January 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 48

NEXT PRACTICES
At the end of 2020, we hoped the
worst would be behind us with the
advent of vaccines, but 2021 had other
plans. The emergence of the Delta
variant was responsible for a national
shutdown for 1.3 billion people in
India, travel closures to the United
States, and sadly, even more lives lost.
I am cautiously hopeful that we
have turned the corner in 2021
with schools, businesses and travel
opening up, and in-person gatherings
resuming, including the first
hybrid NRPA Annual Conference.
The Fosbury Flop
As we look to 2022, I am reminded
of high jumper Dick Fosbury, who
literally reversed conventional techniques
by turning his back toward
the bar and jumping over it rather
than facing the bar as was typical.
His technique, since named the Fosbury
Flop, helped him set a world record
in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
He revolutionized an entire sport
by doing the exact opposite of what
anyone else had done before.
He refused to follow " best practices, "
which are rooted in the
past, and instead created his own
" next practice, " which was focused
on the future.
With this in mind, let's look
at the next practices for the postpandemic
2020s.
Next Practices in Programs
Esports
It is no longer a matter of if or
even when esports will grow, but
rather, how soon. Newzoo's annual
survey shows the global esports
audience is projected to grow to
646 million (up from 395 million)
in a five-year span from 2018 to
2023. That amounts to nearly two
times the entire population of the
United States.
GGLeagues, a platform for recreational
esports players, shared info
from its survey of park and recreation
esports community members.
This showed a high participation
in gaming (65 percent played video
games between two and five hours
daily) and a corresponding high
participation in weekly physical activity
too (58 percent participated
in sports or extracurricular activities
several times a week). These
results show that participating in
esports and actual sports is not mutually
exclusive.
Seeking professional expertise,
agencies - such as Town of Windsor,
Colorado, Parks, Recreation
and Culture; City of San Marcos,
California; City of Smyrna, Georgia;
and others - have partnered
with esports experts, like Bull Esports
Consulting, to design, create
and launch their esports leagues and
grow them locally. What's more,
the North Carolina Recreation and
Park Association and Florida Recreation
and Park Association have
launched statewide Esports Championships.
Hybrid
Programs
The world went from operating in
person to entirely virtual, to now,
a hybrid model best showcased
during the 2021 NRPA Annual
Conference, which truly embodied
the theme of Adapt, Connect,
Unite and Lead.
Going forward, our workplaces
would benefit the most if we
adopted this hybrid approach
by recognizing the value of inPark
and recreation agencies with a
foundation or conservancy have an
available option for accepting donations
in cryptocurrencies.
48 Parks & Recreation |
J ANUAR Y 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
January 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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