Recreational baseball a huge success

Jeff Green | Aug 11, 2011

A recreational baseball initiative started up in Arden, Mountain Grove and Parham at the end of May this past spring and was carried through until the end of July.

Organizers had hoped to attract 70 or 80 kids between 3 and 14 throughout the season. Sessions were held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, and organizers were pleasantly surprised by the turnout, with 89 children participating in the informal games.

“We moved around to the three ballparks and split the kids into three groups. Three-year-old children going to school in the fall were the youngest ones we accommodated, and the 3-7s came on Tuesdays; 8-10-year-olds came on Thursdays, and 11-14s on Fridays. We chose teams each night, which the families really liked, and had fun playing ball,” said organizer Cory Thompson. “We also had some high school kids take care of the umpiring, which gave them their volunteer hours.

On the final day, Saturday July 30, all of the players and their families were invited out to the Kennebec ball field in Arden, where each child had a chance to hit the ball and play in the field before everyone went over to the Kennebec hall for hot dogs and hamburgers. T-shirts and water bottles, with a logo designed by local artist Owen Tryon, were handed out to each ball player. Cory Thompson said that the goal of introducing children to baseball in a non-competitive environment, which was what motivated him in the first place, has been accomplished.

“It went really well. I wanted to give the kids who had never had a chance to play ball an opportunity to try it out. Hopefully if they enjoyed it they will come back next year and if they would like to be more competitive they will give minor softball league a try, which is something we had hoped would happen. Should there be some interest from the Sharbot Lake area kids we would certainly add that ball field to the list,” said Cory Thompson.

Thompson stresses that the initiative wouldn’t have been possible without the support from local businesses as well as Kingston businesses, and he thanks Glen and Linda Manion, Esso, Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, Joe and Marg’s and Play It Again Sports owner Warren Cavelier, who put him in touch with Shane Skinner who donated all the equipment.

Meanwhile, Central Frontenac Recreational Baseball is planning to run again next year.