Thousands of athletes itching to get on the field
Something is missing in Lindsey Mikash’s life, and she’s not alone in feeling that way.
By day, Ms. Mikash, 34, is a prevention specialist and clinical educator who specializes in working with children on social skills in schools throughout the area. For the last 12 years, though, the North Huntingdon native would morph into a 5-foot-1 athlete extraordinaire by night — competing in everything from dek hockey to volleyball as a member of Pittsburgh Sports League.
“There was a time I was playing four PSL sports per week, Monday through Thursday,” Ms. Mikash said. “I would have indoor volleyball on Tuesday, outdoor on Thursday, and then I’d be playing kickball and softball in between.”
Since the turn of the century, thousands of Pittsburgh Sports League players have flocked daily to fields from Highland Park to Dormont and everywhere in between. This year, things are noticeably different.
With social distancing guidelines in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, virtually all of the city’s parks, fields and gymnasiums have been off-limits to the public. When Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-athome order to Allegheny County in mid-March, the league immediately postponed all of its winter sports leagues, most of which were nearing the end of the playoffs.
As of May 4, all those winter leagues were officially canceled, along with all the spring sports leagues set to begin in April.
And for the thousands of PSL members with nowhere to play as the weather gets warmer and the sun shines brighter, the itch to get back out is hard to ignore.
“Just being with people that are there to love the same sport that you do and enjoy playing and enjoy being around other people — it’s a nice way to spend your night or your weekend,” said Shannon Joyce, 34, an eight-year PSL veteran and Sheraden native.
Keeping young workers in the Pittsburgh area
PSL, which is a program of the nonprofit Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP), has had a substantial economic impact. To fully understand the role it has played in the lives of many in the greater Pittsburgh area, one must first learn about the story of PUMP.
According to its website, the project’s origins can be traced back to a Sept. 13, 1995, op-ed piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Michelle
Fanzo, then a young graduate student at Pitt. Ms. Fanzo wrote that too many of her friends were leaving the city after finishing grad school, searching for career opportunities in “more dynamic, vibrant cities.”
Ms. Fanzo received several calls from other young adults with similar concerns, and soon they began meeting in small groups throughout Pittsburgh’s East End.
By 1996, the organization was hosting forums and social networking events, many of which featured prominent local figures such as then-Mayor Tom Murphy and then-state Attorney General Mike Fisher.
A few years into the venture, leaders saw a glaring need for an organized recreational sports league. In 2000, PUMP started Pittsburgh Sports League as a 150-person flag football league. It has since expanded into a year-round operation that circulates between $60,000-$80,000 per year back into the city in field permits alone, with more than 20,000 non-unique players across all of its sports leagues in 2019.
“A lot of the facilities we play in are nonprofits,” said league director Greg Mitrik. “Our rental fees provide them unrestricted income that they’re able to use at their disposal. Us being able to recreate on their spaces is impactful not only to us, but to them.”
PSL now offers more than a dozen sports to choose from, with varying levels of competition from beginner to expert. Sports include basketball, bowling, dodgeball, kickball, soccer, softball, tennis, and even bar sports such as darts and cornhole for the 21-and-over crowd.
The cost to sign up for one of the leagues is about $700 per team, meaning players usually pay about $50 per season along with an annual $15 PSL membership fee.
Other than basketball, which offers separate leagues for men and women, all sports offered are coed. Any interested players can either sign up with their own team or register as a free agent to be placed on a team with an available spot.
Networks and marriages
Although the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project’s dayto-day operations have changed dramatically over the years, the organization hasn’t forgotten the values upon which it was founded.
“We talk about this all the time: PSL is more than an opportunity to run around the bases,” said PUMP CEO Brian Magee. “People build their networks around PSL. They find their jobs through PSL. The Post-Gazette did an article on the number of relationships and marriages that come from PSL.
“All of this — jobs, networks, people visiting different parks and neighborhoods — all help people build roots in our region. And then you throw on top of that just health and wellness.”
Over the years, PUMP has developed several initiatives as part of its advocacy efforts, with a primary focus on charitable causes within the city. The organization now hosts three major events per year outside of its year-round sports leagues and solo play nights: Steel City World Cup, Kickball for a Cause and a “40 under 40” event in collaboration with Pittsburgh Magazine.
Not only do these events provide an additional source of revenue, they help reinforce the organization’s mission, which is to “engage, educate and mobilize all young people to create change in our community.”
But with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people isolated, both PUMP and the city are likely to feel the effects of any potential cancellations.
The Steel City World Cup, a World Cup-style soccer tournament highlighting PSL members from immigrant backgrounds and other nationalities, has already been postponed. Kickball for a Cause, meanwhile, is tentatively set for August, but the event’s status is still up in the air.
Mr. Magee said Kickball for a Cause has generated approximately $200,000 for charity since its inception, an average of about $10,000 per year.
“We’ve been doing [Kickball for a Cause] for 20 years now, I think. That’s one that’s got all kinds of implications,” he said. “The net proceeds for that event go to support charitable organizations in the city. So if that event doesn’t happen, there’s not only an impact on us and the work that we do, but our ability to support those organizations.”
PUMP, which has six employees on its staff under Mr. Magee, including four whose roles are PSL-specific, has operated over the last several years with an annual budget between $1.1 million and $1.3 million.
The majority of revenue comes via earned income sources such as league dues and PSL membership fees in the ballpark of $1 million, while the rest is generated via the special events, plus sponsorships and contributions.
Depending on when its leagues are given the green light to start up again, PUMP could be looking at a massive loss of revenue in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Surviving the pandemic
In the meantime, Mr.
Magee and the rest of PUMP’s staff have been working around the clock to find creative ways to rethink some sports and activities to meet social distancing guidelines.
“We’ve got a half-dozen strategies that we’re rolling out to try to generate some new revenue. We launched esports, for example,” Mr. Magee said. “We’re reaching out to foundations to try to get a conversation going there.
“We’ve got a bunch of different strategies we’re rolling out, but the reality is, we’ve got about $1 million that’s threatened. That’s the definition of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, trying to replace that with new funds overnight.”
Although the Pittsburgh Sports League offers sports during all four seasons, the winter months are the lean months for the organization, with only a handful of indoor sports to choose from.
That means the pandemic hit at the absolute lowest point during its business cycle, after it had used up the remainder of its stockpile in December and January and relied on bridge funding to get through February and March until the start of spring sports.
But while the two organizations are facing tough times now and in the foreseeable future, Mr. Magee is certain they have what it takes to outlast the COVID19 pandemic.
“It’s a really tough spot,” he said. “We have a really high bar in terms of getting back to things where we generate revenue. We’re working right now to envision outdoor sports that can follow social distancing.
“We’re hoping we can be a partner to leaders in the city in thinking through what that might look like. … If it can’t be done safely, we’ll be the first ones to say we’re not going to do it.”