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2027 Montgomery Parks Athletic Field Use Permit Policy

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Section 1. Policy statement

The purpose of this policy is to establish an orderly, consistent, and fair procedure for the reservation of athletic fields for practices, games, tournaments, and special events. This policy seeks to balance high demand for such organized uses with the maintenance, renovation, and rest necessary to protect the long-term playability of fields and ensure user safety and high-quality experiences.

Section 2. Montgomery Parks athletic field classification system 

Montgomery Parks classifies athletic fields into three categories: Game Only fields, Practice/Game fields, and Year-Round Turf fields. Each field has a designated use based on its design. For example, diamond fields are designated for either baseball or softball, while rectangular fields are designated for soccer, football, lacrosse, and similar field sports.

A. Game Only fields- Game Only fields are intended for organized competitive play and are not intended for practice or walk-on play[1]. Game Only fields are Montgomery Parks highest quality fields and receive the highest level of maintenance the department offers.

  1. Permit required: A permit is required for use of Game Only fields, which can only be permitted for official league games that have paid officials and player uniforms. Sports organizations, leagues, or teams may be required to submit a Certificate of Liability insurance naming M-NCPPC, 2425 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902 as additional insured. The required coverage limits are $1,000,000 per accident/ $500,000 per person. Leagues that do not carry liability insurance must instead provide a copy of the liability waiver that participants are required to sign.
  2. Permit availability: Game Only fields can only be permitted for games or tournaments for designated field use. Tournaments need a special event permit. Practices are not allowed on Game Only fields.
  3. Available dates: Game Only fields are available for permitting from April 1[2]to August 15 and September 1 to November 30[2].
  4. Usage restriction: Play is strictly prohibited from December 1[2] to March 31[2] and August 16 through August 31 on all Game Only fields, as well as during field maintenance, renovations, inclement weather, and when posted signs prohibit use.
      

B. Practice/Game fields-Practice/Game fields offer flexible use for practices and games (both permitted or walk-on use) during the playable seasons (see usage restrictions below). Practice/Game fields receive routine maintenance.

  1. Permit takes priority: These fields are available for walk-on use and permitted play, but walk-on users must yield to permitted users during their scheduled times. Permits guarantee exclusive use of the field during the permitted date and time.
  2. Permit availability: Practice/Game fields are available for permitting games, practices, camps, or tournaments for designated field use and can be used for non- designated field use with a special use permit. Please note that camps and tournaments need a special event and special use permit.
  3. Available dates: Practice/Game fields can be permitted from March 15[2] to November 30[2]. While these fields open on March 15, they are not guaranteed to be game-ready (lined or dragged) until April 1, weather depending.
  4. Usage restrictions: Play is strictly prohibited from December 1[2]to March 14[2] on all Practice/Game fields, as well as during field maintenance, renovations, inclement weather, or when posted signs prohibit use.

C. Year-Round Turf fields-Year-Round Turf fields are available throughout the year by permit for a variety of uses including both games and practices.[3]

  1. Permit required: These fields are available by permit only. Sports organizations, leagues, or teams may be required to submit a Certificate of Liability insurance naming M-NCPPC, 2425 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902 as additional insured. The required coverage limits are $1,000,000 per accident/$500,000 per person. Leagues that do not carry liability insurance must instead provide a copy of the liability waiver that participants are required to sign.
  2. Permit availability: Year-Round Turf fields can be permitted for games, practices, camps, or tournaments for designated field use. Camps and tournaments also require a special event or special use permit.
  3. Available dates: Year-Round Turf fields can be permitted year-round, though they may be closed for maintenance, repairs, freezing conditions, or severe weather.
  4. Usage restrictions: Play is strictly prohibited during field maintenance, renovations, inclement weather, or when posted signs prohibit use.

Section 3. Permitting order of consideration

A. Contractual agreement permits

Contractual agreement permits are administered by the Montgomery Parks Permits Office, in accordance with the terms of the contracts and may include provisions that supersede this policy.

B. Priority use or special events, camps, and tournaments

Priority Use: Priority Use Hours are allocated to sports organizations based on earned hours from past permitting seasons. This allows for consistent permitting for sports organizations, which provide a large portion of Montgomery County’s sports recreation. Sports organizations receive an email with their eligible hours prior to the Go-Live Event date for the upcoming season and must respond per the instructions in the email to receive these hours.

  1. Eligibility: Priority Use Hours are available to organizations in good standing. Priority use will not be granted to individuals or teams; only eligible organizations may qualify. Priority Use Hours are reserved exclusively for organizations that demonstrate their participating teams consist of at least two-thirds of Montgomery County residents.
  2. Limitations: Priority Use can only be granted for up to 3 weekdays and 1 weekend day per week per organization per field. Leagues may permit additional time during Go-Live.
  3. Earning Priority Use: To earn Priority Use Hours, an organization must permit the same field at the same time of year, during the same time of day, for two consecutive years. To qualify for new Priority Use Hours, sports organizations must provide permit confirmation documentation for the past two years , must be in good standing, and cannot exceed the maximum allowable Priority Use Hours set forth by this document.
  4. Team Data and Roster submission: To qualify for Priority Use, organizations must submit their past year’s team data annually to the Montgomery Parks Permits Office by December 15. The Team Data must include organization name, league name, team name, team age group, team sport, team gender (male, female, co-ed), team level (recreation or travel), number of team hours of field usage, team location, and number of participants. Montgomery Parks reserves the right to request full roster data at any time for internal purposes.
  5. Payment requirements: Sports organizations must pay an additional Priority Use Fee for each field receiving a Priority Use Permit and all other applicable permit usage fees.
  6. Adjustments: Priority Use Hours may be altered at the discretion of Montgomery Parks due to special events, tournaments, or other circumstances.

Special events, camps, and tournaments: Special events, camps, and tournaments must be applied for annually by submitting the appropriate request form. Users must be in good standing, and all requests are subject to approval by Montgomery Parks. In addition, Montgomery Parks may request roster submissions similar to those required for Priority Use. Requests must be submitted by the following deadlines to be considered in conjunction with Priority Use, all requests after these deadlines will depend on field availability:

  1. December 1 for events scheduled during the spring and summer season (April 1 – August 31)
  2. May 1 for events scheduled during the fall season (September 1 – November 30)
  3. October 1 for events scheduled during the winter season (December 1 – March 31)

Only Year-Round Turf fields will be considered for requests during the winter season.

Note: Submitting a request does not guarantee approval, and past approvals do not guarantee future approvals of the same event.

In the case of conflicting scheduling requests between Priority Use and Special Events, camps, and tournaments, Montgomery Parks Permits Office reserves the right to make a final scheduling decision based on the needs and interests of the department and the community.

C. Montgomery County Agencies

Montgomery County Agencies are local government agencies providing affordable recreation opportunities to county residents. To help facilitate their programming, Montgomery Parks allows these agencies to request additional dates above their Priority Use times prior to the Go-Live event. Montgomery Parks accommodates these requests at its discretion.

D. Go-Live Event

During the Go-Live Event, all available field time is uploaded to ActiveMONTGOMERY and can be viewed by the public. During this event, Practice/Game fields can be permitted directly through the registration system by organizations, leagues, teams, or individuals. Game Only fields and Year-Round Turf fields will display available times, but organizations, leagues, or teams must submit a request to the Permits Office to confirm usage for these fields. Individuals may not permit Game Only fields but can permit Year-Round Turf fields. For individuals to permit a Year-Round Turf field, they must submit a request to the Permits Office to confirm usage. The Permits Office will process these requests on a first-received, first-served basis starting on the Go-Live date and time. Field use requests will not be accepted before the Go-Live date and time.

Go-Live events are held three times a year (these dates are subject to change):

  1. Second Monday in February for the spring/summer season (March 15 through August 15)
  2. Second Monday in July for the fall season (August 16 through November 30)
  3. First Monday in November for the winter season (December 1 through March 14 for Year-Round Turf fields only)

Section 4. Permitting seasons

Spring/summer seasonDates
Practice/Game fieldsMarch 15[2] – August 15
Game Only fieldsApril 1[2] – August 15
Year-Round Turf fieldsMarch 15 – August 15
Fall seasonDates
Practice/Game fieldsAugust 16 – November 30[2]
Game Only fieldsSeptember 1 – November 30[2]
Year-Round Turf fieldsAugust 16 – November 30
Winter seasonDates
Practice/Game fieldsClosed
Game Only fieldsClosed
Year-Round Turf fieldsDecember 1 – March 14

Section 5. Priority Use Hours Release Deadline

Priority Use Hours are allocated to sports organizations based on earned hours from past permitting seasons. Sport organizations should release any unneeded Priority Use Hours to ensure as many groups as possible have access to field time. Users will not be charged a cancelation fee for this field time if it is returned to Montgomery Parks by February 1 for the spring/summer season and by July 1 for the fall season. All returns must be submitted in writing. All returns after these dates will be subject to the terms in the cancelation policy. All Priority Use Hours that are returned will be removed from the organization’s Priority Use Hours. For more information, please visit Montgomery Parks conditions of use.

Section 6. Holiday use regulations

Practice/Game fields may be reserved by permit or used on a first-come, first-served basis, unless the field is closed during winter closure, weather closure, or when posted on site. Permit holders have priority and walk-on users must defer to permit holders during their permitted time at the field.

Permits for Game Only and Year-Round Turf fields will not be issued during established M-NCPPC holidays listed on the Montgomery Parks Athletic Field webpage or any additional holidays established by M-NCPPC. Contractual agreements may be exempt from this restriction, according to the terms of the applicable agreement.

Section 7. Field closure guidelines

A. Weather Closure

Montgomery Parks closes fields for a variety of weather-related events including but not limited to rain/wet conditions, thunderstorms, and frozen conditions. Montgomery Parks provides updates on the Rainout Line, which is described in more detail under the Conditions of Use.

B. Renovation Closure

Fields designated for renovation will be added to the field closure list that is posted on the Montgomery Parks Athletic Field webpage. These fields will be closed for the period stated on the website. Fields will not be permitted during these closures.

C. Winter Closure

All natural grass fields (Practice/Game fields and Game Only fields) are closed for the winter starting on December 1, to protect the turf during its dormant period and prevent damage while soil moisture levels are high. Exceptions may apply through contractual agreements. Practice/Game fields reopen March 15, and Game Only fields reopen April 1.[4]

D. Summer Closure

Game Only fields are closed on August 16 through August 31, for rest and repairs, so staff can prepare the fields for the upcoming fall season. During this period, Game Only fields are not available for permits. Exceptions include contractual agreements.

Section 8. Permitting order of overlay Practice/Game fields

Montgomery Parks has several fields in its inventory that have multiple-dimensioned and striped fields on the same playing surface, such as a rectangular field overlapping the outfield of a softball field. These are called overlay fields and allow for different sports to be played at different times on the same field surface. Montgomery Parks can permit one of these fields at a time. For the spring and summer seasons, fields are prepared for diamond sports, while during the fall, fields are prepared for rectangle sports. Non-prepared sports can still permit the field, but field permits may be denied based on safety concerns during certain seasons and the Permits Office will work to help find other field options.

Section 9. Conditions of use and revocation

All athletic field use must follow the M-NCPPC Rules and Regulations, M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks Athletic Field Use Permit Policy, as well as the Montgomery Parks Athletic Field Conditions of Use. These three documents are posted on the Montgomery Parks website, and the Athletic Field Conditions of Use is attached to each permit. Violation of these policies and conditions will result in fines and penalties, including the loss of future permitting and use privileges. A permit may be denied or revoked if the permit holder or any member of the permitted user group violates any of the sections of the M-NCPPC Rules and Regulations, M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks Athletic Field Use Permit Policy, or Montgomery Parks Athletic Field Conditions of Use. An appeal process is available to users who have had permits revoked or denied. Montgomery Parks reserves the right to revoke or deny a permit if a field is deemed unsafe or requires immediate repairs. In such cases, permit holders will be notified as promptly as possible.

Section 10. Payment Guidelines

The Montgomery Parks Permits Office will not issue permits to organizations, leagues, teams, or individuals with an outstanding balance  on their account.

Athletic field fees follow the M-NCPPC user fee schedule, as approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board. A copy of the current approved fee schedule can be viewed at www.ParkPermits.org. These fees are subject to change without notice.

Section 11. Cancelation and Change Request

Cancelations and change requests must be submitted in writing via email to ParkPermits@MontgomeryParks.org. If an organization returns field time from its Priority Use Hours allocation list, those fields will be removed from the organization’s priority use and made available for other groups.

Section 12. Pilot Programs

Montgomery Parks may run pilot programs to explore potential changes to existing policies. These small-scale, temporary initiatives are designed to test new approaches and gather insights. As experimental efforts led by Montgomery Parks, pilot programs may operate outside the standard policy framework. If successful, they may inform future policy amendments. Montgomery Parks may also seek stakeholder input before implementing any permanent changes based on the results of a pilot program.

[1] Walk-on play refers to public use without a permit.

[2] If the first day of seasonal permitted use (March 15 of Practice/Game fields, and April 1 for Game Only fields) falls on a Sunday, permitted use will be allowed on the preceding Saturday. If the last day of permitted use falls on a Saturday, permitted use will be allowed on the following Sunday.

[3] Montgomery Parks complies with Montgomery County Council “Resolution 18-58: Use of Plant-Derived Materials for infill in Artificial Turf Playing Fields”

[4] If the first day of seasonal permitted use (March 15 of Practice/Game fields, and April 1 for Game Only fields) falls on a Sunday, permitted use will be allowed on the preceding Saturday. If the last day of permitted use falls on a Saturday, permitted use will be allowed on the following Sunday.

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