NKYA Leaving Pleasure Isle

NKYA members,

I have an announcement to make regarding the future of NKYA sports programs at the Pleasure Isle Sports Complex.

As you may know, NKYA leases the facilities at the Pleasure Isle Sports Complex for the Basketball, Soccer and Cheer programs that we run. A few years back NKYA entered into a long term lease agreement with the owner of Pleasure Isle and under the terms of that lease the Landlord (Pleasure Isle) can periodically request an increase in the amount of the lease in order to cover increases in operating costs. At the end of our last indoor Soccer session the Owner of Pleasure Isle approached NKYA to request such an increase and the two parties began negotiating to reach a mutually agreeable lease increase. Ultimately the offer that NKYA was financially able to commit to was deemed insufficient by the Owner of Pleasure Isle and as a consequence NKYA and Pleasure Isle have mutually agreed to terminate the existing lease.

I want to make it clear that the process of negotiating with Pleasure Isle was completely amicable as was the decision to terminate the lease. Pleasure Isle has been a great home for NKYA for the past years and I and the entire Board of Directors regret that we can’t continue that relationship. This situation is, however, necessitated by the financial realities that both parties face.

What this means for NKYA Members, Coaches and Players is that as of now NKYA will not be offering any indoor Soccer, Basketball or Cheer programs in the immediate future. When the current Outdoor Fall Soccer session ends there will not be another Soccer session until the Spring of 2012 when we hope to initiate a Spring Outdoor session to give us two Outdoor sessions per year. NKYA is currently in discussions to secure the use of additional fields to accommodate this expansion of our Outdoor program. We are also currently seeking court space for continuing our Basketball and Cheer programs as soon as possible.

The mission of NKYA continues to be to promote youth recreational instructional leagues that cater to all players of every skill level. Continuing to offer sports programs at Pleasure Isle while meeting the lease increase requested by Pleasure Isle would force NKYA to substantially raise its registration fees. In the opinion of the Board that would not be a desirable option. We want to continue to offer programs that are widely accessible and that meet the needs of all players. If it appears that there is sufficient demand from our members for the type of Indoor Soccer programs we have been running then NKYA’s Board will consider possible options for continuing those programs elsewhere. In the mean time we will make every effort to get the Cheer and Basketball programs up and running at alternate locations.

I welcome your comments or questions on these matters. You can reach me at nkyacoachpat@gmail.com.

Thanks for supporting NKYA.
Patrick Michels
President, NKYA Board of Directors