WHERE THE WHISTLE BLOWS
New Waterford Minor Baseball ready for another season
Columnist Jeremy Fraser says baseball is a big hit in New Waterford.
It’s not hard to know that baseball season is here when you drive down Plummer Avenue and you see the bright lights of the Gerry Marsh Ball Field shining on the more than 100-year-old ball field.
As you get closer to the town’s main street field, you see vehicles lined up on the side of the road and in the parking lot, children and youth playing their favourite summer sport, making memories that will last a lifetime.
The New Waterford Minor Baseball season recently began with teams in the mosquito, peewee, bantam and midget divisions already hitting the field for practice, not to mention the midget team already having played games in Baseball Nova Scotia’s Bluenose League. Teams in the T-ball and novice divisions will soon follow with practice and games beginning soon.
This year, the local association has close to 200 players registered in New Waterford. The association will have 15 teams including four T-ball teams, three novice clubs, five mosquito teams along with single teams in the peewee singleA, bantam single-A and midget double-A divisions.
Among the 15 teams, two will play in provincial leagues, this prior to the Nova Scotia provincial championships, which take place at the end of August. Meanwhile, the majority of other teams in the association will play in local Cape Breton leagues.
In total, the association hopes to have five of its teams competing for provincial titles this summer from mosquito to midget.
The highest division in the association this year is midget double-A, which features players ages 16-18.
Although the number of teams in the association is impressive, what’s even more impressive is the work of the executive committee led by president Chris Hillier.
Recently, the association was able to secure funding to make improvements to local ball fields in New Waterford. Extensive work was done to the Tucker Ball Field, Ray (Bozo) Steele Memorial Ball Field and the Burns Field, all of whom are used on a regular basis by the New Waterford association.
Work has been completed at the three ball fields, which now meet Baseball Nova Scotia standards. With meeting those standards, it gives the association more opportunities to host provincial tournaments, which has been done in New Waterford in recent years.
Along with their regular schedules throughout the summer months, minor baseball teams will have their eyes set on the associations biggest event
of the year - the New Waterford Credit Union Minor Baseball weekend.
The annual event for all teams in the association is held the last weekend of Coal Dust Days each year. This year’s event will be held July 20-22.
The weekend will feature many different activities for the children including close to 20 baseball games at all four fields, including the Gerry Marsh Ball Field. All teams take part in the event with clubs from across the island and province participating.
The weekend started a number of years ago and has been deemed successful each year. The event has grown in popularity and is one of the most anticipated “tournaments” in Cape Breton for minor baseball teams.
Like everything, support from the community is what keeps local minor sports associations going each year and the baseball association isn’t any different. I’m sure these teams, at one point in their season, will be fundraising and will be counting on the support of the community once again. Every dollar helps these teams and no donation is too big or too small.
Support can also be felt by the association in other ways, that being volunteering your time to help one of these teams at their home games or simply attending games and showing support for the players.
As a former minor player myself, it’s always nice to see a crowd at games supporting the players. A crowd can do wonders for these young athletes and can give them confidence whether that’s at the plate or in the field.
With that, the next time you see a minor sports game being played in New Waterford and you have some time to spare, don’t hesitate to drop by the ball field and watch some up and coming baseball stars in action. I know they will appreciate your attendance.
For schedules, visit the minor baseball association’s Facebook page by searching New Waterford Minor Baseball. Meanwhile, provincial league schedules are available online at www.baseballnovascotia.com under the Bluenose League tab.
Best of luck to all New Waterford Minor Baseball teams this season. Win or lose, remember you’re representing our community proudly on the diamond.
Note: The New Waterford Minor Soccer Association was contacted in an attempt to include information on its season for this column, however the organization could not be reached by deadline. Jeremy Fraser is a reporter for the Cape Breton Post and has lived in New Waterford all his life. The column “Where the Whistle Blows” is published in the Post every third Saturday of the month. Jeremy can be contact by email at jeremy. fraser@cbpost.com or on Twitter @ CBPost_Jeremy.