Mayor’s Nights, the annual summertime slate of youth-focused activities promoted by Mayor Sly James, start next week and promise activities throughout the warm-weather months.
“Registration is open now, and I encourage all young people to sign up and invite their friends to join, too,” James said. “These events are held at our community centers and many other locations, and they provide the opportunity for teens and young adults to play sports, dance, expand artistic horizons and
just have fun.”
Registration is open and can be completed by visiting http://kcmayor.org/mayorsnights. On that site, registration can be completed using an online form or by downloading and printing a paper form that can be completed and turned in at any participating community center.
To promote Mayor’s Nights:
Mayor James, City Council members and other city officials will visit the Country Club Plaza on Saturday, May 16, to distribute flyers about Mayor’s Nights, beginning near the J.C. Nichols Fountain at about 8 p.m. The flyers include a quick guide about curfews that will be in force from May 22 to Sept. 27.
“There are special curfew rules in effect beginning the weekend of Memorial Day through the end of September,” James said. “I and other city officials, including council members, want youth and their parents to understand both the curfew rules and the Mayor’s Nights options available to them.”
A Mayor’s Nights Kick-Off is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, May 22, at Tony Aguirre Community Center, 2050 W. Pennway.
Mayor’s Nights includes four major initiatives:
Club KC —
Youth ages 11-18 can enjoy live DJs, dancing, basketball, swim parties, video games, arts, robotics, digital literacy
empowering speakers, guest celebrities, concessions and much more from late May through early August. Partners in 2015 include
Arts Tech KC,
Atkins Group, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater
Kansas City,
Guadalupe Center,
Kansas City Public Library,
KC Hoop, The Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art,
Swope Park Corridor,
and YMCA.
Night Hoops —
Night Hoops, founded in 1992 and the longest-running Mayor’s Nights program, is an eight-week evening basketball
league for youth and adults that not only focuses on basketball, but also offers youth-enrichment activities, job and professional development training and mentoring. The 2015 partner is Kansas City Keys.
Night Kicks
— This eight-week evening soccer program for both youth and adults is modeled after the World Cup Soccer tournament. The 2015 partner is
Guadalupe Center.
Night Nets
— Night Nets is an eight-week evening volleyball program for both youth and adults. The program also offers educational enrichment on topics such as health and wellness, financial literacy and more. Night Nets is managed by
Kansas City Parks & Recreation.
Registration for Hoops, Kicks and Nets closes June
6. Registration for Club KC is open all summer. Registrants will receive a free Mayor’s Nights VIP Card, which is required to participate in Mayor’s Nights events. Holders of a VIP Card from previous years need not register again.
An important objective of Mayor’s Nights is to give
youth and young adults a wide variety of beneficial alternative activities during the summer evening months when more stringent youth curfew rules are in effect.
“I used to love to hanging out with friends when I grew up in Kansas City,” James said. “Mayor’s Nights and Club KC provide a place for teens and young adults to do the same in a safe and fun environment.”
Kansas City’s more stringent curfew is enforceable from May 22 (the Friday of Memorial Day weekend) to Sept. 27 (the last Sunday in September) and will be supported by an appropriate increased police presence.
For minors 15 and younger, the curfew is set at 10 p.m. For minors ages 16 and 17, the curfew is set at 11 p.m. in most parts of the City.
The City’s five entertainment districts — the Plaza, Westport, Downtown/Central Business District,18th and Vine, and Zona Rosa — have a special curfew during summer months that requires anyone under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 9 p.m. during those summer months.
