Community Corner
Who's Who in Albany: Heather Robinson
Every weekday we'll feature a brief chat with someone who lives or works in Albany.
Name: Heather Robinson
Age: 34
Occupation: Adult sports coordinator for the city of Albany
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What kinds of sports does the city offer, and where? Co-ed softball, men's softball, co-ed kickball, 5-a-side soccer (on smaller fields with smaller goals). I mostly work out of Ocean View Park; that's where the sports take place.
I'm also starting a wooden tennis racket association. It will be once a month, drop-in, probably at Memorial Park – Ocean View has only two courts – probably weekend mid-mornings; we want it to be a relaxed thing, so it's mellow.
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The other sports are in the evenings during the week, between 7 and 10:30.
What kind of participation do you get? We get really good participation. There are 12 soccer teams in the league. There are seven teams in the men's softball league — it's full. There are five teams in co-ed softball. Most of the leagues are at capacity.
What is the age range? That depends on the sport. Soccer and kickball skew a bit younger, but we still have people in their early 50s. Softball teams skew older – people in their 30s, 40s, 50s.
How do you promote your programs and recruit players? Talking to soccer players, on-line, Craigslist, adult sports websites and word of mouth. It's also listed sometimes in the Albany Activity Guide, but not always, because publication dates don't correspond with our seasons.
If an individual is interested, can s/he come, or do you have to have a whole team? We call them "free agents." We have a team in the men's softball league made up of all free agents; they're called "The Free Agents."
In between seasons we have free pick-up games from 7 to 9 p.m. The pick-up games are the best way to join a team, because people come and show their skills. Our next soccer pick-up night is Sept. 22, so people can come out, check it out, try it out.
How long are your seasons? We start in the spring and try to cram in as many seasons as we can before the field closes in mid-November.
I'm there for almost all of the games. Soccer takes a lot of set-up; we draw lines and put up goals on the baseball field every week.
I helped put "Albany Streets" together; street sports are my thing.
If there's a sport in the community that people want, they can get in touch with me. We'll have one night a week, Tuesdays, in the middle school gym in the winter.
