Tampa To Host Stay & Play For Teens Again

TAMPA, FL – For the third year in a row, the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department is helping kids stay safe, active and healthy during the summer months.

Starting on Friday, May 26, the city will once again start up its Stay & Play program, featuring extended hours at select recreation centers around the City of Tampa. The extend hours will provide teens with free RecCards, which allows access to these recreation centers, different programs to participate in and a variety of educational events.

Food will be provided for free during Stay & Play, as well as transportation home when available from the Parks and Recreation Department. The locations participating in Stay & Play this summer that will remain open until midnight, 7 days a week are:

• Copeland Community Center, 11001 N. 15th St. (pool remains open until 8 p.m. on select days)
• Cyrus Greene Community Center, 2101 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (pool remains open until 8 p.m. on select days)
• Desoto Community Center, 2617 Corrine St. (Spicola pool will remain open until 10 p.m.)
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2200 N. Oregon Ave. (pool remains open until 8 p.m. on select days)
• Williams Park Activity Center, 4362 E. Osborne Ave. (pool remains open until 10 p.m.)
• Grant Park Activity Center, 3724 N. 54th Ave.
• Gwendolyn Miller Community Center, 6510 N. 32nd St.
• Jackson Heights Community Center, 3310 E. Lake Ave.
• Springhill Community Center, 201 E. Eskimo Ave.

Since the inception of the city’s Stay & Play program, more than 100,000 teens have visited the city’s various recreation centers and pools.

“Don’t tell me that doesn’t make a difference,” said Mayor Bob Buckhorn in his Stay of the City speech on Tuesday, April 4. “There are children in East Tampa who are alive today, children who are not statistics today, teenagers who are not in the criminal justice system today because of Stay & Play.”

Programs provided in the Stay & Play program include fitness classes, swimming classes, athletic training/leagues, Girls Fun Friday, music production classes, computer classes, anger management classes and more.

Other events that are scheduled to be held during Stay & Play include:

• Skating field trip
• Teen court
• Anti-bullying lectures
• Stranger Danger program by Tampa Police Department
• Speakers including former and current athletes, Tampa Police Department, local businesses, Tampa Fire Department and Parks and Recreation staff
• Future Leaders Training, which includes resume preparation, interviewing skills and educational opportunities.

Providing assistance with the Stay & Play programming include community partners such as Friends of Tampa Recreation, Most Valuable Protégés, Safe and Sound of Hillsborough County, Computer Mentors, Derrick Brooks Charities, East Tampa Initiative, Springfield College Mentors, Alpha Phi Alpha Men of Tomorrow and The Skills Center.

For more information on the Stay & Play program, visit one of the participating Stay & Play sites.

Image via the City of Tampa Government Facebook page