Parker Recreation Center — Attraction in Parker

I used to have a great admiration for this place specifically for their kid sports program. It was such a great way to introduce young kids to different sports. I have been sending my kids to the Parker Recreation Center for over 6 years, and it had always been a positive experience. I even became a coach because I enjoyed it so much.

However, my opinion has drastically changed now. This year has been an absolutely dreadful experience. It all began with a poorly organized flag football season. I understand that the Parker Recreation Center cannot control the weather, and I don't hold them responsible for game cancellations because of the weather. What disappoints me is the lack of contingency plans in place. Games were changed with little notice after parents had already planned their weekends around them, and coaches were asked to schedule makeup games.

Now, we come to the issue of track. It is disheartening to see that children aged 4-16 are expected to wear adult-sized jerseys. Even more frustrating is being told to hem or cut the uniforms to make them fit which just looks ridiculous and is extremely embarrassing. Additionally the meets lack of common sense is outrageous. For example the age group 4-6 having 4 year olds compete against 6 year olds is ridiculous. Why not call all 4 year olds first to compete against the other 4 year olds then work up? My 4 year old took last because he went up against all 6 year olds. He wasn't the only one. It kept happening and the youngest kept getting last place. Seriously just a little common sense could fix this without impacting the meet. Everyone can see the height difference and know this isn't logical. On the flip side I don't want my 6 year old competing against 4 year olds. That's not competitive.

My last criticism and the final straw for me is the constant last-minute cancellation of practice due to the refusal to update the weather line. Showing up to practice after calling the weather line to be told by coaches they were told to cancel practice because of weather is infuriating.

I am deeply disappointed with the decline in the quality of the services provided by the Parker Recreation Center. As a long-time supporter and participant, I expected better. I sincerely hope that improvements are made to address these issues, as of this moment I am seriously reconsidering my continued...

My boyfriend and I went swimming and we were consistently lectured by a teenage lifeguard. We played water-tag and got yelled at to stay away from the diving board ( we were right next to the edge of the pool in the deep end as far from the diving board as we could get without walking on the bottom). We got close to talk and were lectured "no pda" when my boyfriend pecked me on the cheek. We got told "no splashing" when we were goofing around and avoiding splashing other patrons. A class started up so we went to the shallows and sat relaxing in the water, but we were told that if we were going to be in the pool, then we needed to be swimming. We're both adults and swimming in 24 inches of water isn't really swimming: it's scraping your hands and knees on the rough bottom of the pool.

We got tired of being told off continually by a teenager, so we got changed and went to the front desk. When I asked for a manager, the teenager running the desk said there was none available. She asked what was wrong, and I proceeded to explain that the lifeguard had no business harassing us. She told us that he was trying to keep everyone safe. I explained to her that a peck on the cheek, or us relaxing in the shallow end to wait for a class has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with a teen on a power-trip. I told her that we would not be returning and I asked for a refund since we found their service and staff to be much less than satisfactory. She gave me the refund and we will never go back.

Hiring teenagers to run a rec center sounds like a business that is more concerned with saving a few bucks in paychecks than the actual safety and happiness of...

My boyfriend and I were here for the first time last weekend, and it was not a pleasant experience. The only reason why I'm giving 2 stars is because the front desk staff was friendly and the locker rooms were clean and convenient, equipped with changing rooms and private shower rooms.

The lifeguards here are TERRIBLE. They pretty much ruined our experience here. They are power-hungry teenagers who think they're untouchable because someone made the mistake of giving them a whistle. They would stand around STARING at people with their whistles already in their mouths, just waiting for someone to do something slightly questionable, so they could have the chance to blow it. This had more to do with being bossy, than it ever had to do with safety. Let people have fun! It's a pool, not a church.

I am an adult, not a child, and I know perfectly well how to behave at a pool. However, my boyfriend, and I had the whistle blown at us for simply going up the stairs to the slide together! We had no intention of going down the slide together, again, because we are adults and we know better. Another time I had the whistle blown at me for sitting on the steps while watching my boyfriend climb the rock climbing wall. What I was doing wrong there, I'm still not sure. I was literally just sitting there.

We were here for about an hour, and I probably heard that damn whistle blow over 20 times. We finally left because we couldn't take it anymore. I'm usually a pretty relaxed person, but this just annoyed me. Never in my life have I been to such a...