BGC by-law bans out-of-county play

Clubs have until March to comply

The by-law amendment mandates all clubs begin participating exclusively with PGCBGC for every sports program provided within their club if it is offered by March 1, 2009, or face suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action to be decided on by the Board of Directors. PGCBGC Executive Director Calvin Massie said the amendment is one way to rebuild the deteriorating organization by reuniting clubs under the parent organization.

Club leaders have argued PGCBGC should improve its management first to attract teams back rather than force them.

‘‘We’ve had things like poorly scheduled games that are close geographically but scheduled at the opposite end of the county,” said David Hiles, the vice president of the Hyattsville-Mount Rainier-Brentwood Boys and Girls Club. ‘‘There is just not a good product.”

Hiles said the club’s soccer teams play outside the county and the amendment may push them to move additional sports to outside leagues as well.

‘‘We’ll be talking to clubs associated with other municipalities like Bowie and Laurel and see if we can make something that will work cooperatively,” he said. ‘‘Rather than getting us to participate, they are getting us to leave.”

The Bowie Boys and Girls Club will hold an open meeting for members at 8 p.m. tonight at Bowie City Hall to discuss the future of the club and whether it should sever ties with the county organization, said club President Monica Evans. Several of the Bowie club’s sports programs — including football, baseball, soccer and softball teams — play in leagues outside of the PGCBGC to seek a higher level of competition, Evans said.

Massie said the club has actively tried to improve since he was elected to his current position last year. One improvement measure he introduced in December was meeting sessions for coaches to discuss strategies that were successful in the season.

While they will not have to follow PGCBGC guidelines, clubs who leave may also lose resources allotted through the organization. Many do not have their own facilities and through PGCBGC memberships they receive first priority for county-owned field usage from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Clubs would also have to forego benefits such as gifts and tickets to local sporting events and a stipend of approximately $1,000 per year from the county executive’s office, Massie said.

The Forestville Boys and Girls Club’s football teams play in the Capital Beltway League and president Mary Jones said the club will have to abandon the league to stay a part of the PGCBGC. Jones voted against the amendment but said the club doesn’t have the resources to pull out.

‘‘Some of the larger clubs probably have facilities and enrollment where they can leave and still have all those other activities,” Jones said. ‘‘Forestville is not a large organization and we do not have our own facilities. We do have to rely on county and school facilities. What we are going to work on is transitioning our football program back into the Boys and Girls Club.”

Laurel BGC president Levet Brown said his club, which also plays football in the Capital Beltway League, will decide in March whether to leave the PGCBGC. Brown added that the organization will never turn away non-Prince George’s youth.

‘‘We’d have to turn our back on Anne Arundel, Howard County and Montgomery County kids whose addresses say Laurel, and we’ll never do that,” he said. ‘‘The only way we’ll leave is if we can’t accept whatever disciplinary actions there are.”

Staff writer Elahe Izadi contributed to this story.

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.