Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVING IN CONCEPT UTILIZING CONTRACT SPORTS OFFICIALS IN YOUTH SPORTS (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
For more than 40 years, the Recreation and Human Services Division has provided sports programming for the City’s youth. Recently, staff has determined that hiring and retaining reliable, qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced Sports Officials has proven challenging, and has affected the productivity and integrity of the program. In an effort to resolve this matter, staff is requesting that the City Council approve in concept utilizing an outside firm to provide the City with Sports Officials for all Division 1A and higher games. Additionally, staff is recommending the reinstatement of the Recreation Assistant I position to officiate the Sandlot and Rookie Divisions in youth sports.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE in concept contracting a firm to provide the City of Carson with reliable, qualified, knowledgeable and experienced Sports Officials for the Youth Sports Program at all Division 1A and higher games.
2. APPROVE reinstating the Recreation Assistant I position to officiate the Sandlot and Rookie Divisions.
1.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT APPROVE the recommendation.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City of Carson’s Youth Sports program offers many opportunities for young people to participate in organized team sports. Current offerings include baseball, softball, basketball, flag football, and soccer, with different divisions within in each sport. Games are scheduled during specific optimum “seasons,” and played at most of the City’s 12 parks.
In recent years, staff has become aware that hiring and retaining reliable, qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced Sports Officials has proven challenging. This has impacted the ability of the program to even hold games, as some officials have not attended as scheduled, or their lack of availability has led to game cancellations. Staff has also encountered officials that do not have the required understanding of the rules to make the right calls; do not have the diplomacy and communication skills to speak and work with parents, other officials, and staff; and do not have the experience to effectively officiate games. Taken together, these issues have affected the integrity of the program.
In an effort to resolve this concern, staff is requesting that the City Council approve in concept hiring a firm to provide the Youth Sports Program with officials for all Division 1A and higher games. These individuals will be experienced California Scholastic Federation (CIF) officials who work at the CIF level, meaning that they are high school officials who must qualified annually to work these games. They will already have the skills sets, knowledge and experience to effectively, confidently, and objectively officiate games. These officials will also have the professionalism needed to communicate and interact with parents, other officials, and staff.
This service utilizes a pool of qualified Sports Officials to work all the games offered by the City. The Assigner - the individual who allocates officials to games - uses a cloud-based program called Arbiter to schedule staff to games. This tool simplifies the task of scheduling Sports Officials, and also provides all parties involved the ability to confirm that all games are covered. The attached service rates provided by the Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation {SCMAF} (Exhibit No. 1) offer a glimpse as to the estimate of the cost for Officials based on sport.
Currently, four local cities - Gardena, Cerritos, Inglewood, and Bell Gardens - use contract Sports Officials. Staff from these municipalities report that they recommend this service, as these officials are professional, knowledgeable, and experienced, and have enhanced the game experience for youth and parents alike. Equally so, staff now have ability to focus on their assigned duties and responsibilities, as they no longer have to prepare game schedules, coordinate the work of officials, or serve as replacement officials when one does not show up.
Should the City Council elect to move in this direction, a Request for Proposals (RFP) process will need to be completed. In order to ensure that the best firm is selected, staff will include a list of specific qualifications that the company and all contracted officials must have to support and ensure the integrity of the program.
Staff anticipates that this contract will cost approximately $100,000.00 including contingency (Exhibit No. 2). In comparison, for Fiscal Year 2016/17, the cost for two Officials working each Division 1A and higher game throughout a sports season was $75,000.00 (Exhibit No. 3). This amount will be offset by savings from not having to recruit, hire and train officials, as well as avoiding workers compensation claims. Operationally, the Youth Sports Coordinator would no longer have to schedule and assign officials to work specific games. She would only have to provide a game schedule to the firm. Relieving the Youth Sports Coordinator of this duty would permit her to focus on the more important aspects of the program, namely the players, their families, coaches and the games themselves. When all is said and done, the primary benefit of this service is having a consistent pool of qualified and experienced officials to ensure that games can be held and the calls relied upon, which will be a significant boost to enhancing the game experience for everyone, and affirm the quality of the games being played.
To officiate the Sandlot (Ages 5-6) and Rookie Divisions (Ages 7-8), staff is recommending the reinstatement of the Recreation Assistant I position. In addition to providing youth the opportunity to gain invaluable Recreation and officiating experience, they will also be provided an entry-level post with the City. The City itself will benefit by having a ready pool of staff already groomed to serve as the next generation of Recreation leaders assisting with Special Event programming, and officiating the Sandlot and Rookie divisions. Staff anticipates that this recommendation will cost approximately $16,000.00 (Exhibit No. 4).
In an effort to support current in-house Sports Officials, they will be provided the opportunity to be hired by the selected vendor, per the RFP requirements and should they pass the established appointment practices by the contractor.
In light of the positive impacts this service will bring to Youth Sports and the City, staff is requesting that the City Council approve in concept contracting a firm to provide the City of Carson with reliable, qualified, knowledgeable and experienced Sports Officials for the Youth Sports Program. As well, staff is recommending the reinstatement of the Recreation Assistant I position to officiate the Sandlot and Rookie Divisions.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Should the City Council approve the recommendation, a Request for Proposal (RFP) process will be initiated and completed to select a qualified firm to provide Sports Officials to work the City’s Youth Sports games. Funds in the amount of $100,000.00 will need to be transferred from the Recreation and Human Services/Youth Sports Account Number 01-90-951-701-5004 for part-time wages to the Recreation and Human Services/Youth Sports Account Number 01-90-951-701-6005 for contract services, with no net fiscal impact to the General Fund.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation (SCMAF) Price Sheet. (pg. 5)
2. Contract Sports Officials: Division 1A and Higher. (pg. 6)
3. Current Sports Officials: Division 1A and Higher. (pg. 7)
4. Sports Officials: Sandlot and Rookie Divisions. (pg. 8)
Prepared by: Bobby Grove, Recreation Program Manager and Luchie Magante, Senior Administrative Analyst