On Monday, Oct. 12, the Bloomington City Council will vote on whether the city can apply for 3 youth sports grants from the National Recreation and Park Association. Two are aimed at getting more girls and women into sports. The third would pay to light up or build new places to play. Each resolution would let the city apply for the grant, sign the agreement if it wins, and adjust its budget to match.
All 3 resolutions are on the consent agenda. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Civic Plaza, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road. The agenda doesn't list a dollar amount for any of the 3 items.
The national association has posted the details for each grant. The Increasing Access to Sports for Girls and Women grant, sponsored with Nike, gives $20,000 each to 10 agencies. Winners join a group that tries out and shares ways to get more girls playing sports, with technical help along the way. The National Girls and Women in Sports Day microgrant, also backed by Nike, is smaller: $5,000 each to 5 agencies. The money pays for things like sports festivals, family events, skills clinics or leadership summits that connect girls with local teams and programs.
The Youth Sports Mini Pitch/Lighting Activation grant, sponsored by Musco Lighting, has the most money behind it. Seven agencies get $20,000 in cash each. Winners can also ask for $50,000 to $100,000 worth of donated infrastructure from Musco, either a lighting system or a Mini-Pitch installation. For a park system with plenty of fields that go dark early in the fall, lights are a real upgrade.
Applications for all 3 grants are due Oct. 23, so the council's vote comes with about 11 days to spare. Winning is far from certain. Bloomington is competing with park agencies across the country for a total of 22 awards. The association says lighting grant winners will also join a learning group and get technical help with expanding youth sports in their parks.
The same consent agenda has 2 more grant requests: one to the National Association of County and City Health Officials and one to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime. Once the council approves the applications, the next step is up to the association. This story will be updated when the city hears back.
