JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Berlin Parks Commission Chairman Mike Wiley, left, and Myro Small of Worcester County Department of Recreation and Parks talk over the details of a new youth basketball league during public meeting, last Tuesday.
By Josh Davis, Associate Editor
(April 11, 2019) A youth basketball summer league is coming to Dr. William Henry Park in Berlin on Saturdays from June 8 until July 27.
For eight weeks, play will run from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the park on 123 Flower Street.
The league is part of a growing number of Berlin recreation offerings thanks to an improved partnership between the town and Worcester County Department of Recreation and Parks.
Myro Small, recreation and parks program manager, told the Berlin Parks Commission last Wednesday the league would be for grades 4-12. He said county staff would run the program, with some assistance from local youth volunteers.
The charge will be $35 per child, which covers all eight weeks, but financial aid could knock the cost down to just $14, Small said.
“That will be a big help for the kids in that area,” he said, adding the recreation and parks has a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps with financial aid.
“It’s a worthy cause and we want to get those kids on the basketball court,” commission members Patricia Dufendach said.
Berlin Administrative Services Director Mary Bohlen, staff liaison to the committee, pointed to the recent announcement of drop-in tennis programs at Stephen Decatur Park as a sign the town and county were working well together.
“It’s so great that we’re going to be getting some programs in both parks,” she said.
Small said his department had been tight-lipped about plans up until now, adding, “we’re starting to get a little buzz” going.
“Tom Perlozzo, who is our new director, [has] got a lot of fresh ideas,” he said. “We’ll be implementing some new things throughout the county.”
The parks commission voted unanimously to support the program, which also earned an endorsement from the Town Council on Monday.
Signup for the youth basketball summer league can be done online, by mail, or in person. To register online, visit www.WorcesterRecandParks.org.
For more information, contact Small at 410-632-2144 ext. 2512, or email msmall@co.worcester.md.us.