An unfortunate dilemma has occurred at the Idaho Falls Rec Center: they have ran out of space for all the teams that would usually use the area. There are 27 high school level teams, and local teams are given priority; however there just wasn’t enough room for all the teams this year. So now there are local teams that won’t be able to compete or play at all, but there was a solution to this, key word was. 

According to Eastern Idaho News, “The recreation center doesn’t have enough courts, so agreements are in place with local school districts to use their facilities as well.” However, this is where the trouble ensued. As Eastern Idaho News reports, “Erin Clifford (a parent of one of the players whose team wasn’t chosen to use the Rec Centers courts) was told one of the school’s gyms wouldn’t be available because it was needed for school baseball and softball teams to practice in. She believes the agreement between the city and school district is being broken, because the schools are unavailable.” 

Gregg Baczuk, the Athletic & Activities Director here at Skyline, said, “We do have an agreement with the city and they did approach us this year, but we just don’t have available gym space. They are currently using Eagle Rock’s gym on Saturdays for their city Rec games that lasts all day long, and in the past there have been some Saturdays in the past few years where they have used Skyline’s gym. But we just don’t have any available gym space during the week; it’s just whatever we have available.” 

Bud Cranor, an Idaho Falls spokesman, told Eastern Idaho News that “The schools, they can program whatever they want in there (the school’s gym), and then we’re kind of at the mercy of the schools and what they have available for us” and that isn’t the only option for the other teams. “Parks and Recreation is offering the spring league and giving priority to the teams who didn’t get into the winter league. The YMCA is offering a league and taking registrations now, although Clifford (the ‘concerned’ parent) doesn’t see that as a step up because it’s a “really poor facility,” which sparks the question of whether our local public facilities are doing the job of being available and having enough capacity to it. 

“We need more gym space, there is no question about it,” Baczuk said.