The Partnership Division has been working closely with the United States

Tennis Association (USTA) to improve Department tennis courts. USTA

completed the refurbishment of 12 tennis courts at Echo Park and Peck

Park. The $85,000+ improvement project included the repair and resurfac-

ing of the tennis court complexes, and the installation of new custom nets.

The Department previously partnered with USTA in 2010, when they

funded the refurbishment of Jackie Tatum/Harvard Recreation Center’s

tennis courts. The courts at Echo Park and Peck Park are heavily used by

the local communities and the refurbishments have made a positive im-

pact.

Tennis Court Refurbishment at Peck Park & Echo Park

Thanks to a generous donation by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foun-dation (DVFFF), the four outdoor basketball courts at Venice Beach Recre-ation Center have been completely refurbished. The $140,000 project in-cluded the installation of new asphalt court surfaces, acrylic accents, canti-levered goal posts, tempered glass backboards, nylon nets, bleachers and more. Known as the “street ballin’ capital of the West Coast”, the famous Venice Beach Basketball Courts are a part of the Venice legacy and the improvements will help continue that tradition. With the successful comple-tion of the Venice project, the Partnership Division is now moving forward with DVFFF to refurbish additional basketball courts throughout the City.

The Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) and Councilmember Tom LaBonge (4th District) hosted the 2012 “Get To Know Your Wild Neighbors” Event at the Griffith Observatory Viewing Deck on Saturday, April 14, 2012.

The free event was part of the 2012 launch of the renowned wildlife artist Robert Bate-man’s “Get To Know” Contest, which in-vites youth, ages 19 and under, to go out-doors and create original works of art, writ-ing, photography, videography and music inspired by their local natural surroundings and wildlife.

Originally created in Canada in 2000, the “Get To Know Contest” expanded to Cali-fornia in 2009. Los Angeles’ event spon-sors included the National Recreation and Parks Association, Southern California Ed-ison, U.S. Forest Services, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Federa-tion and the Association of Zoos & Aquari-ums. “Get To Know” is committed to reach-ing a diverse youth audience, including many urban-based, underserved youth who may lack access to the outdoors, art and nature programs.

This year’s art-inspiring theme was “Get To Know Your Wild Neighbors.” The 2012 Contest was a huge success with hun-dreds of submissions from youth across the country. For information on the 2012 Contest and to see the “Contest Winners Gallery” visit www.get-to-know.org.

HOLY MACKEREL!!! Thanks to a

$10,000 grant, over 300 Recreation

and Park campers learned how to

fish at Cabrillo Pier this summer.

The Cabrillo Pier Fishing Program

provided ten field trips to summer

campers from Alpine, Banning, Cy-

press, El Sereno, Glassell, Green

Meadows, Harbor City, Lake

Street, Rancho Cienega and Van

Ness Recreation Centers.

Along with hands-on fishing in-

struction, the program teaches

kids about safe fish consumption

along the Los Angeles coastline

and the impact of human activity

on the Palos Verdes Shelf ecosys-

tem.

The Cabrillo Pier Fishing Program is

a partnership with the Depart-

ment, Montrose Settlements Res-

toration Project, National Fish and

Wildlife Foundation, and the Na-

tional Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration.

Cabrillo Pier, located in the San

Pedro Harbor, was built in 1969 and

is known as one of the more relia-

ble locations to catch mackerel.

The RAP campers were first

taught the basics and then each

participant got the chance to cast

out and fish for mackerel them-

selves!

A MAJOR LEAGUE A MAJOR LEAGUE PARTNERSHIPPARTNERSHIP The Partnership Division is proud to announce that Major League Baseball, Incorporated (MLB), through their Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Program, will help support youth baseball this Fall. RAP is one of three organizations in Los Angeles County to be included in the RBI Program. Twelve recreation centers in the Pacific and Metro Regions will bene-fit from MLB’s generous donation. Approximately 720 youth, ages 8 to 15 are expected to participate in the 2012 Fall Sea-son. The Partnership Division is looking forward to expanding the program Citywide for the Spring 2013 Baseball Season.

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games have come to an end but RAP still has some Olympic ties! We are fortunate to have the support of two Olympic Champions. Four-time Gold Medalist, Lisa Leslie is currently running her Basketball and Leadership Academy at Westwood Sports Complex. The year-round Bas-ketball Academy runs every Wednesday and Saturday, for youth ages 7 to 18. Participants receive elite basketball train-ing, tutoring and counseling. Leslie’s goal is to instill the im-portance of academics in youth and create leaders of tomor-row. Natasha Watley, a two-time Olympic Medalist in softball, has just wrapped up the fifth season of her girls softball league. The Natasha Watley Softball League provides girls living in underserved communities the opportunity to learn and play the game of softball. Thank you, Lisa and Natasha for bringing your talent, exper-tise and dedication to RAP. Your presence makes a positive impact on Los Angeles youth and maybe will lead to a future Olympian!

CONGRATULATIONS…CONGRATULATIONS…

Hollywood Recreation Center!! Thanks to on-line votes the park will receive a $10,000 grant to refurbish its outdoor basketball court through the Sprite Spark Parks Project!! Thanks for all your votes!!

The championship game for the 2012 Clippers Late Night Hoops season was held on Saturday, June 30th. Eastern Conference Champions, Mount Carmel Recreation Center, played hard against Rancho Cienega Sports Complex I, Western Conference Champs, but in the end lost by 11 points for a final score of 65 to 54. The closing festivities also included a health fair, 3-point Shooting Contest and All-Star game. Shawn Hampton from Van Ness Recreation Center took the honors as the top 3-point shooter with 16 points. RAP would like to thank the Los Angeles Clippers and the California Endowment for their support for the 2012 Clippers Late Night Hoops Program and a spe-cial thanks to all the Recreation Staff that helped make the season a success!