LAWTON – Lawton Youth Sports Authority has found someone to take over the reins of the city’s youth sports programs.
The authority voted 8-0 Friday to begin contract negotiations with Eastern Sports Management, a Virginia-based company that specializes in creating, marketing and managing a variety of sports and recreation programs. The company currently manages recreational facilities in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as the Titan Sports and Performance Center in Tulsa.
The authority received eight proposals for managing Lawton’s youth sports programs and chose six candidates to make formal presentations, said trustee Hossein Moini, chairman of the authority’s programs committee. The committee narrowed the list to three finalists and, after doing more research, decided ESM was the best choice.
ESM’s expertise in managing sports programs made it an attractive choice, Moini said.
“This is a new deal for us, but it is not a new thing for Eastern Sports,” he said. “They’re doing it all over the country, and they are planning to do it here.”
Trustee Dr. Krista Ratliff said EMS has a track record of building partnerships in the communities where it runs sports programs, which was an important issue for Lawton.
“They also have experience in other areas that we’re looking for, such as sponsorships and grants and looking at different funding sources,” she said.
Trustee Carey Monroe said ESM’s software and other resources will help the company run Lawton’s youth sports programs properly.
“As someone who is a logistics and event-planning person, I understand that when you have really good processes in place, you can be really efficient and make sure that everybody has a really good experience,” said Monroe, director of events management at Cameron University.
Lawton’s Parks and Recreation Department will handle youth sports programs through the fall. If the authority approves a contract with ESM in August, the company may be ready to begin work in September.
The goal is to turn all youth sports programs over to ESM by July 1, 2023.