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≡ L.A. CITY-LA28 YOUTH SPORTS ≡
The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic bid team agreed with the International Olympic Committee to invest $160 million in City of Los Angeles youth programs between 2017 and 2028, providing a direct “legacy” benefit to Angelenos for years prior to the 2028 Games.
The participation baseline for the fiscal year 2018-19 was at 148,274, and the program got off to a slow start due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with virtually no programs for two years.
But it is moving along nicely now!
A report from the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department filed Thursday (6th) showed that total participants in the 2023-24 fiscal year reached a high of 228,312, an increase of 54.0% over the original baseline total.
And the 2023-24 total was up 39% over the budgeted (expected) total of 164,116. The participation numbers have risen strongly in the post-pandemic period:
● 2018-19: 148,274 (baseline)
● 2020-21: Collapsed by the pandemic
● 2021-22: 90,132 (pandemic impact)
● 2022-23: 176,596
● 2023-24: 228,312
The programming records show that the City Recreation Centers attracted 181,906 participants and the “Signature” specialty programs had 46,406. That’s well up from 136,082 at Rec Centers and 40,514 at “Signature” programs in 2022-23.
(Special programs were offered in swimming, surfing, kayak, paddleboard, track & field, judo, tennis, golf, skateboarding, equestrian, and teqball, and adaptive or Paralympic sports including archery, track & field, skateboarding, swimming, soccer, equestrian, surfing, basketball, volleyball and tennis.)
Due to the influx of participants, costs also rose beyond the original request of $18,798,240, leading to a new request for added funding of $4,454,559 for a 2023-24 total of $23,252,799.
An earlier estimate of programming for 2024-25 led to a request of $30.536 million, but the project is hardly out of money, thanks to the lack of spending early in the program.
● 2017-19: $2,001 million for SwimLA programs
● 2020-21: $2.481 million, due to pandemic
● 2021-22: $7.654 million
● 2022-23: $13.216 million
● 2023-24: $23.253 million with current request
● 2024-25: $30.536 million requested
All of that adds up to $60.741 million spent to far and $91.277 million with the 2024-25 request included. That still leaves $68.723 million to go for the last three years of the program, an average of $22.908 million available each year, well above the planned availability of $19.200 million for each year of the program from 2020 to 2028.
The figures do present the question of whether the $160 million funding will even be enough to continue the current programming at the current dizzying participation rates, and if LA28 will be asked to contribute more money … at the very time when the funding needs to stage the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be at their height.
But that’s a question for another day. For now, this program is bringing more sport to more people at a low cost, that means more can play in L.A.
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