City of Gonzales
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: August 21, 2023
FROM: Carmen Gil, City Manager
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement and Rereation Activity Report Current Activities
City Sports Leagues
• City of Gonzales Youth Flag Football had a very successful season. We had a total of 86 participants. Our youngest age division (ages 5-7) had 21 participants. They had 3 teams with 7 players each. Our middle age division (ages 8-10) had a total of 39 participants. They had 4 teams of a minimum of 9 players each. The oldest age division was our 11-14. They had 26 participants.
They had 3 teams of a minimum of 8 players each. The last games were played on July 19th and July 21st. At the last game, all participants received a participation medal and certificate. For the older two age divisions one special participant, per team, was elected and received an additional award, the “Sportsmanship Award”. They received a special certificate and medal. It was a great season.
AGENDA
ITEM
11 • Our City Adult co-ed softball league ended with championship games played on Monday, July 31st and Tuesday, August 1st. We had two divisions this season, Lower and Higher Division.
There were 4 teams on the higher bracket and 6 teams on the lower bracket. Games were played Monday through Thursday during the evenings. Most games were competitive and fun. We had a lower and higher championship game. In both championship games the visiting team, which was the Savages for the lower bracket and Can’t Hit a Pitch for the higher bracket, came out on top and won the championship game.
• The lower bracket game was Bat-itude vs Savages. That game went into two extra overtime innings. It was a very exciting game. One of the youngest players on the Savages team, Angelina Navarro, 16, soon to be Gonzales High school Junior, hit a homerun, helping her team tie up the game. In the second overtime inning (9th) the visiting team, the Savages took a huge lead. They scored 15 runs. The score was now 26-11 Savages. The home team, Bat-itude was up to bat. The Savages were able to hold them to 7 runs thus winning the championship game 26-18. Congrats to the Savages.
• The higher bracket game was Balls Deep vs Can’t Hit a Pitch and the game went to 7 innings.
The team favored to win was Balls Deep as they were the undefeated team all season but Can’t Hit a Pitch was defensively strong and held their opponents from scoring. The final score was 20-
10. Congrats Can’t Hit a Pitch!
• The Men’s and Women’s adult basketball tournament for July was unsuccessful. We were not able to get enough participants to continue with the tournaments. • Registration for Gonzales Youth Soccer league started on July 3rd. The numbers so far are looking good. We have 34 registered participants. We will have 4 age divisions this season. The age divisions will be ages 2 ½- 3 ½, ages 4-5, age 6-8, and age 9-12. The season will start August 29th with skills assessments. We are still in need of head coaches and referees.
Aquatics
• Due to the unprecedented issues we have been experiencing with the Community Pool, we felt it was best to conclude the summer programming for the 2023 season. With that said, our summer weekday swim lessons were a success averaging 30 students for session 1, 2, and 3. • The Pool had a total of 22 Pool Party Reservations this summer bringing in about $8,675 in revenue. Despite the pool heater not working, the remaining parties scheduled for the month of August still decided to keep their reservation.
• Our Movie Night at the Pool on July 7th was a success! We had close to 50 attendees show up to see “How to train a Dragon”. Our hope was to be able to show Shrek on July 28th, however, we had to cancel due to the pool heater breaking down. We hope to bring back Summer Movie Nights at the Pool next summer as this was our first time having it after 2 years! Gonzales Youth Council
• On Tuesday, July 18th we began our Summer 2023 Youth Commissioner and Ambassador Summer Fellowship. The program is expected to run from July 18, 2023-August 4th, 2023. • After conducting 2 rounds of interviews, we were able to finalize the students’ roles for the coming school year. Luke Naegle and Aliyah Castillo were selected as the Youth Commissioners while Vianney Martinez-Valdez, Lizbeth De Leon-Santos, and Valeria Cardenas-Pacheco were selected as Youth Ambassadors.
• The three-week fellowship allows students to have immersions with government and school leaders to better understand the way both parties work. They also are given the task of beginning to plan out their 2023-2024 Gonzales Youth Council schedule and recruitment process. This opportunity is some of the students first glance at a formal work experience. In the end, they will present their Capstone Presentation during the Joint City and School Board Meeting to summarize their takeaways from the Fellowship.
Kid Power
• Kid Power Summer Camp for July was a blast! During week 3 Officer Perez from Gonzales PD came to visit and explained to the kids the process of becoming a police officer, and let them look at his police car. Officer Perez gave a wonderful performance and played his guitar and sang to the kids many songs. For every week of Summer Camp, we had a different theme. The theme was Disney during this week. The kids dressed as their Disney characters or wore their Disney gear on Friday, and we also watched a Disney movie and had popcorn. • During week 4 we had a total of 56 kids registered and we had Gonzales Fire Department visit for two days. The first day they came, they talked to the kids about what a typical day looks like and what the career process looks like to be a fireman. Fire Chief Jason Muscio talked to the kids about the importance of knowing their address in case they ever find themselves in a situation where they need to call 911. The Fire Chief also spoke on the importance of their households being equipped with smoke alarms and what they're used for and to make sure that they have a Family spot to meet in case of an emergency or fire inside their house. He also taught them how to stop drop and roll. During the second day, they had the kids rotate in three different sections.
One was putting out a fire in the makeshift house, another one was dragging a hose dummy to rescue a person, and the last one was an obstacle course. The kids enjoyed every single minute of their learning experience! Now when the kids see the firetruck, they wave to the fireman and a lot of them now want to be Firefighters, Police Officers, or part of the Public Works team and that's the joy of using our city resources and exposing the kids to the many career possibilities within the city. The theme for this week was to be a strong and courageous little one. Our summer team taught the kids about courage and what it takes to be courageous. It was also mismatching week so they missed matched their clothes, socks, hair, anything they could think of. • Week 5 we had a total of 57 children registered, we collaborated with Save The Whales and had them showcase their big whale “Dee”. The kids got to go inside of the whale pop-up and learn about what they do. They also learned about turtles and the effects of having certain things go into the ocean that can hurt all animals in the ocean. It was very educational and hands on. This week's theme was “I'm Having a Whale of a Time” the staff taught the kids about being optimistic and what the meaning of that is, it was also dress in your favorite tie-dye or bright colors.
• Week 6 we had 55 children registered and our theme was “Every Child is an Artist” which allowed the kids to create a beautiful painting. This week we talked about self-esteem and selfconfidence. The staff did many things to help them learn about what those topics mean. The kids got to wear a certain color as theme for the week.
Activities in the Planning Phase
1. On Tuesday, August 1st the Recreation Department and the Gonzales Youth Council will be participating in the National Night Out.
2. City Employees were invited to a Private Showing for the Circus Royal being held on Saturday, August 5th at 2:30PM.