Following a vetting process that began in late 2022, the management and operation of the City-owned Price Fields Sports Complex will be turned over to 4F Sports, a non-profit LLC formed and led by local coach John Pannell.
Pannell has been a coach and/or manager for Bartlesville High School, Bartlesville Mid-High, and Doenges American Legion, and has assembled a team of experts that will assist him with operations, field and facility management, marketing, concessions, financial services, safety, and umpires.
An agreement approved by the City Council on Tuesday is based on a model agreement used by Owasso. The one-year agreement gives 4F Sports the right to operate baseball/softball recreational and competitive leagues and to coordinate tournaments at the complex. The company will also be responsible for maintenance and repair of the entire complex.
The management of the fields has undergone several transitions in the past, including leasing the facilities directly to user groups and, most recently, contracting with the Richard Kane YMCA to oversee subleasing to the groups, with the City responsible for maintenance and repairs.
During the budget process, Vice Mayor James Curd Jr. and Councilor Trevor Dorsey expressed an interest in exploring more effective methods of managing and maintaining the fields. City staff conducted a best practices review of the most successful youth baseball/softball field operations in the Tulsa area, the results of which indicated that most of the successful baseball/softball complexes use a similar model.
“The key to the success of this model seems to be aligning authority and responsibility,” a staff report for the agenda item states. “For example, if the user group will be allowed to make their own rainout calls, then they also have to be responsible for maintenance and any issues caused by rainout calls. Through this combination of authority and responsibility, most complexes have seen increased use of their facilities and increased satisfaction of participants.”
The City issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on October 25, 2022, to all interested parties and received four submissions. An ad hoc review committee was composed to review the submissions, at which time 4F Sports was selected for further review. The council voted 5-0 Tuesday in favor of the motion to approve the agreement.