by Dave DeMars
It’s 3 p.m. on a warm spring afternoon. On the green grass of Rice Elementary School, Warren Ellingworth busies himself setting up the goal standards for the soccer game that will be held when school finally lets out. Ellingworth is the Rice recreation director and has been in the position about five months. It’s been a challenge, but he’s passionate about the work and developing good recreation programs for the community.
His programs are growing. Soccer has 19 participants this year. In past years, only five or six kids would participate he said. Other after-school programs such as dodgeball and kickball showed improvements as well. In past years, those programs were canceled for lack of participants.
“Yep, we’re growing,” Ellingworth said. “I’m putting in a lot of time and effort – taking the extra step making more people aware – creating flyers for kids to take home so their parents can see them. Not everybody looks in the community-ed brochure.”
Communication with the city is the key, Ellingworth said. And he is looking for other ways to make kids and parents aware of the variety of different activities that are going to be available.
Soccer is near its end for this year, but baseball is about to bloom for the summer, and Ellingworth has taken time to get things ready.
“I have a program called the Big Bopper for 3- and 4-year-olds,” he said. “I have 23 registered for that program right now. And T-ball, which is ages 5 to 7, I anticipated between 18 and 22 going out for that from years past. Just a little bit ago, I finished the last registrations and I have 40.”
The Big Bopper program will be held at Rice Elementary from 5:30-6:15 p.m. starting Monday, June 6. T-ball will be held at Rice Lions Park from 5:30-6:30 p.m. starting also June 6.
He says he had programs for older kids as well – pitch ball and Little League. Unfortunately, Ellingworth was disappointed this year as parents told him they had already signed their kids up in other places because of the lack of programs here in the past. But Ellingworth is an optimist, and he looks to the future for his programs.
“They promised that next year, they are going to participate in the Rice program,” he said.
To make it easier for parents to get involved, he moved all the activities to the evenings so parents and grandparents can watch their kids participate.
“It was always a big deal to me when my parents came and watched,” he said.
As he builds his programs, he has been contacting other communities such as Royalton, Opole and Holdingford and found they are willing to schedule games with Rice. So the long-range plan is to get a strong program in place for next year and continue to grow. It’s a case of “when life gives you lemons,” and Ellingworth has the recipe for making lemonade.
As much success as Ellingworth has had, he says there are growing pains. Many people simply don’t understand the modern-day program requires plenty of effort and lots of communication with groups in other cities as well as within one’s own city.
Ellingworth said it’s not a case of simply throwing out a couple of bats and balls and letting the kids play. People are demanding more. More organization. More competition with others outside the immediate city. And there is always the need for equipment, umpires, coaches and getting kids from one point to another.
Finding coaching staff and umpires is always a problem, Ellingworth said. Getting coaches here from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and staying until every kid gets picked up is one kind of problem that’s tough to solve. Folks need to understand we aren’t looking for professionals as coaches.
The adults Ellingworth said he’s looking for are those who have some background in working with kids, some knowledge of the game and a willingness to put in time. There is some pay for being a staff member, though a person shouldn’t quit his or her day job and expect to get rich, he said.
Ellingworth is already looking ahead past the summer.
“This fall we’ll have another session of soccer, and we’re also looking at having a session of flag football after school and probably a basketball program as well,” he said. “The programs are for boys and girls grades 2 through 5.”
Most programs focus on things for kids, but Ellingworth says they have one adult volleyball program that runs from mid-October to the end of April. It’s a pick-up game from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. All that’s needed is the willingness to get involved and $2 to cover custodial costs.
Ellingworth said he hopes to add more adult activities.
“Next year we may add adult kickball,” he said. “You don’t have to have great skill to play kickball and it’s great fun. In some towns people get sponsors for their teams and design their own T-shirts . . . I’ve also been approached by a few people to start pickle ball. I’m looking into it.”
There are lots of different things that could be added to the present programs, but Ellingworth said he wants to get the programs he has operating on a strong footing.
“Then we can branch out,” he said. “To keep the programs running and growing isn’t easy . . . To have successful programs, you need dedication from the rec manager. You need to enjoy what you do and I thoroughly enjoy what I do.”