Webster weaves a web of cooperation.

Webster, N.Y., may not be the Big Apple, but it still has a lot of bite. The small city of 40,000 nestled in the northwest corner of New York State near Lake Ontario has made a mission of creating partnerships to further its mission of offering broad-based leisure opportunities to all citizens.

Even though the Webster Parks & Recreation department can count numerous successes, one of the most critical has been the formation of the Webster Community Partnership (WCP). Two years ago, the superintendent of schools approached the parks and recreation department about partnering to purchase land for athletic fields that both the school and community could benefit from. Working together for common needs, the WCP was formed.

"It's been huge for us, because we now have access to all these facilities and everyone benefits," says Mark Yaeger, commissioner of Webster Parks & Recreation.

WCP manages scheduling for more than 125 community fields, pools and gyms. Through taxes, sponsorships and user contribuations, WCP operates on an annual budget of $1 million, with the parks and recreation department adding an additional $300,000 to maintain the town parks.

With such a huge budget and scope of facilities, it seems that the community would have plenty of space to play their favorite sports or enjoy town parks, but because Webster residents crave participation, scheduling can prove difficult with so many parties involved. To alleviate the problem, the department created the Youth Sports Council that meets regularly to schedule various sports programs in different seasons. Members of the council work with town officials, park and recreation staffers, WCP employees and athletic directors for the town's two high schools to maximize all available fields.

Although it would seem that the meetings could be quite tense, but Yeaget says they all come together for the common good.

"They want everyone to have opportunities to participate," he says. "We sit down and take about what their needs are, and start trading and comprising to make all the schedules work. They all get along great--it's a tribute to these guys and their willingness to make the community great."

One recent addition that Yeager says adds to 'Webster's greatness is a brand-new skatepark, asked for by the youth of the town. The park allows skateboarding and biking, and includes concrete movable pieces--a new trend in skatepark construction. Yeager says it was a sporting activity that wasn't being addressed, and by the reception its gotten, plans on doing some programming there.

"The kids all range in age, and they all get along it's amazing!" he says. "There are very few sports out there where an 8-year-old and a 28-year-old have the same skills ... and they get along and teach each other."

Looking forward, Webster Parks & Recreation has even bigger plans than just a skatepark. Right now, there are two centers for activity--the Webster Aquatics Center and the Webster Field House--that should be combined to give the community more of a central focus. Sue Lind, assistant director of WCP, would like to move the field house to the aquatics center to have a hub where all people can go to recreate.

"We have the facilities and we've given them a lot of access, but we have two centers now; and we feel we miss some opportunities splitting the traffic between the two."

After forming amazing partnerships, scheduling hundreds of activities for thousands of residents, and building a new skatepark to perfection, it doesn't seem like anything would be a problem for Webster.

For more information on Webster Parks Recreation, visit www.websterparks andrecreation.org and for information on WCP, visit www.webstercommunity partnership.org.