Rec Technologies

San Francisco x Rec: How tech increased access to courts and lessons.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks, one of the most celebrated parks departments in the nation, faced a growing challenge: their racquet sports programming was limited to a single, high-demand location at Golden Gate Park, turning away eager participants and leaving dozens of courts across the city underutilized. By partnering with Rec, the city expanded access to affordable, convenient tennis and pickleball instruction citywide, leveraging technology to create new opportunities for residents and revenue for the city.

Limited Access to Sports Instruction Frustrates Residents

San Francisco Recreation and Parks oversees 139 tennis and 72 pickleball courts spread across 64 park locations, but the city’s instructional offerings were confined to a single staffed facility at Golden Gate Park. With classes filling up in hours and some residents unable to commute to the one flagship location, many found themselves shut out of opportunities for professional instruction. Moreover, the park locations in neighborhoods far from the flagship center remained passively managed, unused for official lessons.

Activating Underutilized Spaces with the Rec Instructor Network

Recognizing the need to deliver accessibility and convenience in racquet sports instruction, San Francisco Recreation and Parks turned to Rec. The Rec Instructor Network empowered the city to activate 28 additional court locations for structured lessons. Here’s how it worked:

• Licensed Instructor-Led Lessons: The Rec platform enabled certified local instructors to reserve courts and teach lessons in neighborhood parks at times authorized by the city. Residents could browse a variety of instructors, select one that fit their preferences, and book lessons easily.
• Revenue and Compliance: All lessons were scheduled and paid for through the Rec platform, ensuring the city collected fees and issued tax forms for contractor instructors. Rec also managed background checks and payouts for instructors, streamlining the administration.
• Balancing Court Usage: The city used Rec’s court utilization data to allocate instructional time while preserving courts for public, first-come-first-serve use during peak hours.

This approach transformed passive courts into active community learning hubs, allowing more residents to engage in racquet sports without the overhead of a staffed facility.

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Making Lessons More Affordable and Accessible

Before partnering with Rec, the flagship tennis center had a limited set of mostly group instructional offerings. By decentralizing instruction through the Rec platform, the city created an open marketplace of instructors across unstaffed park locations. This made lessons more accessible, with a variety of pricing options to suit different budgets.

Residents could now access instruction closer to home, choose from a broader selection of teaching styles, and book lessons at times that worked for their schedules.

Rec introduced functionality to make managing private instruction smoother and more accessible, including:

• Instructor Priority Booking: Approved instructors could reserve courts  a set number of days before the public, incentivizing them to teach through the platform.
• Lesson Packs and Group Options: To encourage community interaction and make lessons more affordable, Rec enabled instructors to offer lesson packs and small group sessions for adults and youth.

Facilitating Smooth, Secure Court Reservations

In addition to lessons, San Francisco Rec and Park also worked with Rec to modernize their court reservation experience for the public. This included introducing many new features to improve the court reservation experience:

• Security and Bot Reduction: Rec’s mobile verification discourages automated reservations, ensuring fair access to courts for residents.
• Availability Filtering: residents can easily filter potential court reservations by time of day, availability etc. to make a faster selection
• Communications and Reminders: the system automates upcoming reservation reminders to ensure residents show up to use the court or remember to cancel in time for others to use the court time

These features not only made it easier for instructors to manage their businesses but also protected court access for recreational players.

Unlocking Future Potential for Recreation

San Francisco Recreation and Parks continues to push boundaries, exploring new ways to activate public spaces and serve the community.

San Francisco’s racquet sports revolution is just the beginning. As the city innovates, Rec remains committed to supporting their mission, delivering software that keeps residents engaged, healthy, and active.