The Parks & Recreation advisory board voted by voice to recommend that the City Commission recognize a travel flag football program operated under the Parkland recreational flag football organization.

The recommendation, moved and seconded during the board's meeting, followed a presentation by Ryan Mariano, athletics manager, and Todd Link, president of the recreational flag football board, who requested formal recognition so they could begin organizing travel teams and practices for tournament play.

Mariano outlined seasonal field availability, saying the city can offer one field Friday'Sunday during June, broader availability in July and August, and limited or no availability during mid-November to December and mid-March to May. Link described the proposed travel product as tournament-based rather than a year-round league: "It's just tournaments," he said, adding that practices require less space because competitive flag is 5-on-5.

Link told the board that "if you combine our two seasons, it's the largest rec sports program in Parkland" with more than 2,000 participants across the year and roughly 1,400 in the fall season; he said the fall league is about 40% female and accounts for more than 600 girls. He said the travel program would aim to field teams by 2026 but that the program would "take the leftovers" in terms of field time and comply with city residency and roster rules.

Board members pressed presenters on whether travel teams would supplant the rec product; Link and Mariano said they would not intentionally shrink rec registration and that travel would be limited to one or two teams per age group initially so rec remains the primary program. Mariano said residency rules for rec and travel will be enforced per city policy and that Parkland residents are typically given early registration access.

After discussion the board member moved that the advisory board recommend the commission update the sports policy to recognize Parkland Rec Flag Football's travel program. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; the minutes record multiple board members answering "Aye." The meeting transcript does not include a roll-call tally for individual votes.

What this means: the advisory board's recommendation asks the City Commission to revise the city's sports policy to explicitly allow the Parkland recreational flag board to operate a travel program under the rec umbrella. Any final authorization and policy language will require City Commission action and will be subject to the city's existing permit, residency and roster requirements.

Board members and staff emphasized constraints on field availability and maintenance needs as limiting factors. Mariano noted that the city will continue to prioritize resident access and field-rest scheduling, and staff said the Wedge Preserve Park project is expected to add nonleague open-play space when it opens.

The board did not set program-specific dates, budgets, or an exact field allocation in the motion; Mariano and Link said those details will be managed within the city's permitting and scheduling processes.