La PORTE — Changes are coming for La Porte Park and Recreation’s adult sports.
The La Porte Park Board, on Sept. 17, unanimously approved adopting the pay-at-the-plate system, as well as adopting a technical foul fee of $20 and an ejection fee of $40.
Trying to be more in line with surrounding communities, such as Michigan City and Portage, La Porte Recreation Director Evan Miller recommended La Porte change from having their adult sports teams – basketball and softball – pay a large lump sum upfront, to having the teams pay as they play.
“So, just looking internally and trying to get creative with how we could stay more competitive with other leagues in the area, [and] I’ve looked into a pay-at-the-plate system,” Miller said.
“It’s pretty popular with adult softball. Basically, both teams pay the umpire case before the game starts,” he added.
The teams paying the softball umpires or basketball referees before the game, would replace, Miller said, the calling officials collecting checks from the Park and Recreation Department.
“ ... also it’s a good benefit for teams participating because their upfront fees are down by hundreds of dollars,” he said.
Currently, using the department’s adult basketball league, Miller said teams at the beginning of the season pay $660 in fees. With the adoption of the pay-at-the-plate system, the fees due would be cut by $440, as the teams would pay the amount needed throughout the year instead.
With the lower fees, Miller theorized that La Porte would be able to “attract more teams,” since paying large fees upfront can be difficult.
With the current rate for calling officials being $35, he said each team would either contribute to paying the umpire, or in the case of basketball, which has two referees, each team would be responsible for paying one.
“I’ve made a lot of calls to managers, officials and other people that run this system in their municipalities, [and] I’ve had nothing but positive feedback,” Miller said.
To combat the issue of teams forfeiting or not showing up, Miller said a deposit fee will be charged, which will be given back to each team at the end of the season if no issues arise.
Additionally, the Park Board also adopted, per Miller’s recommendation, “behavior deterrent” fees for their adult sport teams.
“Part of the reason why it’s hard to get quality officials in these adult sports is they deal with adults acting like children and getting technicals and ejections,” he said.
As of right now, no technical foul fees are established within the La Porte Park and Recreation Department, with the only punishments for outrageous behavior, Miller said, being having “to sit on the bench for 10 minutes” in basketball.
By adding a fee, Miller said the department would “cut” that behavior off, as well as potentially attract more calling officials.
For basketball technical fouls, the Park Board adopted a fee of $20. For softball ejections, the Park Board adopted a fee of $40. All fees collected will go into the department’s Rec Non-reverting fund.
These fees, Schreiber said, will have to be paid to the Park and Recreation Department before the player can return.
“I look forward to seeing what the official’s reaction is the first time somebody busts out a $20 bill on them on the middle of the court, but I think it’s a good step forward in making people [behave],” Schreiber said.
“$20, to some people, is nothing, but at least it’s something to say, ‘hey, listen, you can’t run up technical fouls this season,’ and there is a way ... for the official to know and then therefore be able to communicate to us,” he added.
According to Schreiber, scorekeepers will keep track of any offenders and report those back to the department. And while he doesn’t believe there will be any problems, the department will pay attention to make sure everyone is treated fairly.
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