Final Project
Cindi McElreath
Southern New Hampshire University
Assignment 10-1
,2
Final Project
Introduction
Sports, in all capacities, have been a part of the American culture for centuries.
Dreams of children for years has been to grow up and be a professional sports player. It is these
very dreams and aspirations that sparked a whole industry. The youth sports industry has grown
and expanded as sports becomes a bigger industry. More recently, youth sports participation has
taken a decrease, some sports are not growing at all, some sports are slowly increasing, but all
youth sports are not expanding as quickly as the population or as before (Solomon & Farrey,
2018). Hall County Parks and Leisure has many things to analyze and overcome to continuing
growing in the spring baseball and softball programs.
Historical Significance
North Georgia, particularly a section called metro-Atlanta is no stranger to growth and
the pains and changes that come with families moving from the city life in Atlanta to the suburbs.
This overflow has affected the surrounding counties and cities with expectations of quality of life
and growing a community to live to those expectations. To better understand why Hall County
and is a major part of this growth and what this part of Georgia has to offer, understanding the
location of Atlanta and the natural resources around Hall County. Please reference Appendix A.
Hall County is perfectly located about 45-60 miles outside of Atlanta (north Fulton County)
making a daily commute for lucrative jobs, not a far stretch, but also offers beautiful scenery in
the mountains, as well as marine life being located near Lake Lanier. The combination of being
able to live in the suburbs with good schools and family activities, drives the growth of North
Georgia and particularly Hall County (Ippolito, 1999). With the port of Savannah, Ga being
opened in 2021 and the movement of skilled labor and businesses finding space in Hall County,
growth is only going to continue, leaving the government to offer proper activities and parks for
,3
Final Project
its community. Large businesses already claim Gainesville, Ga and Hall County as home for
production, such as Wrigley’s Gum and Mars Corporation, Kings Hawaiian, Atlanta Falcons
Training Facility, and multiple large chicken processing plants (Putney, 2018).
The growth coming to Hall County, means families will need activities to keep children
entertained and active. Sadly, even despite the growth, the program is not expanding at even
close to the same rate. Contact sports (football, hockey, and soccer) are finding numbers
dropping quickly due to fear of injury, but baseball and softball are not picking up any of those
children as an alternative activity (Solomon & Farrey, 2018). Some of this can come from the
issue of the sports industry has become more cut-throat to be competitive and if families do not
have the expendable income for the extra practice and safety equipment, they are not
participating at all. With this rising cost, it is harder to participate in multiple sports and children
tend to focus on one. Even with the help of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball
offering camps, youth days and one on one instruction with pros and coaches, baseball and
softball is not growing at the rate of Hall County’s population (Bogage, 2017). Many believe
with the help of privatized companies, such as Nike funding for programs could grow, which
would take some of the cost away from parents and build better facilities. Suggestions have been
made to allow tax from sports better to go to a lottery for youth sports grants, but it has not been
widely accepted since sports betting is a controversial topic (Conroy, 2018).
Factors
American children have many more opportunities than other countries due to the
organization and the idea of the American Dream forged for them. The concept of organized
youth sports all started when children were required to attend school. In 1852, Massachusetts
passed a law that required all children to be educated, and with this started the concept of
, 4
Final Project
having school activities and after school activities (Friedman, 2013). When organized sports
became a consistent way to occupy children’s time and give them positive feedback, multiple
companies began emerging making it a viable market to make money and provide a service. As
with all good ideas and markets, it must evolve with America and has faced multiple challenges.
In recent years, youth sports as a whole have been decreasing in participation numbers steadily,
and this is caused by two factors: multiple safety concerns and financials of the basic foundation
of a family changing.
As a recreation professional, a goal is to always keep children safe as they
participate in a program. Sports follow the trends that the world has, technology has changed
how equipment is made and used. The way baseball and softball bats are made now, allow for
much better velocity of the ball off the bat as well as a better “sweet spot” (the part of the bat
that has the best contact). At the beginning of baseball, all players used a wooden bat, which
are now only used by professionals, and even these are better made than any have been
before. The access to resources in the world, materials, machining and precision have allowed
for specifications to the millimeter or ounce to be measured. Metal bats have also changed
greatly, aluminum used to be the main material used in making bats and did not allow for the
hit ball to travel as quickly as bats made of composite materials now. The science behind these
bats is very technical and highly measured, but what parents and children see is more
homeruns, harder hit balls, and more injured players from having less reaction time (Russell,
2012). In softball the pitching rubber is only forty to forty-three foot from home plate, and
with a pitcher’s stride ends the pitcher somewhere between thirty-five to thirty-eight feet from
the batter. A ball hit off these updated bats could potentially get back to the pitcher in
milliseconds and is much faster than human reactions. This has led to more pitcher injuries
Cindi McElreath
Southern New Hampshire University
Assignment 10-1
,2
Final Project
Introduction
Sports, in all capacities, have been a part of the American culture for centuries.
Dreams of children for years has been to grow up and be a professional sports player. It is these
very dreams and aspirations that sparked a whole industry. The youth sports industry has grown
and expanded as sports becomes a bigger industry. More recently, youth sports participation has
taken a decrease, some sports are not growing at all, some sports are slowly increasing, but all
youth sports are not expanding as quickly as the population or as before (Solomon & Farrey,
2018). Hall County Parks and Leisure has many things to analyze and overcome to continuing
growing in the spring baseball and softball programs.
Historical Significance
North Georgia, particularly a section called metro-Atlanta is no stranger to growth and
the pains and changes that come with families moving from the city life in Atlanta to the suburbs.
This overflow has affected the surrounding counties and cities with expectations of quality of life
and growing a community to live to those expectations. To better understand why Hall County
and is a major part of this growth and what this part of Georgia has to offer, understanding the
location of Atlanta and the natural resources around Hall County. Please reference Appendix A.
Hall County is perfectly located about 45-60 miles outside of Atlanta (north Fulton County)
making a daily commute for lucrative jobs, not a far stretch, but also offers beautiful scenery in
the mountains, as well as marine life being located near Lake Lanier. The combination of being
able to live in the suburbs with good schools and family activities, drives the growth of North
Georgia and particularly Hall County (Ippolito, 1999). With the port of Savannah, Ga being
opened in 2021 and the movement of skilled labor and businesses finding space in Hall County,
growth is only going to continue, leaving the government to offer proper activities and parks for
,3
Final Project
its community. Large businesses already claim Gainesville, Ga and Hall County as home for
production, such as Wrigley’s Gum and Mars Corporation, Kings Hawaiian, Atlanta Falcons
Training Facility, and multiple large chicken processing plants (Putney, 2018).
The growth coming to Hall County, means families will need activities to keep children
entertained and active. Sadly, even despite the growth, the program is not expanding at even
close to the same rate. Contact sports (football, hockey, and soccer) are finding numbers
dropping quickly due to fear of injury, but baseball and softball are not picking up any of those
children as an alternative activity (Solomon & Farrey, 2018). Some of this can come from the
issue of the sports industry has become more cut-throat to be competitive and if families do not
have the expendable income for the extra practice and safety equipment, they are not
participating at all. With this rising cost, it is harder to participate in multiple sports and children
tend to focus on one. Even with the help of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball
offering camps, youth days and one on one instruction with pros and coaches, baseball and
softball is not growing at the rate of Hall County’s population (Bogage, 2017). Many believe
with the help of privatized companies, such as Nike funding for programs could grow, which
would take some of the cost away from parents and build better facilities. Suggestions have been
made to allow tax from sports better to go to a lottery for youth sports grants, but it has not been
widely accepted since sports betting is a controversial topic (Conroy, 2018).
Factors
American children have many more opportunities than other countries due to the
organization and the idea of the American Dream forged for them. The concept of organized
youth sports all started when children were required to attend school. In 1852, Massachusetts
passed a law that required all children to be educated, and with this started the concept of
, 4
Final Project
having school activities and after school activities (Friedman, 2013). When organized sports
became a consistent way to occupy children’s time and give them positive feedback, multiple
companies began emerging making it a viable market to make money and provide a service. As
with all good ideas and markets, it must evolve with America and has faced multiple challenges.
In recent years, youth sports as a whole have been decreasing in participation numbers steadily,
and this is caused by two factors: multiple safety concerns and financials of the basic foundation
of a family changing.
As a recreation professional, a goal is to always keep children safe as they
participate in a program. Sports follow the trends that the world has, technology has changed
how equipment is made and used. The way baseball and softball bats are made now, allow for
much better velocity of the ball off the bat as well as a better “sweet spot” (the part of the bat
that has the best contact). At the beginning of baseball, all players used a wooden bat, which
are now only used by professionals, and even these are better made than any have been
before. The access to resources in the world, materials, machining and precision have allowed
for specifications to the millimeter or ounce to be measured. Metal bats have also changed
greatly, aluminum used to be the main material used in making bats and did not allow for the
hit ball to travel as quickly as bats made of composite materials now. The science behind these
bats is very technical and highly measured, but what parents and children see is more
homeruns, harder hit balls, and more injured players from having less reaction time (Russell,
2012). In softball the pitching rubber is only forty to forty-three foot from home plate, and
with a pitcher’s stride ends the pitcher somewhere between thirty-five to thirty-eight feet from
the batter. A ball hit off these updated bats could potentially get back to the pitcher in
milliseconds and is much faster than human reactions. This has led to more pitcher injuries
