The Great Bend Recreation Commission is preparing for spring and summer activities. On Monday, the GBRC board of directors approved youth baseball and softball rules. Sports Director Chris Umphres said they did not change this year.
Adult softball rules did not change either, and were on the agenda as an information item. Umphres said they’ve added rules for the traveling, competitive Sunflower State League. “We’ll follow NBC rules for baseball and ASA rules for softball,” he said, noting these are rules players are familiar with.
It was noted than soccer is just as popular as baseball and softball. The upcoming indoor soccer for boys and girls has 440 people enrolled, which ties the enrollment for baseball and softball.
The board also approved the GAAP Waiver allowed by state law, as it does each year. The generally accepted accounting practices are not used for financial reports and statements.
Executive Director Diann Henderson reported that for the month of February, there were 2,646 program enrollments. Total participation was 9,333 people, of which 3,416 were spectators, and the recreation commission offered 1,045.5 hours of supervised activities.
Henderson also reported that, as the immediate past president, she is still on the executive board of the Kansas Recreation and Parks Association. Umphres is on the KRPA editorial committee, and Program Coordinator Megan Hammeke serves on the aquatics board, which is a branch board that answers to the executive board. An article by Henderson was featured in the latest KRPA Today magazine. “We toured five small communities and Kanopolis State Park,” she said, describing the article. Kanoplis is the site of the first state park in Kansas.