 Nearly 50 years later, those decisions pay dividends as nearly every resident can walk to a neighborhood park. The Lakewood recreation tradition continues today with a parks and recreation budget of more than $6 million providing comprehensive and diverse programs at ten major parks, two community swimming pools, and two community centers. (Right: Coach and players.)
Youth sports values
The Lakewood Youth Sports (LYS) program was founded nearly 50 years ago on principles of participation and sportsmanship adopted by parents serving as volunteer coaches and enforced by professional recreation staff. Parents sign a pledge to support the LYS ETHICS (Enthusiasm to Help Improve Children’s Sports) principles. The ETHICS program articulates a commitment to good sportsmanship, reduced pressure for competition, and positive support for players, coaches, and officials. 
Coaches are required to sign a pledge of Goals and Objectives, promising to act as positive role models, maintain positive coaching methods, instruct parents and spectators in ETHICS principles, learn the rules, communicate with staff, and follow general guidelines of behavior. Coaches and officials submit a sportsmanship rating for each team at the conclusion of each game. At the conclusion of the season, coaches vote to select a “sportsmanship champion” for each league. The sportsmanship award includes a certificate and key chain medallion for each player on the team selected. Participants take a “Player’s Pledge” administered by the team coach at the beginning of the season. The pledge is intended to create respect and a feeling of responsibility among the youth.
What has come to be known as Lakewood Youth Sports, or LYS, began when Lakewood’s recreation department advertised baseball signups at city parks for the summer of 1957. Recreation officials weren't sure how many children would respond. When 650 players signed up, park officials weren't sure how they would be able to afford to pay coaches for the 46 teams that were to be organized.
 Jack Huntsinger (left) was one of the first employees of the recreation department. He remembers coming up with a unique solution to the problem. He and park supervisors spent the days after the signups calling the parents of the youngsters who had signed up to play.
"This was during the period," explains Huntsinger, "when professional coaches and Little League programs dominated sports activities. Recreation programs typically had one or two teams at each recreation center coached by paid staff. Lakewood had the advantage of starting from scratch in developing a new way of providing team sports."
Traditional ages for the competitive sports leagues had always been 8-17 years, until, in 1980, a pilot program for T-Ball was introduced. From that, the now-popular Smurf division for 6-7 year olds creates low-key, non-competitive opportunities as an introduction to team play in baseball, flag football, and basketball.
The city's commitment to quality sports programs for the youth of the community is best illustrated by the fact that no fee has ever been required. The three sports seasons average nearly 1,300 participants and over 150 volunteer coaches.
Today, Lakewood is a tight-knit community. The typical array of Little League baseball, Bobby Sox softball, Pop Warner football, and AYSO soccer flourishes amid neighborhood parks and school campuses. Meanwhile, Lakewood’s Department of Recreation and Community Services provides a complement of sports opportunities that supplement and often provide alternatives for residents.
 Youth baseball and softball enthusiasts can choose between the Little League, Bobby Sox, and other independent leagues playing a late winter through spring league or the city’s summer baseball and softball season. In the fall season, the city’s flag football and volleytennis programs complement Pop Warner football and cheer programs and AYSO soccer leagues. In the winter, the city’s basketball leagues round out the sports year.
In the sports-friendly climate of southern California, adults take advantage of fast pitch leagues and two annual seasons of softball leagues, including slow pitch leagues for men and women and co-recreational divisions. Three annual seasons of women’s volleytennis make for a year-round sport. Access to a high school gymnasium provides an opportunity to conduct two annual basketball and volleyball leagues.
The city budgets over $275,000 annually for direct implementation of its sports programs; and significant additional resources are invested in the form of park staff supervision, maintenance, and capital improvement projects. (Historic 1970s photo, left. See complete historic photo gallery section. Recreation photos only.)
Lakewood also offers two pools for spring and summer swim instruction and a “rustic” park for day camp programs for youth, a landscaped nature trail along the San Gabriel River, walking and jogging circuits through Rynerson Park, and access to the Lakewood Equestrian Center for horse owners and those wanting to learn to ride.
In a survey of surrounding cities, it was determined that 18 of 20 agencies offer youth sports programs. Two of those agencies offer less extensive youth sports leagues without fees. The remaining 16 cities charge an average fee of $29 per participant per season.
Lakewood’s park and recreation traditions have endured the test of time, adjusting to serve Lakewood’s 83,000 residents. The slogan for Lakewood’s yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary says it best:
“Times Change, Values Don’t.” Special 50th Anniversary Section
/about_lakewood/community/50_new.asp The Lakewood Story: Chapter 6 looks at "Kid City" then; SportsTown USA see Lakewood today The sixth chapter of the Lakewood Story pays particular attention to how kids and the community shaped one another. These roots played a role Lakewood being honored as a SportsTown USA city by Sport Illustrated for 2004 coinciding with the city's 50th anniversary.
Chapter 6 "Kid City" begins:
"The average block in the new city of Lakewood in 1959 could have had as many as a hundred young people under the age of eighteen. Wherever parents looked they saw kids filled with restless energy. Lakewood's civic traditions began with efforts to focus all this "kid power" into sports and recreation programs that would help families cope. As these original kids of Lakewood aged through childhood and in to adolescence, their needs changed, as did the city's recreation programs and park facilities." Click here to read the chapter On the Web:
Sports Illustrated Special Section
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/ National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)
http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=600 Lakewood Recreation and Community Services Department Homepage
/services/recreation/default.asp Lakewood recreation: A gallery of good times
Lakewood's famed park and recreation programs have generated nearly three generations of fond memories. Sports programs, the conviviality of craft and dance programs, and the sheer fun of city parks have all contributed to the special character of Lakewood.
Follow this link to historic photos of Lakewood recreation:
/info/50_new/photos.asp | 
Sports Illustrated has named Lakewood California’s “SportsTown” in celebration of the magazine’s 50th anniversary. Lakewood is the only California city so designated. 
