On Wednesday, October 7 at its annual conference, Virginia Recreation and Park Society (VRPS) awarded Roanoke Parks and Recreation the “Best New Special Event” award for the Human Foosball Tournament hosted in May 2019.
Over 150 delegates from around the
state are gathering virtually this week at the 65th Annual Conference of the Virginia Recreation and Park Society held online. The conference is a learning exchange and provides an opportunity for recreation and park professionals to discuss areas of common interest.
Highlighting each year’s conference is a formal presentation of awards. With the change of the 2020 conference to a virtual platform, the organization worked to keep the fanfare and prestige of the ceremony with a zoom presentation for the nominees. This state-wide program honors individuals, departments and organizations throughout Virginia who have demonstrated excellence in any of several areas during the previous year. Ninety-seven applications were received vying for awards in 14 different categories. Judged by a jury of its peers, Roanoke Parks and Recreation received the award in the Best New Special Event, population 100,001 – 200,000, category for the Human Foosball Tournament. In addition to this recognition, the National Recreation and Park Association also reached out to the department to do a story on the unique event.
The Department is thrilled to receive the award, especially since Roanoke has recently moved up to the 100,001-200,000 bracket, raising the level of competition. “We were a little nervous since we moved up a population bracket, but we knew we had something special with this event,” Stephanie Long, Marketing Coordinator, said. “The fact that we won while competing with agencies that are double our population speaks volumes about the quality of programming our department offers.”
