While Westfield built its identity around drawing visitors to Grand Park, Fishers is spending millions on youth sports with a different target in mind — the families already living here.
That’s the message Mayor Scott Fadness delivered in an IndyStar story published Monday, in which reporter Jake Allen examined how suburban Central Indiana cities are pouring tax dollars into youth athletics.
“Our strategy was born not out of trying to create a tourism play necessarily, but instead it was, how do we continue to double down and create really great experiences for our kids that live here and are involved in youth sports?” Fadness told the newspaper.
The second priority, the mayor said, is attracting new residents.
“It’s just like investing in your schools,” Fadness said. “Having these facilities keep your home values up.”
Fishers has moved on several fronts this year. The city has invested more than $3 million in athletic field improvements at its high schools, created and filled a new position to coordinate youth athletics, and announced a $65 million facility — the Fishers Fieldhouse — that will host large-scale youth basketball and volleyball tournaments.
The IndyStar piece devotes much of its length to Westfield’s Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus, which opened in 2014 at a cost of $49 million and now draws 5.5 million visits a year. Hotels, restaurants and retail followed. Noblesville, Lebanon and Greenwood have since built their own city-financed facilities.
Local parents quoted in the story described benefits that don’t show up on a balance sheet.
Matt Benson, watching his 9-year-old daughter practice field hockey behind New Britton Elementary School, told the newspaper his three children have leaned more toward arts and theater than athletics — but he still sees the value.
“It’s what attracts people to a community like this,” Benson said. “These investments can lead to sparking different interests for children.”
Jen Westerman, a 15-year Fishers resident who coaches her daughter’s Mudsock Youth Athletics softball team, said the payoff has been friendships.
“My kids’ friends have come from playing in sports and some of mine and my husband’s best friends have come from meeting other parents at sport events,” Westerman said. “Investing in this stuff is not only good for the health and socialization of kids here, but I think it’s great for building community.”
The story also includes a caution. Michael Edwards, a sport management professor at North Carolina State University, told IndyStar that publicly funded sports complexes can end up serving tournaments more than taxpayers.
“We have seen situations where the county or the city built these facilities, and they’re essentially padlocked when there’s not an organized event happening,” Edwards said. “In some ways, they can be very exclusionary.”
Edwards added that with so many facilities going up across the region, some will prosper and others will fail — making it critical that cities avoid duplicating what neighbors already offer.
My compliments to reporter Allen and his editors for doing a deep dive into an important issue for families in suburban areas of Indy.
The full story is available at this link. NOTE: Most IndyStar stories are behind a paywall. Online subscriptions to the IndyStar are reasonably priced. Once again, I encourage you to subscribe to your local media!