St. Paul waives fees for some youth sports thanks to $1.5M from American Rescue Plan
ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Paul is hoping to score some points with families by waiving fees for rec sports leagues like soccer and basketball.
The initiative is part of $1.5 million investment in parks and rec thanks to a federal grant. City officials consider this a slam dunk for many reasons.
The money was earmarked for public safety and police, and if kids are coming to their local parks, they're not alone – and we learned a lot about that from the pandemic.
The smiles speak for themselves, and so do the signups. The St. Paul City Council signed off on appropriating the funds from the American Rescue Plan - the pandemic relief package passed by Congress to help local governments offset pandemic losses.
Mayor Melvin Carter argued that this absolutely fits the bill. If more kids are playing games inside, they're less likely to be playing with fire somewhere else.
"Coming out of the pandemic, it's been so critical that we reconnect ourselves to community," Carter saud. "And our parks and rec director kind of brought it to me, our frontline staff was really excited about it. And we're seeing right now the impact that just getting rid of a $25, $40 fee can make for us."
A registration fee for a months-long rec league might not seem like a lot, but $40 could fill up a tank a gas, buy a bag of groceries, even help with the monthly utilities. The waived fees apply to all sports for kids ages 9 and up. So the money's a big help, but the rec centers need help, too, as managers expect this winter to be their busiest season ever.
"We're inviting community members to come and serve as coaches, come and serve as volunteers, we need officials," Carter said. "That's one of the most exciting problems we can have as a community."
This money for free rec sports is good for three years, and there's more coming, too. Rec centers will be open more on the weekends, and a game-mobile is coming this summer.