Partnering to improve life in our Valley
April 10, 2014•Vincent Armenta/Commentary
A recent column discussed the importance of sports and games in our tribal culture. Our earliest stories handed down by our ancestors include ones about physical achievements and athletic contests.
Today, we continue to teach our young people about the importance of being active and appreciating the outdoors.
Our tribal government has also made it a priority to help local youth lead healthy lives. The need in our community is great when it comes to young people, schools and the nonprofit organizations that work to serve them.
We’ve tried to address these needs in a variety of ways. Sometimes, the work has involved individual tribal members helping with a cause, such as those who assisted the Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA with its Campaign for Youth and Families. Other times, we’ve created events to raise money for local nonprofit organizations, and to help create more awareness of the good works these groups are doing in our community.
For example, our annual Chumash Charity Golf Classic benefited Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Barbara County (CASA), Dream Foundation and the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation. Before that, the golf classic raised funds for the Westside Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara.
I’d like to highlight a recent project, because it demonstrates the type of needs in our community that often don’t receive enough attention, and because it shows how building partnerships can solve problems.
Los Olivos Elementary School’s tennis courts were in bad shape and in need of repair. Students and others in the community couldn’t use them. We joined up with the Santa Ynez Valley Youth Recreation to replace the courts with a state-of-the-art new surface.
A bit of background on Los Olivos School’s tennis courts — Santa Ynez Valley Youth Recreation and Santa Ynez Valley Elks originally donated them in 1977. The decades brought substantial weather damage and problems with tree roots.
The new surface will mean the courts will be available for use by boys and girls tennis, boys and girls basketball, and physical education classes. The work is being done by Sport Court of Southern California, one of three companies in Southern California certified by the American Sports Builders Association.
“We are excited to partner with the community to provide a multi-use recreational facility,” said Los Olivos School Principal Bridget Baublits.
We, too, are excited about the upgraded facility. Together, we can work to improve this Valley we all call home and care about so deeply.