HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-09-18; Parks & Recreation Commission; 906-5; Helen Putnam Award TRUST ProgramPARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION - AGENDA BILL
AB#906-5
MTG. DATE: | 09/18/06
STAFF: | SPICKARD
HELEN PUTNAM AWARD:
T.R.U.S.T PROGRAM
bd INFO
ACTION
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive information regarding the T.R.U.S.T. sportsmanship program and the program's receipt
of the Helen Putnam Award on September 6, 2006.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
in 1999 the Parks and Recreation Commission expressed its concern to staff regarding low
levels of sportsmanship witnessed at Carlsbad sports activities. After conducting extensive
research, the department developed a program based on the National Alliance for Youth Sport
(NAYS), a highly respected and successful national model. The department broadened the
scope and scale of this national model and developed the T.R.U.S.T. program. The acronym
was chosen to clearly convey the program's precise intent: Teaching Respect, Unity and
Sportsmanship through Teamwork.
The T.R.U.S.T. program is based on a Code of Conduct and formalized, mandatory training for
all coaches, officials, parents and participants. It is widely promoted and supported by every
level of department staff. In addition, the City Council and City Leadership Team are
knowledgeable about and supportive of the program.
Awareness of the T.R.U.S.T. program has created a climate of camaraderie and civic pride in the
City of Carlsbad. In promulgating the concept and operation of T.R.U.S.T., Recreation took a
huge leap forward in municipal government by pioneering a groundbreaking sportsmanship plan
that encompasses all recreation related activities and is supported, publicized, promoted,
adhered to, and enforced in all divisions of Recreation.
This month the T.R.U.S.T. program was awarded the prestigious Helen Putnam Award for
Excellence by the League of California Cities. The Helen Putnam Award was established n 1982
to recognize outstanding cities in California that deliver the highest quality and level of service in
the most effective manner possible. This year, The City of Carlsbad's T.R.U.S.T. program was
awarded the Grand Prize in the category of Enhancing Public Trust, Ethics, and Community
Involvement. The award was presented to department staff at the League of California Cities
Annual Conference held on September 6, 2006.
EXHIBITS:
1. T.R.U.S.T. Brochure
2. Application Narrative for the Helen Putnam Award
n
EXHIBIT 2
The Challenge
Faced with a problem that plagues individuals, teams and groups globally, the City of Carlsbad's
Recreation Department pioneered a local solution that reflects, reinforces, enforces and celebrates
the proactive, positive spirit of its mission of promoting respect, unity, safety, enrichment,
encouragement and teamwork in all activities.
The crisis is poor sportsmanship. This problem...
• Exists in sports and in other activities.
• Destroys the spirit of friendly competition.
• Nationally results in huge declines in participation, especially among kids: 70% of all youth
drop out of organized sports by age 12 due to a bad experience.
• Can perilously escalate into physically harmful and even life-threatening and life-taking
situations.
Through solicited input from the community and staff, in 1999 the Recreation Department
committed to furthering key target issues. One of these issues-turned-goals is creating safe places
to gather for all who live, work and recreate in Carlsbad.
At about the same time, the advisory Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Commission expressed
its concern to the department about low levels of sportsmanship witnessed in Carlsbad sports
activities. The problems included trash-talking and confrontational behavior in youth and adult
Softball, baseball, basketball and soccer league games that resulted in technical fouls, ejections
and suspensions. Poor interpersonal relations also surfaced in displays of rude attitudes and
disruptive actions at the Carlsbad Senior Center, including nasty arguments over what were
supposed to be sociable bingo games.
Unpleasant incidences of poor conduct in Carlsbad were rare and isolated. Disruptive situations
were dealt with quickly, did not proliferate into other games and activities, seldom escalated into
widespread mayhem and never resulted in actual physical harm.
Nevertheless, the potential for physically and/or psychologically damaging violence did exist
Serious, alarming incidents making headlines across the nation convinced Recreation officials
that they needed to become swiftly and energetically proactive.
Recreation staff resolved to create a program mat would go to bat for good sportsmanship.
CITY OF (g,ARLSBAD
Program
Teaching Respect, Unity, end Sportsmanship Oiroufh Teamwork
The Solution
In 2000, the Recreation Department developed a program that it would begin implementing,
incrementally, in 2001. An acronym was chosen to convey with intense clarity the program's
precise intent: Teaching Respect, Unity, and Sportsmanship through Teamwork, or TRUST.
Stated TRUST Community Expectations
"The Carlsbad Recreation Department requires its staff, participants, spectators and neighbors to
recognize the following expectations in order to maintain a healthy community:
We TRUST that you will maintain a safe and positive environment
We TRUST that you will treat every individual with courtesy and respect.
We TRUST that you will honor the rules established for each activity.
We TRUST that you will demonstrate fair play and sportsmanship at all times."
In promulgating the concept and operation of TRUST, Recreation took a huge leap forward in
municipal government by pioneering a groundbreaking sportsmanship program that encompasses
all recreation-related activities and is supported, publicized, promoted, adhered to and enforced
in all divisions of Recreation. It also put in place performance measurement standards for use in
assessing the program's success.
The Development of TRUST
A sportsmanship committee was formed, comprised of programming staff from youth and
adult sports, enrichment classes, aquatics, facilities, senior activities and special events. The
committee:
» Committed to extending the program to sports and non-sports Recreation activities, from
toddlers' pizza-making classes to teen Counselor-in-Training programs; from the annual
Carlsbad Triathlon to Senior Center exercise classes.
• Determined that the Code of Conduct developed would serve as the backbone of all
Recreation-related activities sponsored by non-City entities held in Carlsbad; from league
sports teams playing in City parks to school swim meets held at the Carlsbad Aquatic
Center.
• Added sportsmanship as a City goal. A management employee committee of department
administrators and a resource committee of recreation programmers worked to develop
the tenets of TRUST, assuring buy-in by the entire City organization, including the City
Council and top Leadership Team management.
• Solicited corporate and community donations to support program promotion, thus eliciting
a sense of unity among organizations throughout Carlsbad.
• Created a TRUST logo that is placed on plaques and displayed prominently at all City
facilities, from community parks to the Carlsbad Police and Fire Safety Center, as a visual
reminder to staff and a bold, emphatic, unwavering statement to citizens.
• Emblazoned the TRUST insignia on wristbands, t-shirts and balls given to youth and adult
sports participants who demonstrate a high level of sportsmanship. Thus, the TRUST
program and tenets become a framework, an incentive and a reward to youth.
2
Partnering on National and Local Levels
After conducting extensive research, the Recreation Department decided to base its program on
the National Alliance for Youth Sport (NAYS), a highly respected, successful national model.
It further determined to apply and expand NAYS' generic concepts on a local level in reflection
of Carlsbad's unique culture. This partnership provided the City with a foundation to train
and prepare staff to implement and enforce the program. It also allowed Recreation to pilot
the program on a youth sports scale before expanding it to include all sports and all recreation
activities.
The Recreation Department joined NAYS in 2001. NAYS is currently utilized in some 3,300
communities and organizations. With a philosophy of providing children with positive coaching
methods and instruction, NAYS' focus is on parents and coaches. Appropriate Recreation staff
underwent extensive training, including classroom lectures, videos and testing, to learn the skills
and information needed to educate (and in many cases re-educate longtime) sports participants,
parents, coaches, officials and spectators.
Sequence of Implementation
The NAYS program costs the City $2,000 per year to implement It consists of separate training
seminars for coaches, officials and parents, each of whom must sign a Code of Conduct before
the season begins. Coaches undergo six hours of training, learning how to be a positive role
model and understanding that they must enforce proper behavior on the court. The seminar
for officials teaches them how to deal effectively with coaches, parents and kids. The parents'
seminar explains that the intrinsic and overriding object of me game for youngsters is to
participate and have fun.
« 2001: Recreation staff introduced TRUST and NAYS to all youth sports programs. The
concepts were initially met with considerable resistance by returning coaches. Staff
persevered; educating coaches, monitoring activities and enforcing the Code of Conduct.
• 2002: As NAYS certification of volunteer coaches continued, parents of children involved
in youth basketball programs were informed that, beginning in 2003, they must undergo
NAYS training and certification.
• 2003: Recreation continued its education of coaches while introducing and expanding
the program to adult sports participants and parents of youth sports participants. After
undergoing Recreation-provided instruction, coaches and parents are certified and required
to share the Codes of Conduct with participants.
• 2004-05: Recreation created informational TRUST publications for youth and adult sports
leagues, open play at community centers, and all City-sponsored recreation activities,
including after-school programs and senior excursions as well as Recreation-related
activities taking place in Carlsbad. All participants must now sign a Code of Conduct.
TRUST is widely promoted: in City newsletters, me annual Carlsbad Calendar and Community
Services Guide, Community Update Video, Carlsbad Citizens' Academy and on the City's
website. It has received exhilarating positive media attention and favorable word-of-mouth
publicity. By bringing the positive message of TRUST to all Carlsbad residents as well as to
current/potential participants, the program has garnered a larger audience and wider acceptance.
The Results
TRUST has achieved extremely positive results, in terms of measurable statistics as well as in
intangible but highly significant consequences. TRUST has enabled the City of Carlsbad and
the people it serves through its recreation activities to return to the "good old days" when a
playground was a ground for play, not grounds for anger, antagonism and potential violence.
TRUST has reached 10,000 youth, 23,000 adults, 700 referees and 860 coaches. To use a City
field, all sports organizations must have a sportsmanship program in place.
TRUST has created an opportunity for teens to blossom and excel. A 16-year-old Counselor-in-
Training participant from a disadvantaged background has become a Recreation staff member
who now supervises after-school children with a friendly but firm hand.
TRUST serves as a metaphorical fork in the road that pressures teens to change the direction of their
life. One young basketball player had become extremely belligerent on the court; yelling at the refe,
fouling out, inciting her teammates to be disrespectful and causing losses in games and frustration
among the parents, who looked to Recreation leaders to ameliorate the situation. After staff instilled
and insisted upon the principles of TRUST in this individual, the teenager realized she had lost focus
of respecting others and learned she needed to rety on hard work, not her vocal chords, to attain her
goals. Since "graduating" from the TRUST program, this teenager has become a high school varsity
basketball player earning outstanding grades and planning to attend college.
Measuring Up
The following statistics culled from the City of Carlsbad's annual "State of Effectiveness
Report" show that, compared with pre-TRUST status in 2000, implementation and expansion
of TRUST from 2001-2005 have resulted in a greatly increased approval rating from coaches,
participants and parents and a greatly decreased number of problematic behaviors. In the League
Sportsmanship Poll, participants are asked, "What are your observations regarding the level of
sportsmanship?" The jump in youth activities was monumental; positive perceptions doubled in
the first year of implementation, and exploded to the current phenomenal approval rating of 95%,
5% over the City's benchmark of excellence.
Recreation Department Adult Sports Leagues: Softball, Basketball, Soccer
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
League Sportsmanship Poll 55% 67% 74% 78% 80% 83%
Technicals/Ejections/Suspensions 46/37/37 25/27/15 17/14/6 15/7/4 17/12/4 15/11/3
Recreation Department Youth Sports Leagues:
Basketball, Pee Wee Indoor Soccer, Sports Camps
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
League Sportsmanship Poll 11% 22% 41% 96% 95% 95%
Technicals/Ejections/Suspensions 43/7/0 35/4/0 26/3/0 13/0/0 8/2/1 13/0/0
These amazing numerical results and the positive word-of-mouth generated over the past few
years have inspired community sports organizations to look at their own volunteer groups and
reexamine their perceptions and implementation of sportsmanship. Preschool parents, enrichment
class instructors, special events coordinators, aquatics instructors and senior activity directors,
among others, report that TRUST has made a positive impact on the way in which participants
view and enjoy their programs; increasing attendance and decreasing drop-offs.
After undergoing the TRUST program, kids and parents at one pee wee soccer game were
interviewed to find out what it means to mem to be a good sport. Cooper Gee, 5, said, "Having
fun playing with my whole team. And I get to play all positions!" Cooper's mom, Shaundra
Gee, concurred with her son, saying, "Playing the best you can, being part of the team and being
happy, regardless of the outcome." Another parent, Richard Crespo, related, "I grew up playing
soccer in Colombia and watching European matches. I saw sportsmanship at the professional
level decline. It sets a bad example. This program [TRUST] sets a very good example."
Community and Unity
The Recreation-led TRUST program dovetails synergistically with the City of Carlsbad's
ongoing Connecting Community, Place and Spirit (CCPS) effort to envision and create a
sustainable future for Carlsbad residents over the next five, ten and even 50 years. CCPS'
Guiding Principles include "building partnerships to support sustainable connections that create
a community where people want to live," promoting "a sense of caring, commitment, respect and
courtesy" and creating "opportunities for people to interact, feel accepted and involved."
The Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Commission, City Council, City Leadership Team and
the entire City organization are knowledgeable about and supportive of TRUST. This enables
the Recreation Department to present and maintain a strong, unified, positive force in the
community.
Awareness of the TRUST program has created a climate of camaraderie and civic pride.
Residents say they are happy to live in a city that feels so strongly about preserving safety and
promoting good sportsmanship. Sports league officials say they are delighted to have their
groups play on die safe ground of Carlsbad. Thanks to print and TV publicity of the program,
people throughout the region can TRUST that rude or aggressive conduct will never be tolerated
in the City of Carlsbad in any way, at any level.
We live in a time of sensationalism in which violence, real and contrived, is in our face: on
TV; in the movies; in newspapers; in video games; on our roadways. Poor conduct plagues
professional sports, yet the perpetrators on the ice, the court and the field are often glorified in
the media as heroes of sorts. Unsportsmanlike behavior is distressing in youth sports; parents
screaming at coaches, players and even their own children set a horrific example for kids who
should be enjoying what is supposed to be a game.
To counteract this ominous trend, the City of Carlsbad Recreation Department's TRUST program
is a model that can and should be adapted by other cities, not only to preserve safety, but also
to instill a high level of decorum and decency among its constituents. TRUST teaches people
of all ages involved in sports and recreation activities mat having fun while participating and
interacting with each other in a friendly, non-violent way makes everyone a winner.