic fears, especially given the spike in cases and development of new variants that occurred at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022, which is why the leagues are requesting a partial fee waiver once again.
Throughout all three years of the pandemic, the youth sports organizations have worked closely with City staff to discuss implementing safety restrictions, adhering to testing and masking requirements imposed by LA County, participating in County Health Department update calls to learn the latest science and requirements for youth sports, and developing their own comprehensive COVID-19 response plans, such as designating a COVID safety compliance officer, and contracting for weekly drive-thru testing services.
The organizations presented the City with reopening plans, which were revised multiple times, that detailed how children could return to play while following these strict guidelines. Within the initial guidelines, the youth sport organizations were required to limit the number of participants as well as require smaller groups/pods to stay within a coach to participant ratio of one (1) coach to ten (10) children. To ensure safety of both children and volunteer coaches, the organizations requested additional volunteers to assist with safety protocols such as temperature checks at time of drop-off and enforcement of face coverings.
Meeting Date: December 6, 2022
Lastly, staff has informed the presidents of all three leagues that unless pandemic conditions change for the worse in the current fiscal year 2022-23, the leagues will be expected to resume normal field and facility usage fee payments.
FISCAL IMPACT
The three youth sports organizations each focus on a unique sport with a dedicated season, and some of the leagues have a primary and secondary season. To compare current participation rates to pre-pandemic rates, we will use numbers from fiscal years which begin on July 1 and conclude the following June 30. This captures AYSO’s larger fall numbers as well as BHLL’s larger spring season.
Participation Numbers
FY 2019/20 FY
2021/22
PERCENT
REDUCED
FY2021/22
TOTAL FEE
WAIVER
REQUEST
AYSO 1,862 1,294 30% $26,155 $7,847
BHLL 1,002 932 7% $23,940 $1,676
BHBL 1,730 485 72% $7,830 $5,638
TOTAL $57,925 $15,161
From pre-pandemic registration numbers of over 1,800 to this past fiscal year, AYSO saw a 30% reduction in participation rates. That number is not as dramatic as the 71% decline in participation numbers from pre-pandemic to the first season under pandemic restrictions, but it is a considerable indicator of families’ reluctance to fully return to youth sports.
Because physical contact is lessened in baseball than in soccer or basketball, BHLL did not see variations as drastic as AYSO, but there was a 33% reduction in participation from pre-pandemic to the first season under pandemic restrictions, while in the fiscal year that just ended, BHLL suffered a 7% decline in participants.
Perhaps the most dramatic reduction in participation in youth sports came through the BHBL, which did not attempt to conduct a season in Winter 2020, Spring 2021, or Winter 2021, but did resume operations in January 2022 with a reduced spring season. BHBL saw a 72% decline in participation from pre-pandemic to this past fiscal year, indicative of apprehension to subjecting unvaccinated children to close-contact indoor sports.
The numbers above indicate the invoiced number of participants that registered for the leagues. The City charges $10.00 per Beverly Hills resident participant and $30.00 per non-resident participant. There is an additional $5.00 charged per child over the 50% cap for AYSO and BHLL to offset the impacts to the turf grass, BHBL does not pay this fee as they play on a court that does not require the same level of maintenance. The fiscal impact of this request is to waive $15,161 in field and facility use fees. The leagues would still be obligated to pay the City the amount remaining after the fee reduction, which totals $42,764.
Jenny Rogers,
Director of Community Services
Approved By