Another home-run for house league in townships
South Woolwich Minor Baseball League sees continued increase in participation levels
BASEBALL ENTHUSIASTS IN SOUTH Woolwich will see their 2017 season come to an end this weekend, after another successful year of rec. baseball.
The South Woolwich Minor Baseball League provides 375 girls and boys from 4 to 14 years of age the opportunity to play in a co-ed recreational baseball league.
Teaching kids the fundamentals of baseball, hitting, catching, throwing, and running, youth enroll from Woolwich and Wellesley townships and the surrounding rural areas.
“It is recreational and it is also co-ed – there are boys and girls on the teams. The main focus is fun and just developing friendships,” said Laurie Wittie, vice-president of the league.
She joined four years ago with the league when her children, now 11 and 14, began playing.
“I got involved because my children were playing in the league. It is a volunteer position, and in order to keep this organization running we need parents wanting to step up and volunteer,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that there was a league for my kids and for neighbours and friends to play.”
Vice-president for the past two years, she says the unique league offers both girls and boys the opportunity to learn the game and develop skills – together.
“It’s fun. It keeps it interesting, and we have some really strong girls that play ball. By far the numbers of boys to girls are probably 3-1, but there are more girls coming up and starting with T-ball,” she said. “[The league] provides some enjoyment and fun learning sportsmanship, and a little bit more about the funda- mentals of baseball.”
Youth play from May 15 to July 15. Wittie says the shorter season provides kids the opportunity to have a baseball season but not one that takes over both their summer vacation and their parents’ time.
“We don’t have a long season because we found that we don’t want to encroach on peoples holidays. We start the week of May 15 and we run to July 15, so it is a two-month season. Our younger kids playing once a week and kids 8-14 play twice a week,” she said. “We find from the parents that they really like the length of the season – we are lucky that we get to start in May.”
With 35 teams in the league, the majority of the 375 players fall under the age bracket of 6-8 years of age – after T-ball, but before more competitive leagues begin.
Split into four leagues, each age group is taught new skills and given the opportunity to continue to fall in love with the sport as play continues.
T-Ball is an entry-level league that introduces young players to baseball by hitting from an adjustable batting tee on small teams – 8 to 10 players. Minor and Major Rookie bridges the gap between T-ball and regular baseball, designed to ease players into pitching and develop fundamental skills and rules – essentially providing an introduction to the sport players will know through the rest of their careers. Junior and Senior Ball builds on the Rookie program to further develop skills as the players progress in age, and Intermediate Ball provides youth a fun and encouraging atmosphere to enjoy the sport and develop friendships.
The league, which has been running since 2000, has seen steady growth.
“We have seen more kids coming up wanting to play baseball, interested in the sport, than there has been in the past number of years,” she said. “We are up another 50 kids so we had a good year last year. We had 325 kids and now we have 375. We are looking forward to increasing our numbers.”
The season wraps up with tournaments and fun days before sending players off to enjoy the rest of their summer.
“We wrap up the season with tournaments and fun days,” she said. “And then the kids have the rest of the summer and on to focus on playing with their friends – it is a good season.”
Registration for next year starts in January of 2018 via the organization’s website, www.woolwichbaseball.com.