Understanding and Applying Management of Sport Facilities

· Qualifications: Specific educational experience or equivalent direct experience or combination of both

· Skills: Planning (Short, mid and long-terms); ability to prioritize the various user needs/demands; communication (written and oral); creative problem solving using experience and field’s best practices; career-learner (facility best practices change over time and manager needs to stay on top of related trends/tech/uses, etc.); people skills (manager must be able to communicate effectively and respectfully to users/supervisors/employees alike);

2. What do you think are important factors when designing and planning the construction of a sport facility?

· Does facility meet the needs it is intended to meet (e.g. major league baseball field dimensions do not meet the needs of a youth-focused program)

· Multi-use: lack of space and increased demand requires facilities that are multi-use.

· Maintenance: What is the plan for long-term/on-going facilities maintenance?

· Cost: does the facility meet the intended need while staying at available development budget?

3. Based on your experience working as a sport facility manager, what are some of the changes or innovations in the planning or design of sporty facilities?

· Multi-Use: Most important development to-date. New facilities must be able to host and accommodate multiple sports/uses (i.e. main sport, a secondary sport, special events, etc…)

· Accessibility: Is the facility accessible to multiple (and required) users for play/use/spectators?

· Technology: From facility maintenance to scheduling of events to advertisement to communications (internal and external), technology plays a large part in facility management.

4. How did the Americans With Disabilities Act impact the design and physical construction of this facility?

· (Assuming you are referring to Lynwood City Park and its sport facilities) All facility construction was completed to the ADA standards at the time. The facility is almost 30 years old and large renovations are being planned over the next year. ADA and accessibility will be a significant factor in design.

5. How does the Americans With Disabilities Act influence what you do on a day-to-day basis while managing and maintaining the facility?

· Every public opportunity we offer (sports, special events…) is developed with ADA and accessibility in mind. The influence is daily.

6. How important are sound risk management practices in the design, planning, and management of sport facilities?

· Critical. Not only is it the right to do, but we are living in ever more litigious society. You can be sued by almost anyone – at any time – for anything. Proper design (and keeping programming within the limits of the design), ongoing care and record keeping are imperative.

7. What advice would you give to a new sport facilities manager with limited experience as a facility manager related to effective risk management practices?

· Know your facility in and out. Be VERY active with your local, state and national industry groups. It’s a tight-knit community that you’ll find full of people willing to help you develop professionally and you’ll get to be part of influencing the industry’s future.

8. Based on your experience, how can a sport facility manager most effectively prevent legal liability or lawsuits as to the events, attendees, and participants in a sport facility?

· There’s not a simple answer and any answer has to be customized each facility. It will include a combination of accepted practices/standards for the event; foreseeable issues that are unique to your activity and facility; input from your agency’s legal and Risk Management team; potentially liability waivers; signage and other factors

9. When considering the funding of sport facilities, where was the funding obtained to construct this facility?

· Combination of competitive State Parks Measures, other grant funding and my agency’s general fund.

10. What is the most important factor in managing a safe and public friendly sport facility?

· Common sense – are your participants reasonably aware of potential harm that may be caused to themselves by participating (as a player or spectator) AND, despite the warning/advisory, are still choosing to freely continue participating? Do you have proper signage? Is the facility reasonably maintained and you have proper records showing a consistent track record of acceptable maintenance.

Mark Flores, Director

Recreation & Community Services

11330 Bullis Road

Lynwood, CA 90262