Okaloosa County BOCC — 2013 meeting #1141 (date undetermined) — Emerald Coast Volleyball Club — reading text

Emerald Coast Volleyball Club is a non-profit organization that works with children from ages 8-18 both male and female regardless of ability. Our goal is to help each one of these kids to excel in the sport of volleyball so that they have the opportunity to earn themselves a college scholarship in one of two ways, Beach Volleyball or Indoor Volleyball. Along the way we also teach them things such as responsibility, team work, commitment and confidence. Up until recently, we held our practices at The Boardwalk. The Boardwalk provides a safe and convenient environment for our kids and their families. Recently some issues were brought to our attention and we were told we could no longer hold our practices out there. Below are the issues that were presented to us and our solutions to those issues. 1. Liability: All of our children and coaches are covered under USAVolleyball for liability. The kids are not allowed to participate until they are registered members of USAVolleyball, which is the governing body of our sport in the United States. We have the ability to get a Certificate of Liability for any facility that we use that requests one. I have since requested and received one for both the Boardwalk and for the Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners. 2. Parking: The days and times that we hold practice and the limited number of participants in each practice ensures that we do not take up an excessive amount of parking. Most of our families’ car pool or pick up and drop off. On average, we probably have less than 10 cars parked at any given time. I have attached photos of the parking lot during the hours we hold our practices. 3. Court Space: We have never had an issue with finding plenty of court space. We only use two courts to run our practices as we keep training groups to a reasonable number so that we can spend more one on one time with each child. Typically all of the nets at the Boardwalk are empty when we get there to practice and throughout the duration of practice. I have attached photos of the courts during the hours we are usually there. 4. Community: We are very open and friendly to anyone that has questions about what it is that we are doing. Everyone in our organization is aware that we would never ask anyone to move from a net to allow us to practice. When others do come out to The Boardwalk to play, locals and tourists, we often lend out our own volleyballs to allow them the opportunity to play. As coaches, we pitch in to help maintain the existing courts. We buy lines, antennas, pulley systems etc. On a daily basis we were approached by people visiting our area who would sit and watch our practices and comment to us what a great thing it is that we are doing. 5. County Ordinance: We were unaware at the time that there was someone beyond the Boardwalk that we needed to get permission from. We had been told that it was the property of The Boardwalk. When we found out that we needed to go through the process of being approved as a Recreational Vendor, we began the process immediately. We are simply a Non-Profit Organization providing volleyball training to the youth in our area. We are trying to keep them focused on staying healthy and active and making the right decisions for their future. We want the kids in our area to be able to compete with the youth in other areas of this Country, including our surrounding areas, for scholarship opportunities in the sport of beach or indoor volleyball. For some of these kids, an athletic scholarship is the only way they will be able to get a college education. We just need someone to believe in what we are doing and allow us to use the safest, most convenient location to teach our kids. We attempted to purchase two net systems that cost around $400 each so that we could set up at a different location, and after just three weeks of practice one of them has already snapped at the base. Having permanent courts allows us to cut out the set up and take down process and focus more on the training itself. The Boardwalk is the perfect place for our community’s kids to learn.