Anne Arundel Parks and Recreation is changing their accreditation policy which is requiring programs/teams to have 75% of the players in the same high school feeder system instead of the previous policy of requiring 75% Anne Arundel county residents.

How does this change impact youth athletics?  If your team/program does not meet this new requirement they will be entered into the rental program and have to pay rent to use fields.    

How is it fair that one Anne Arundel county residents team has to pay and another does not simply because one team does not have kids in the same high school feeder system.  Both Anne Arundel county residents pay the same taxes but one has to pay a field rental and the other does not.  How about some programs that cover more than one high school feeder like Severn who has players who span Old Mill, Meade and Arundel, Glen Burnie and North County High School feeders but are still 90% Anne Arundel County participants.  How about when youth rec programs like Elvaton, Linthicum Ferndale, etc. stop offering a sport like softball.  Neighboring programs would normally be happy to accomodate those players but now they will likely have to pay rent for the fields if they do.  In essence accreditization has been threatened if we register out of county players and players who are not in our high school feeder system.  How is this promoting diversity and inclusiveness. 

In addition Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks is LIMITING TEAMS to TWO ONE HOUR PRACTICES A WEEK.  How can baseball/softball teams condition, stretch and do throwing progressions and fit in pitching, hitting and fielding in a one hour practice.  How can Football condition, stretch, practice safe tackling skills, in addition to position specific training and learning plays in two one hour practices a week.  

Please keep in mind that Anne Arundel County residents already pay county taxes that fund Recreation and Parks.  In addition each program/team pays $3 per player per season to Recreation and Parks. Why not just charge one fee per player for county residents and another higher fee for out of county players?  Isn't this more equitable for the county residents who already pay county taxes?

In addition, many youth sports programs charge family fees much of which is used to maintain these fields.  Yes some programs get grants to take care of these fields but much of the grant money does not cover what needs to be done which is why they charge family fees to make up the difference.  Is Rec and Parks going to now maintain these fields since they are charging for them?  Are they going to cut the grass more than the once every three weeks that they do now.  Are they going to drag and line fields?  Are they going to fix holes in the field?  Are they going to help to make them playable after a weather event?  Are they going to remove trash?  Many of these fields are maintained and taken care of mostly by coaches/individuals who will now have to pay even more than they already do to use them.  

We urge AA Rec and Parks to reconsider this policy and adopt a more inclusive and equitable approach that considers all aspects of our Anne Arundel County residents.  

We are asking that if you are also concerned about these issues besides signing the petition please SPREAD the word.  Share this petition.  Lastly we need to let our elected officials know how unhappy we are about these changes.  It is supposed to take effect at the end of June so we need to move quickly.

Here is a link to tell you who your representative is based on your address.  Once you enter your address it will tell you who your county councilman is and you can click on their name to get contact information via an email address, telephone number, etc.   Please contact this elected official ASAP and let them know your concern for these issues.   https://www.aacounty.org/departments/county-council/councilmembers/who-is-my-councilmember/index.html

This is a link to send a message to County Executive Pittman.  https://www.aacounty.org/departments/county-executive/contact-us/index.html

Here are the links to the webinar that Recs and Parks provided explaining these requirements...https://www.aacounty.org/departments/recreation-parks/sports/accreditation-webinar/accreditation-scheduling-webinar.pdf

https://www.aacounty.org/aacoOIT/R&P/webinar-accreditation-recording-20230419.mp4

Here is how you can contact Recreation and Parks.  https://www.aacounty.org/departments/recreation-parks/contact-us/index.html