Alameda Recreation and Park Department

This is a camp gor any tween who wants to have a goid summer. They have fun field trips and great staff. I totally recommend this place!

My daughter & I bumped into a group of ARPD staff doing a 3pm to 5pm after school recreation program at Lincoln Park.
What they had wasn’t really that much. Just a couple of counselors, some games, drawing paper & crayons. All out of a small hut set up in Lincoln Park.
But they were really friendly, and my daughter and the several other kids hanging out with the ARPD stuff had a lot of fun.
Look forward to bring my daughter there more often for their 3pm to 5pm activities.

I specifically want to commend Dennis McDaniels and the ARPD Adult Softball program. I’ve been playing and enjoying softball in Alameda for 17 years, but it has been sad to see the decline in this great community building sport. Dennis took over the program about a year ago and has given us real hope in its future. He’s actively engaged the opinionated participants in the league and works through many a minefield to keep the leagues together, competitive and good spirited. Just the fact that he promptly replies to emails and calls goes a long way to instilling confidence. I’ve also heard that he does a great job of keeping a good relationship with McGee’s Bar & Grill, who generously sponsor many teams in the leagues.

Wow! The ARPD programs are AWESOME!!! The people are friendly, they keep the kids busy, happy & safe! My son is in the after school program & he really likes it. There is always something hoppin’ in the summer camps & a LOT of age appropriate activities. They take walks, go swimming, play games, do art & some music, etc., etc., etc.
The ARPD programs are the BEST, the MOST COMPREHENSIVE & the CHEAPEST!!!
Yay for Alameda Park & Recreation Department!!!

I am personally only familiar with tennis lessons. The quality has varied greatly — one of my fave coaches of all time was teaching for a while, now I am hearing the coaches are not as insightful. However, the tennis lessons for $ 15 or less for over 2 hours of instruction cannot be beat.

I don’t know what all these other people are talking about, but both times I’ve visited this office, I have had the exact opposite experience. Staff that seemed to feel put-​upon to do their jobs. Rude, cold people that rushed me and my husband through the processes, answered our and other people’s questions with disdain and talked down to us. I am blown away that people can get away with acting like that and still have a job, especially one dealing with the public. Horrible!

These are some of the nicest, happiest people you’ll meet. They run all kinds of programs to keep you and the kids busy and learning new stuff.
Special shout-​out for the synthetic ice rink at City Hall before the Mayor’s Tree Lighting. The staff was friendly, helpful, and organized. They had a good number of people to help get those darn skates on, and assist in the rink. They were careful not to let too many people on the «ice,» and really ran a great event. Good job, ARPD!

There has got to be some serious Happy Juice infused in the water that the ARPD staff drinks. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever used any city’s parks, camps, after-​school daycare, teen center and field trip operation with such a collectively friendly, helpful, and patient staff.
Personally, as the victim of constant ‘Mom Poisoning,” which typical symptoms often include: random forgetfulness, sleep deprivation, looking constantly dazed and confused, referring to one of your children in a conversation when you were really meaning to refer to another one, talking to the imaginary little plump fairies flying around you a lot of the time while in mid-​conversation with a real human being, and sailing away merrily alone in your car after forgetting to make sure that your child actually managed to make his/​her way physically into the car with you when you came to pick him/​her up.
Despite all of my Mom Poisoning symptoms, the ARPD staff has always treated me with the utmost cheerful understanding and respect.
Let’s look at a few examples of my interactions with them, and compare the responses to what Your Average (anyplace) City Schmuck Park Employee (YACSPE) *could* say to me, the Mom-​Poisoned («MP»).
Me (MP) to the ARPD WOW camp staff after taking 6 year old wild child to the completely wrong park thinking it was a the week of a certain soccer camp that actually wasn’t happening for another two weeks.
MP: I can’t believe I got this soccer camp week wrong by two weeks.
ARPD staff: No problem, Ms. S. Turns out his regular camp park group is coming over in about 45 minutes for a camp-​wide special event at our park so they can just give him a ride back to the correct park and camp after that.
MP: I feel like such a ditz
ARPD: Don’t worry Ms. S., it happens all the time.
What a «Your Average Daily City Schmuck Park Employee» (YACSPE) would at least think: What the hell kind of mother are you? That camp isn’t for two more weeks! Don’t you ever look at a calendar and write these things down? Nutso parent! Get a clue!
MP: To the ARPD counselors at the Teen Center after my then twelve-​year-​old son questioned the existence of God a bit too bluntly to some both very sensitive and even more «very* Christian home-​schooled tweens there:
MP: I’m really sorry that he offended those kids. Anything that seems «Fundamentalist’ to him when discussing religion gets him as riled up as a particular very openly opinionated, sarcastic, swearing, liberal uncle who means well and advocates free speech… and I’ve reminded him time and again that it’s okay to ask questions, but try not to offend people when you do, even if you don’t agree with them one bit.
ARPD: That’s okay. We discussed that he needed to think through what he is going to say in advance since it really did hurt those kids’ feelings. However, there wasn’t any real harm done.
YACSPE might say: Why isn’t your son on some serious meds to keep him sedated? Now we could face a major lawsuit against the local churches those students attend!
MP to the ARPD RAP (after-​school care) staff after wild child decided to get in a tussle with an older kid over wall ball and taking turns that turned into a huge brawl.
MP: I’m so sorry he got so worked up. He didn’t get enough sleep last night and has been in an atypical bad mood most of the day. He knows he should be using words, not hitting.
*migraine ensues*
ARPD: Well, we took each of the boys aside and explained how hitting isn’t allowed and then eventually had the two of them talk it out. They seem to be good friends now.
YACSPE: Christ, I bet you or your Old Man beat the crap out of that kid at home or something for him to get into a fight like that. We’re calling CPS!
ARPD’s staff is even kind enough to call around the night before your kid goes on a field trip and remind you what time to be there the next morning since the tour bus will depart at a set-​in-​stone time. You know how certain, *ahem*, Night Owls definitely need these reminders so we can set at least two alarm clocks with the loudest one being placed at least 10 feet away from the bed in order to even get out of bed early.
Even the person I typically deal with on the phone for scheduling changes and payments is always cheerful and courteous. They now have an online scheduling/​payment system too. How convenient is that? There is something in that Happy juice going on, and I’m telling you it’s a wonderful thing.
Thank you, ARPD staff for your graciousness and your programs. You make a single, working, full-​time parent of three kids’ schedules so much easier to plan when they all too typically border on the impossible to coordinate.

I specifically want to review «Kidz love Soccer» offered through the Alameda Park and Recreation department. The coaches for the 5 – 6 year olds are Coach Chad and Coach Liz. They are absolutely FANTASTIC! Coach Liz seems to be the «straight guy» to Coach Chad’s clowning, so my review mostly focuses on him, but she’s pretty nice and attentive to the kids.
Coach Chad knows how to immediately include kids. We showed up late after the class had already started a week prior. Coach Chad told my daughter «hey cool glasses! I’m so glad you made it today!» and got her included and feeling happy right from the beginning. He calls all the kids «soccer players» (as in «come on soccer players, go grab a ball») which I think is a great positive reinforcement and so much better than «boys and girls» etcetera.
The kids practice their soccer skills through really fun games like squirrels robbing nuts for their nests, mailing packages and then telling each other what they just sent, and about a million other clever ways of dribbling, passing, and kicking without realizing that’s what they’re doing. Coach Chad ignores the kids’ negative behavior (unless there’s egregious wrong-​doing) and always praises the kids when they’ve done something positive.
Coaches Chad and Liz have never been late, they always have the equipment set-​up and ready to go, and they seem to really enjoy working with kids.
At the end of the first class, my daughter told me «this class shouldn’t be called «kidz love soccer. It should be called Kidz ADORE soccer.»

Today I was playing basketball at Washington park. It’s a large park with two basketball courts, two baseball fields, many tennis courts, a playground for kids, and even a dog park. It’s great, and most likely the result of high tax dollars paid by the residents of Alameda. So there I was playing a full court game or two of b-​ball, my 6’1, 30-​year-​old body lumbering up and down the court with 9 other players who on average were half my age. Boy was I out of shape. But enough about that. The court is pretty standard, as far as outdoor basketball courts go. The concrete was hard and hard on my knees. But it could have been worse. This is one of those courts that has smooth concrete, not the real cheap stuff that is so bumpy it seems shards are going to come off with each pivot. So I gotta give it up for the concrete, it alone earns Alameda Rec and Park Dept 4 stars. As for the last star, it is due to the people. It’s a diverse, active, and friendly crowd. And that’s worth at least one star.