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ASHWAUBENON (NBC 26) — Ashwaubenon offers residents youth sports opportunities that are co-sponsored by the Village, meaning the Village fronts some of the costs for facilities and maintenance. Now, if it opens up those programs to non-residents or non-open-enrolled students, Village officials are deciding if the municipality should still front the costs.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details added for web)
Ashwaubenon Youth Baseball (AYB) is a chance for players to learn communication — and play ball — at a more affordable rate, but the Village is looking to allow non-Ashwaubenon residents to play, which could change the cost.
Watch Ashwaubenon neighborhood reporter Karl Winter’s story here:
The numbers have been dwindling for the club in recent years.
“We are scraping by [with] four teams for our older kids,” AYB president Donovan Miller said.
And they may practice in a gym in the winter, but it’s cheaper than travel ball options.
“What makes Ashwaubenon different is we try to keep it as low cost as possible,” Miller said. “I think we’re the only [club] in this area that has this [co-sponsorship] agreement, and it is very unique.”
To bring numbers up and allow nearby kids to play, the club wants to bring in people outside the Village — but not if that means the Village of Ashwaubenon pulls it’s contributions, like field maintenance.
“To lose those services, we’d have to back out, and we’d find ways to make it work on our own.,” Miller said.
Ashwaubenon Swim Club is also in favor of bringing in non-residents, in part so its swimmers can have teammates for relays.
“That’s that one moment that you really are coming together as a team,” president Renee Jadin-Rice said, “and our kids are missing out because of that. So we would love to be able to expand and allow that.”
But says Jadin-Rice also says the club can’t afford to function without in-kind contributions from the Village.
“If we had to go to another facility and rent the pool for practice time, we wouldn’t be able to exist for more than a year,” she said.
Given the choice between the pool usage and allowing non-residents to swim, Jadin-Rice said she would be forced to choose the former.
“We truly appreciate the co-sponsorship because that pool time is really the biggest value for us, and that’s probably why you don’t see as many swim clubs around,” she said.
At a meeting Tuesday night, the Parks and Recreation board was deciding, if non-residents can play, should the so-called co-sponsored clubs still get Village money.
“I’m not really sure what the exact compromise is,” board member A. Dean Hess said, “between the organization surviving, versus the ultimate benefit for our own citizens in Ashwaubenon.”
“There will be higher costs borne by the Village, by allowing more people into the program,” Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Rex Mehlberg said.
The Parks and Rec board voted to recommend to non-residents to play for Ashwaubenon clubs, with a few conditions: they’d be capped at 15% of the previous year’s enrollment, and that the Village would take away the cash contributions to clubs like Ashwaubenon Youth Baseball, which gets about $5,700 from the Village.
The Village board will make the final decision on this at next Tuesday’s meeting.
