Title
Athletic Field User Agreement
History
The Athletic Field User Agreement (AFUA) governs the use of Village athletic fields by youth organizations. Specifically, the AFUA sets scheduling priorities by residency, outlines procedures for the use of Village athletic fields, defines rental fees, a non-resident fee, usage protocols, and sets expectations of coaches, players, parents/guardians and spectators. The AFUA includes a Three Strike Policy which outlines the consequences that may be applied to an organization that violates the protocols outlined in the Agreement.
Staff updated the Agreement for use in 2024. This includes: providing examples of groups categorized in the Priority Order of Field Scheduling; including the rental rate for grass and artificial turf field use; adding artificial turf user guidelines and a field scheduling timeline in the appendix. The remainder of the AFUA is the same as the Agreement approved and used in 2023.
Staff shared a draft of the AFUA with Village athletic organizations to gain feedback and input related to the Agreement. Organizations included Sting FC, Chicago City, the Orland Youth Association (OYA), Pioneer Football, the Orland Park Soccer Club (OPSC), Southside Storm Lacrosse, Girls Sparks Softball and Chicagoland United Soccer.
Staff met individually with Chicago City, OYA, Pioneer Football, and the OPSC upon request, to address concerns related to the use of fields and questions to some portions of the AFUA.
In these meetings, staff stressed that scheduling priority is done by overall organization residency based upon rosters provided by each organization for the spring/summer season and summer/fall season.
When scheduling fields, staff provide each organization with an overall seasonal field allocation. Organizations then distribute fields to individual teams within each’s organization. Organizations with equivalent residency are treated equally in a balanced, equitable manner. Organizations with lesser r...
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