Sports, recreation activities
The Hays Recreation Commission offers a wide variety of activities for Hays residents.
And for informal fun, the city has 24 parks for leisure activities.
The HRC has four main ball parks -- Speier Ball Park, Dusty Glassman Ball Park, Frank Stramel Softball Complex and Aubel Bickle Park.
If you are a golfer, Hays has two local courses, as well as two disc golf courses, one at Frontier Park and the other just off 41st Street in north Hays.
The Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course is a public 18-hole course, and there also is an 18-hole private course in town, Smoky Hill Country Club.
The city of Ellis has a nine-hole public course.
The cities of Ellis and Victoria have recreation commissions. For information on Ellis programs, contact Dan Pyle at (785) 726-3718. In Victoria, call Sharon Bleske at (785) 735-2454.
The 32nd annual Hays City Merchants Golf Tournament is scheduled for July 28 to 29. Participants will play at Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course Saturday and at Smoky Hill Country Club Sunday.
For swimmers, Hays offers Hays Aquatic Park at Fourth and Main, and Wilson Pool, at 28th and Fort.
The aquatic park includes a heated competition pool, a heated leisure pool, two zero-depth entry areas as well as a lazy river and water slide.
Children age 2 and under are admitted free with an adult. For those age 3 and older, it costs $2.50 Monday through Friday and $3 on weekends.
The aquatic park offers numerous discounts, including $5 family swim night every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. and an evening swim Monday through Thursday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for $1.50 per person. There are also discounts for different days of the week in August; check with the HRC for more information.
A season pass for the aquatic park, which also is good at the Wilson Pool location, is $35.
There is a scholarship available for $15 for qualified applicants.
The aquatic park is open through Aug. 19, then available on weekends from Aug. 20 to Sept. 2.
The Wilson pool is open until Aug. 11. Its hours are 1 to 5 p.m. every day. Daily admission is $1.75 for those 3 and older.
The HRC also offers summer soccer for both children and adults.
The children's league (age 9 to 16) is co-ed, while the adult league is men only and women only.
The recreation center at 1105 Canterbury has three basketball courts with wooden floors where several youth basketball tournaments are held each year. The center handles a variety of activities, including aerobics programs, volleyball, basketball and dances.
The center also has conference rooms and offers classes for arts and crafts.
Programs are divided into youth sports, youth leisure, family leisure, adult sports, adult wellness and adult leisure.
Twice a year (April and September) the HRC publishes a program guide that describes each program offered. The HRC's Web site is www.haysrec.org, which publishes the entire guidebook online. The HRC offers a free e-mail subscription list that posts weekly updates on programs, deadlines, cancellations, etc.