The Town of Markham Recreation Services Department is responsible for the fair and equitable distribution and allocation of diamond time.  The diamond allocation process is completed annually to meet the requirements for all Town based programs based on resident participation and registration.

 

Guiding Principles:

o      Town facilities are built by, and funded for Markham residents.

o      All members of the community should have opportunity to access town facilities regardless of physical, financial, social or environmental barriers.

o      Town facilities serve as a fabric of the community creating opportunities for individuals to connect to one another and the community.

o      Town facilities provide an excellent environment to promote, encourage and facilitate lifelong active living.

 

Policy Principles:

o      Allocations will be handled in an open and transparent environment.

o      An Allocation Policy will ensure the distribution of diamond time in a fair and equitable manner, respecting issues of accessibility.

o      Allocations will be reviewed on an annual basis.

o      Groups meeting Markham residency requirements will receive priority.

o      Youth (defined as individuals 21 years of age or younger) should receive preference of hours when allocating time.

 

1.0                      DIAMOND ALLOCATION

1.1                       Staff will endeavour to complete the diamond allocation process in January each year with final confirmation to be done by February each year.

 

1.2                       Allocated diamond time for recognized Minor Sports Groups will be booked under individual contracts at the appropriate rates.

 

1.3                       The Facility Allocation Coordinator will work to allocate space to the designated use where possible, i.e. hardball on hardball diamonds and with respect to age groups with diamond size.

 

1.4                       Allocated diamond times must be used solely by the user group identified on the contract and by the designated category of play, i.e.; Minor, Adult, etc.

 

1.5                       Users with outstanding balances will not be issued new permits.  Final permits will not be issued until payment has been received in full.

 

1.6                       Transfer or Sublet is prohibited.                                                                                                                       No person, organization, association or minor sports groups shall transfer, sublet or permit to be transferred or sublet, any diamond allocation, or part thereof, for value or otherwise.  If any person, organization association or minor sports group transfers or sublets any field allocation or any part thereof, or permits such transfer or sublet, their facility rental contract shall be terminated without notice and the Town shall refund the permit fee on a prorated basis.

 

 

1.7                       Allocated diamond times must be used solely by the user group identified on the contract and by the designated category of play, i.e.; Minor, Adult, etc.  Time must not be allocated as minor and used otherwise.

 

1.8                       Non-affiliated minor and/or adult teams must book diamond times through the Town of Markham.

 

1.9                       The facility rental contract is not effective unless and until the permit fee has been paid in full or post-dated cheques have been received.

 

1.10                    All diamonds contracted by organizations during the allocation period are the financial responsibility of the user and no field times shall be returned to the Town, except as indicated by the Tournaments and Competitive games section of this policy.

 

1.11                    All time contracted and invoiced at the Minor Group rate must be used by at least one team consisting of Town of Markham residents.

                                                                                                                                                                 

1.12                    Prime Time                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The allocation process for the Town of Markham covers the fair and equitable distribution of prime time only.  Prime time is designated as follows:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Weekdays Monday to Friday (Inclusive)        5:00pm to 11:00pm                                                                Weekends (Saturday and Sunday)                     9:00am to 11:00pm

 

1.13                    After entitlements have been met any additional field time may be purchased where available.

 

1.14                    Diamond allocation meetings will be held annually following the deadline for application submission.  Scheduling conflicts will be resolved at the discretion of the Facility Allocations Coordinator.

 

 

2.0                      GROUPS DEFINED IN ORDER OF PRIORITY:

 

2.1                       Youth Baseball/Softball Groups

§         Those groups recognized by the appropriate Provincial Governing body and mainly operated by volunteers for organized activities for youth 19 years of age and younger.

§         Recognized as a Community Service Group as defined by Recreation Policy PO.02.01.

§         75% of the players must be Town of Markham residents.

 

2.2                       Resident/Adult Groups

§         Those persons who pay property taxes to the Corporation of the Town of Markham.

§         Resident groups must consist of a minimum of 75% of such residents or be a non-profit or charitable organization or recognized community service group wishing to raise funds for the benefit of the community (house league and rep teams).

§         Recognized as a Community Service Group as defined by Recreation Policy PO.02.01.

§         Players 19 years of age and older.

§         75% of players are Markham residents.

 

2.3                       Commercial Groups

§         Those persons, groups or associations who do not meet the criteria established for resident or minor use and wishing to use baseball sports fields for recreation purposes.

 

 

3.0                      ALLOCATIONS                                                                                                                                                   The following allocation formulas are used to calculate entitlement

 

Player’s/division                 ÷              players per team                   =              number of teams

Number of teams                 x              by entitlement                       =              total entitlement

Total entitlement                  ÷              number of teams                   =              hours per week per team

 

 

                                 

Baseball/Softball – House League/Recreational

 

Youth (4-7yrs)                                                                                                          45 minutes

Youth (8-11yrs)                                                                                                        90 minutes

Youth (12-18yrs)                                                                                                      97.5 minutes

Adult (19 & over)                                                                                                     45 minutes

 

Baseball/Softball – Competitive/Rep and Select

 

Youth (8-14 yrs)                                                                                                       240 minutes

Youth (15-18yrs)                                                                                                      270 minutes

Adult (19 & over)                                                                                                     270 minutes              

 

 

PLAYERS PER TEAM                                         Recreational                                Competitive/Select

 

Youth                                                                           12                                                      12

Adult                                                                            14                                                      14

 

3.1                       Application packages will be mailed out in December of the year/season which has just ended. Applications will be due back by February of the year for which you are applying. Leagues will be required to submit a completed application form including the following information.

 

3.1.1            Previous years team rosters with postal code specifying house league, rep/select, and minor vs. adult time.

 

3.1.2            Primary and secondary contact person.

 

3.1.3            Current Executive/Board list including position, telephone, and e-mail address of the executive for that year.

 

3.1.4            Copy of Annual General Meeting minutes.

 

3.1.5            Copy of current General Liability Insurance in the amount of two million dollars naming the Corporation of the Town of Markham as an additional insured.

 

3.2                       If this information is not received, a sport field permit may be suspended and future requests for permits may not be issued. The permit time will be reallocated.

 

3.2.1            When allocating permit requests, each evening will be divided into the following time slots:

                                                                Unlit Fields            5:00pm – 6:30pm

                                                                                                6:30pm – 8:30pm

 

                                                                Lit Fields                5:00pm – 6:30pm

                                                                                                6:30pm – 8:00pm

                                                                                                8:00pm – 9:30pm

                                                                                                9:30pm – 11:00pm

 

 

4.0                      SEASON

 

4.1                       Staff will determine field allocations on an annual basis. The outdoor sports field season will be as follows:

 

Regular Season

1st Saturday in May (weather permitting) to September 30

 

 

 

5.0                      PRACTICE FACILITIES

 

5.1                       Practice facility requests are to be submitted with game permit requests by one representative from each league.

 

o        Practices are discouraged on any of the ‘A’ type fields.

 

o        Fields in the extended season will be allocated to the user groups based upon field recommendations from the Parks Manager.

 

 

6.0                      BASIC SERVICES - REGULAR SEASON PLAY:

 

6.1                     Grass mowing for sports facilities is performed on a seven-day rotation on ‘A & B’ fields, as per our turf maintenance schedule, ’C’ fields will be mowed on a 7 - 10 day rotation, ’D’ fields will be cut as required.

 

6.2                     Diamonds that have irrigation systems will be watered as required.

 

6.3                     Snow fencing will be placed across facilities undergoing maintenance to prevent misuse

 

6.4                     Inclement weather may alter mowing schedule.

 

6.5                     GROUPS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN CLEAN UP AFTER EACH EVENT.  Failure to do so will result in the suspension of permits.

 

6.6                     The Town of Markham has the authority to permit school fields. Any request for other school amenities must be made to the school board directly.

 

7.0                      POLICY ENFORCEMENT:                                                                                                              The following forms of policy enforcement will be in effect:

 

7.1                       Diamond audits will be conducted on a random basis.  A three-step process will be used in the event that there are permitted fields not being used during these audits. 

Step One

§         The permitted group will be contacted and informed the diamond was unused and asked to explain why.  This will be documented and tracked.  The group will be informed that booking fields and not using them is unacceptable.

 

Step Two

§         If the same group is found to have permitted a diamond and it has not been used, the group will receive a written letter identifying that if a third audit reveals an unused booking, the permit for the field will be removed.

 

Step Three

§         If diamond is unused, remove permit.  User group will be informed that the permit has been removed.  Future permit requests will be subject to discretion of staff.

 

7.2                       Teams using diamonds outside of their permitted period, or playing under adverse weather or conditions, may have their permit suspended.

 

7.3                       Misuse of diamonds, excessive noise after 11:00 p.m. or vandalism of facilities may result in immediate suspension of permit.

 

7.4                       During permitted events, all cars must remain within designated parking areas unless given prior written permission.

 

7.5                        User groups having or drinking alcoholic beverages at parks without a Liquor Licence will have their permit suspended and face possible charges by the York Region Police.  Continued infractions will lead to the denial of further permit applications and possible charges under by-law or provincial statute.

 

 

8.0                      SPORTSFIELD LIGHT CHARGES:

 

8.1                       Lighted facilities are available on the following schedule:

 

§         First Saturday in May to July 14 – 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

§         July 15 to September 30 – 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

 

8.2                       Groups using lighted facilities will be charged for each evening of play.  Teams are encouraged to check that lights are in working order prior to each game.  Invoice adjustments for power failures will only be taken into consideration if the on-call person was contacted and could not rectify the situation. Should a power failure occur or you are unable to play your game for any reason, please contact the Sport Field office within 5 business days. Credit for time lost will not be issued after this time.

 

 

9.0                      Users with outstanding balances will not be issued new permits

Final permits will not be issued until payment has been received in full.

 

 

 

10.0                  TOURNAMENT ALLOCATIONS:

 

10.1                    Multiple tournaments by the same organization will be considered one at a time in a rotational basis. Each resident club will be able to host one tournament date before granting multiple dates to the same user.

 

10.2                    Separate application form is required for each tournament request.

 

10.3                    Final decision on tournament dates will rest with the sports field office in order to minimize disruption to regular season play.

 

10.4                    Requests for tournaments or special events must be made at the same time as regular season permits.  Staff responsible for sport field permits will strive to reach an equitable balance between local user groups and tournament organizers.

 

10.5                    All regular season permit holders must submit request for Tournament permits at the same time as the regular season permits.

 

10.6                    The Facility Allocation Coordinator will make every attempt to allocate diamonds not already permitted.

 

10.7                    Tournaments that operate at multiple diamonds over one or more days will be allocated two hours per game. Tournament organizers must submit the number of entered teams and the number of games guaranteed to each team entered in the tournament in order to receive correct time allocation.

 

10.8                    One-day tournaments at one location will be provided time requested based on availability.

 

10.9                    Tournament schedules must use each permitted field equally during the first day of competition in order to spread the impact and preserve turf quality.

 

 

11.0                  TOURNAMENT REQUIREMENTS

 

11.1                          All diamonds will be mowed prior to the start of each tournament.

 

11.2                          It is the requirement of all persons who have permits in the park to adhere to the concession agreement

 

11.3                          Additional services must be requested a minimum of fourteen (14) days in advance of the Tournament. The following services have additional fees:

 

11.3.1         Portable washrooms, where necessary, are the responsibility of the group hosting the tournament.

 

11.3.2         Delivery of picnic tables and garbage cans - a load consists of 8 table’s and2 garbage receptacles, 2 recycle receptacles.

 

11.3.3         Delivery of snow fencing - one load consists of 500 feet of fencing and 20 posts.  Set up is the responsibility of the user group.

 

11.3.4         Staff services are available, on a 100% cost recovery basis, in no less than one four‑hour block, and then as per the user group's additional request for more than four hours.

 

11.4                          It is the responsibility of the permit holder to obtain the necessary L.L.B.O. permits.  Arrangements for outdoor beer gardens should be discussed with staff responsible for sport field permits.  Rentals of indoor facilities are to be booked by the user group through the Facility Coordinator and/ or Facility booking staff.

 

11.5                          For those tournaments operating a beer garden the following are also required:

 

11.5.1         Letter to the Town of Markham outlining tournament details

 

11.5.2         Town of Markham alcohol policy agreement form

 

11.5.3         Letter to York Regional Police and Fire Department

 

11.5.4         $2 Million liability insurance

 

11.5.5         Special occasion permit

 

11.5.6         List of smart serve bartenders

 

11.5.7         Map of location of beer garden