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Editorial
The available local sports facilities that the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization utilizes are maxed out. If RARO is to grow, it needs access to more facilities, especially on weekdays during the school year.
That’s the basic message conveyed by RARO officials to members of the three local governing bodies during an interjurisdictional meeting Jan. 30 at the Virginia Horse Center. More infrastructure is needed if RARO is to grow its youth sports programming as well as its sports and recreational offerings for youth and adults.
RARO’s mission is “To provide and encourage a broad range of leisure and recreational opportunities to Rockbridge area residents of all ages by instilling ideals of citizenship, sportsmanship, good will and good fun.”
Chad Coffey, RARO executive director, and Joey Jones, chair of RARO’s board of directors, shared their vision for how they hope to carry out this mission. They want RARO to “be a recreational service provider for all age groups [age 5 and up], which is inclusive of the adult population; be able to provide programs throughout the day; be a major contributor in meeting community health needs within our community [and] create a stronger connection with local businesses, organizations and schools.”
RARO, Jones noted, “borrows” all of the facilities it uses - it owns none. Facilities that it utilizes, most of which are owned by the local schools, include 11 indoor gymnasiums, 11 baseball or softball fields and 10 football or soccer fields. However, no indoor gyms are available during the school year on weekdays because they’re all in use by the schools.
Coffey and Jones emphasized that RARO enjoys a wonderful relationship with the local schools and other public entities that allow the use of their facilities but that RARO can’t grow or meet its mission if additional facilities aren’t added.
An example of facility usage can be seen in how much the local gyms were used by RARO basketball teams during December. There were 57 basketball teams practicing an average of twice per week, with 120-plus volunteers overseeing these practices. Scheduling all of these practices in the evenings and Saturdays is a herculean task.
About 1,700 youth compete in RARO sports over the course of a year. With adult participation in RARO sports picking up in recent years, under Coffey’s guidance, the competition for gym space is fierce. Adult pickleball is very popular here, just as it is elsewhere, and adult softball is making a comeback.
The three local superintendents of schools are supportive of RARO’s efforts to attain access to more facilities. All three were quoted in the PowerPoint presentation made to the local government officials. “For many years,” stated Dr. Phillip Thompson, county superintendent, “RCPS has worked hand-in-hand with RARO and our counterparts in Buena Vista and Lexington to provide recreational opportunities for our children. We fully support all efforts to expand these opportunities, whenever and wherever possible.”
“A healthy recreation organization for youth and adults is essential to the ‘life’ of a community,” said Lexington Superintendent Rebecca Walters. “To meet these diverse needs, we offer our enthusiastic support of RARO in expanding facilities … ” Dr. Anthony Francis, Buena Vista superintendent, added, “One area that has been a struggle in our community is the lack of gym space.”
Coffey and Jones did not specifically state what they hope the three local governments will do in response to RARO’s need for additional facilities. The hope here is that the localities will step forward and explore the idea of investing in a community recreation center. RARO has started what we hope will be a fruitful conversation.
