Photo Credit: Kendrick Recreation Center and Houston Playgrounds
If you were to sit down with a group of recreation programmers and ask what new and exciting programs they offer, most—if not all—would provide a youth-oriented answer. This makes total sense, since the majority of us serve the school-age population through after-school programs and summer camps. But we sometimes fail to remember that adults also frequent rec centers and parks.
When it comes to adult programs, two things immediately jump out at me. First, in Philadelphia—and perhaps in other cities—sports and social clubs have become all the rage. These organizations charge a ridiculous amount of money for their programs as well as attempt to take away precious field time—not only from adult programs, but youth programs as well. Second, the majority of adult programmers fall into the millennial category, meaning we should start gearing adult programs for that generation. Using these two factors, we tweaked a few adult programs and created a new program to better serve the adult population.
Roller Hockey
We looked at what was successful in the current programs as well as those in the past, and worked on ways to enhance them. For instance, a typical roller-hockey league is 10 games, consisting of three 15-minute periods, with playoffs and a championship. But it is tough to play outdoor roller-hockey between Thanksgiving and Easter. Using an “Iron Man” format, we were able to squeeze a full season into a single weekend. Everyone got their hockey fix, and we added adult programming in the winter and early spring. The format is simple: each team has four players and a goalie; they play in a pool of teams with each game lasting 20 minutes. After pool play is done, there is a single-elimination tournament. In this way, each team is guaranteed to play four times during the course of the day. We also flirted with the idea of a triple-elimination tournament, but pool play was the overwhelming favorite. The quick format suits the millennials, and the fact we kept the cost low (enough to cover refs, shirts, and championship hoodies) makes it easy to compete with sports and social groups.