Strength in numbers

Innovative partnership, community focus earn Webster Sportstown honor

The aquatic center is one of 125 facilities the Webster Community Partnership makes use of. Matt Romeika

Many parks and recreation departments have created partnerships with local school districts and sports organizers that allow them to more efficiently share community facilities. But the town of Webster, N.Y., has elevated the idea of community partnerships to a new level. For those efforts, Webster has earned the title of Sports Illustrated Sportstown for the Empire State.

In 1999, the Town of Webster and the Webster Central School District developed the Webster Community Partnership (WCP), an entity designed to manage the combined recreation resources of both groups and ensure maximum benefit to the community.

So far, this set up has been extremely successful. Through one designated scheduler, the Partnership is able to book sports and recreation programs run by the schools, the town and outside groups and now, through the WCP Web site, groups can even check facility availability and submit requests for space.

"The Webster Community Partnership has allowed the town and the schools to put most of our facilities into one bucket and manage them from a central place," said Sue Lind, the Partnership’s Assistant Director. "With approximately 125 different facilities involved, this has proven to be a great way to meet the needs of our community."

Among those facilities are numerous baseball and softball diamonds, soccer fields, an aquatic center and a 21,000-square-foot fieldhouse. And since 2000, the town has spent $10 million to upgrade its existing facilities and build several new ones.

The town’s Parks and Recreation Department also oversees the development and maintenance of Webster’s 400 acres of parkland. This includes many of the fields, as well as several parks -- such as 84.5-acre Kent Park, with its 25-acre arboretum -- and a skatepark.

In keeping with its partnership theme, the Parks and Recreation Department gathers all of its youth sports partner organizations for monthly meetings of its "Youth Sports Council" to ensure that things are working smoothly.

"In a lot of towns and cities, it’s ‘dog eat dog’ as organizations have to fight for field or court time for their sports," said Mark Yeager, Commissioner of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department. "But in Webster, our Youth Sports Council provides a forum for representatives from each of our partner organizations, as well as from the Webster Community Partnership, to work though any potential issues, including scheduling."

Webster’s residents clearly reap the benefits of their town’s civilized systems, taking part in the wide variety of sports and recreation programs that Webster and its partners are able to offer.

And, as the Partnership continues to grow and get stronger, the benefits to the community will multiply.

"With the success of the Partnership, and the response we’ve had from the community, we’re able to continue to develop new facilities and renovate our existing ones," said Yeager. "And in the end, that will mean more chances for our residents to participate and be healthy -- which is one of the main reasons why we’re here to begin with."

Following logic like that, it’s no wonder that Webster and the WCP -- along with their myriad partners -- have combined to show the rest of New York what it takes to be a SI Sportstown.