Athletic Field Use Policy

The objectives of the Facility Use Policy shall be to: 

• Provide an adequate number of athletic fields to support the Parks and Recreation programs. 
• Minimize wear, prevent overuse, and reduce maintenance costs. 
• Recoup maintenance costs to reinvest into our fields and facilities. 
• Provide an adequate number of athletic fields for Bloomington youth. 
• Provide an adequate number of athletic fields for Bloomington adults. 

Due to the large number of organizations that request usage of Bloomington Parks and Recreation (City) facilities, it is necessary to define and classify users by type of activities and establish a reservation priority to ensure that City facilities are made available to best meet community needs. As a result, the facilities will be scheduled in accordance with a scheduling priority policy as established herein. Rental fees are established in accordance with the following priority classification policy and shall be approved annually by the City Council. 

Priority #1 – All City sponsored activities, programs, games, practices, leagues and tournaments. Reservations for City functions may be taken at any time for any date. City functions may pre‐empt lower priority reservations at the discretion of the City Council. There will be no rental fees charged for City reservations. 

Priority #2 – All City co‐sponsored activities, programs, games, practices, leagues and tournaments. A definition of co‐sponsorship is when a Division Manager or staff is committed to two or more of the following management functions for the activity: 

• Planning and budgeting for the activity. 
• Coordinating and organizing activity in terms of who will be responsible for each task. 
• Providing leadership staff for such activity. 
• Evaluating and measuring its impact on individuals whom participated. 

Reservations for City co‐sponsored activities may be taken at any time for any date. There will be no rental fees charged for City reservations. 

Priority #3A – All Bloomington non‐profit, youth athletic organizations that have been recognized by the City of Bloomington for providing necessary services to the residents (Recognized Bloomington Youth Athletic Organization or RBYAO). The City deems to work with only three different types of organizations per sport. The different organization types are in‐house, traveling and schools. Schools are defined in the Priority #3B section. This includes, but is not limited to, the following organizations: 

• Bloomington Athletic Association
• Bloomington Amateur Hockey Association
• Bloomington Figure Skating Club
• Bloomington  Youth Soccer Club
• Bloomington Traveling Baseball
• Bloomington Fastpitch Association
• Bloomington American Legion Baseball. 

These groups will have priority of fields on weeknights from 6:00 p.m. until the park closes and on weekends during park hours. 

• RBYAO Fees
  • Fees for RBYAO groups will be based on the number of players utilizing city facilities on a yearly basis per organization. Numbers will be collected at the end of the year/season and an invoice will be sent out before the end of the year. Fees are as scheduled: 
  • 2022 - $11, 2023 - $11, 2024 - $13, 2025 - $13, 2026 and beyond - $15

In addition to providing player numbers associations may be asked to supplement the city with additional documents that provide a scope of the organization’s health such as: financial/treasury documents, previous years player numbers, or future plans. 

Priority #3B – Official athletic department reservations of all K‐12 schools located within the physical city limits of Bloomington.  This list includes, but is not limited to, the following schools: Bloomington Public School District, Bethany Academy, Concordia Academy – Bloomington, and Trinity School at River Ridge. These groups will have priority of fields on weekdays during the after school hours until 6 p.m. K‐12 School Fees These fees will be agreed upon and implemented according to the ISD271 and City of Bloomington agreement put in place in the future. 

Priority #4 – Other tax‐supported government agency sponsored activities, programs and meetings. This includes federal, state, county and other school district activities. 

Priority #5 – Bloomington‐based non‐profit civic and religious organizations.  An organization that has a guaranteed percentage of their members who live or work fulltime in Bloomington and/or a guaranteed percentage of the population they serve is from Bloomington. This respective percentage will be identified in each facility’s operations policy. Proof of registered members and mailing addresses may be requested during reservation process. Included in this classification are Bloomington‐based groups and organizations that contribute to the well‐being and betterment of the community such as support groups, scout troops, youth athletics, community‐service organizations and resident groups holding neighborhood meetings. 

Priority #6 – Bloomington residents use of the facilities for personal use such as non-RBYAO team practices and non‐RBYAO games. 

Priority #7 – Bloomington–based businesses and commercial organizations that have a Bloomington headquarters as evidenced by mailing address. Use of the facilities for athletic events for said business. 

Priority #8 – All non‐Bloomington organizations, groups, businesses and individuals use of the facilities for athletic events. 

A. Reservations will be taken in the order of the Priority Classification Numbers listed above. 

B. To minimize field wear and maintenance, the following measures shall be instituted:

1. Fields may be retired from play each season to allow rehabilitation/regrowth of the turf. 
2. The City may cancel individual games and practices depending on current field conditions.  For specific facility guidelines, see facility information. 
3. If cumulative field usage demand by all of the RBYAO’s exceed the available athletic field resources for any particular size field, the City may: 
   1. Allocate field usage for that size field to each Bloomington youth sports organization based on the percentage of the total number of Bloomington residents out of the total number of Bloomington residents playing at that age level in a given season, and or; 
   2. Temporarily modify the field usage guideline, and or; 
   3. Restrict tournament use. 

Non‐recognized, non‐resident and for profit organizations/teams may reserve fields for clinics and special events if there is no conflict with a higher priority group’s scheduled practice, game or tournament, meets facility usage guidelines, and the use will not have a negative impact upon field condition. 

C. Reservations may not be sublet to a third party. 

A. To be recognized as a RBYAO, the organization: 

1. Must be a non‐profit youth sports organization (preferred with 501 C3 status) serving Bloomington youth. 
2. Must have a governing board of directors and at least 85% of the voting members of the governing board shall be Bloomington residents. 
3. Must have a minimum of 85% of the organization’s players must be Bloomington residents or a student at a public or private school located within Bloomington city limits. 
4. Should have completed an application requesting RBYAO status. If there is more than one organization applying for recognized status for similar programs, and both meet the above requirements, the following criteria will be used to determine which organization will receive the recognized status: 
   1. Number of Bloomington youths served. 
   2. Previous relationship with the City and if the organization is in good standing with the City. 
   3. Organization’s resources available to assist City with maintenance or other expenses. 
   4. Review of the organization’s mission and goals to determine ways in which it will contribute to furthering the mission and goals of the City. 
   5. The quality of the organization and the benefits to the youths of Bloomington that it serves. 

B. A RBYAO may field teams composed of resident and non‐resident players. For any age group where non‐resident players register to play in a RBYAO, every resident player in the age group, who has properly registered to play with an association, shall be placed on one of the association’s teams and will not be dropped or cut from the program. 

C. For the purpose of determining team and organization composition, full time students attending a public or private school located in Bloomington, shall be considered as resident players. If requested by the City, an organization shall provide for the purpose of verifying residency: team and/or organization rosters including names, addresses and phone numbers; a board of directors roster including board members names, home and work addresses and phone numbers; other documents verifying non‐profit status. 

D. An organization not meeting the above qualifications shall be considered a non‐recognized and/or non‐resident club. 

A. For RBYAO’s, the City will assign athletic fields to each RBYAO based on standing with the city, precedence, and overall need. 

B. When fields have been assigned, scheduling of athletic fields for practices and games shall be a cooperative responsibility of field coordinators from each RBYAO. 

C. A designated representative from each RBYAO will manage overall scheduling of league games and tournaments. The designated representative will be responsible for submitting a master game/practice/tournament schedule for each RBYAO to the City for field reservation. Deadlines will be established annually according to activity season. 

D. City Staff will mediate any disputes between groups that cannot be resolved on their own. The RYBAO’s will acknowledge the decision of the City Staff as the final decision.

E. RBYAO’s may schedule tournaments for resident and non‐resident teams during their reserved times. If a RYBAO would like to schedule a tournament outside of their reservations, they must request these additional fields/times with the City. The following conditions must be met for these tournaments: 

1. Diamond based RBYAO’s may host unlimited tournaments during their season, provided each complex is allowed one weekend off each month for rest and rehabilitation. Each tournament will last no longer than four days. Resident and non‐resident teams will be allowed to participate. Sponsoring organizations will take prudent actions to protect the fields from excessive wear caused by heavy use or extreme weather conditions (drought, heavy rains) which may involve not using some fields or moving some games to secondary field sites.  The expense (labor and materials) of setting up temporary tournament fields, over and above those fields already set up for normal outdoor league use of a RBYAO, will be assessed by the City to the tournament’s sponsoring RBYAO. b. 
2. Field based RBYAO’s may host one tournament per year. Each tournament will last no longer than four days. Resident and nonresident teams will be allowed to participate. Sponsoring organizations will take prudent actions to protect the fields from excessive wear caused by heavy use or extreme weather conditions (drought, heavy rains) which may involve not using some fields or moving some games to secondary field sites. The expense (labor and materials) of setting up temporary tournament fields, over and above those fields already set up for normal outdoor league use of RBYAO, will be assessed by the City to the tournament’s sponsoring RBYAO. 
3. RYBAO’s will be responsible for costs related to building attendants that would be required at the tournaments. These costs are established in the City’s fees and charges schedule. 
4. RBYAO’s will be responsible for any additional services that they will request for their usage. This would include things such as extra chemical toilets or extra trashcans. 

F. RBYAO’s will be responsible for any keys that are requested and approved by the Parks and Recreation according to the Key Policy. 

G. RBYAO’s may facilitate camps for their respective organization. The camp may only be attended by athletes registered to play in the RBYAO that organizes the camp. If outside participants attend the camp, the camp’s instructors will be placed into the corresponding Priority group and billed accordingly. RBYAO’s may not collect any funding from the camp’s instructors/organization for facilitating the camp other than any administrative fees that would cover resources spent by the RBYAO to facilitate the camp (collecting registrations, advertising to its athletes). 

H. RBYAO’s are expected to treat fields and facilities as their own. This includes field maintenance done to park maintenances agreed upon standards, trash removal, and overall cleanliness. Damage to the fields may occur from normal wear and tear, however when damage occurs from mistreatment, RBYAO’s may be subject to Parks and Recreation determined consequences including: 

1. Required attendance of a maintenance best practices meeting for the field/facility in question before the continuation of reservations are allowed to transpire.  
2. Reduction in allowed reservations for a specific facility. 
3. Fines or damage repair requirements before use is allowed to continue.
4. Complete cancellation of remaining field reservations.