Groups’ planning stopped in tracks

The third in a series of stories by the staffs of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette focusing on those involved in sports who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Some are optimistic baseball will return this year, but the coronavirus pandemic has left a feeling of eeriness over America’s pastime.

“When you’re dealing with something that you’ve never had to deal with before, you really don’t know what’s going to happen next,” said Rick Brown, president of the Bryant Athletic Association. “You’d like to be able to have an idea, but with the way things are right now, it’s tough.

“Just when the level of excitement and everything is ramping up and everyone is pumped about a new season, it gets taken away all of a sudden. That’s the disheartening part about it all.”

That demoralizing feeling is shared by those who lend time and effort to make activities such as youth baseball enjoyable.

Many leagues and recreational facilities employ workers to assist in game-day operations over the duration of a season’s schedule. The effect of the health crisis hit the collegiate, minor-league and major-league level about a month ago.

Several employees of those organizations have been affected financially, but much of youth baseball is volunteer-driven, which is advantageous considering the obstacles other institutions face.

“Everything in our organization is volunteer-based,” Brown said. “The only paid people we have are the umpires. Our volunteers are great, but it’s still a damper for everybody, especially those involved with our program because everything has stopped.”

The Bryant Athletic Association, which is affiliated with Cal Ripken Baseball, Babe Ruth Baseball and American Legion Baseball, already had held tryouts for its spring season. Once reports surfaced about cancellations and postponements, Brown knew the season was in jeopardy.

“The thing about it was that we’d gotten started, had started practicing and everything,” he said. “Our teams were put together before everything hit. Naturally, we all want baseball, but once the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] came out and the schools were closed, it was a no-brainer for us.”

The same can be said for John Eckart, the director of Little Rock Parks and Recreation, which holds several athletic programs for youth around Central Arkansas. Like the Bryant Athletic Association, the Little Rock organization has volunteers who come out and offer support.

Eckart hopes the spring and summer sports housed by the agency can resume in due time, but he’s not sure it’ll happen in 2020.

“A lot of our baseball, softball, soccer programs are not going to occur this year … at least I don’t foresee them happening,” he said. “It’s possible, but obviously, we’ll follow the guidance of the CDC and what their recommendations are. If we’re able to have an abbreviated baseball season, we will, but I don’t know if that’ll actually be the case.

“We’ll see what happens. With the virus, no one really knows what to expect.”

For Jeff Gross, what he fully expected to see was a revival of youth baseball around Pine Bluff. Gross, who is a longtime resident of the area, and Matt Mosler, the pastor of New Life Church in the city, put together the Pine Bluff Youth Baseball League to drive more interest toward a sport that routinely galvanized the community in years past. Funding wasn’t an issue, nor was finding people, young and old, to help work in certain facets.

“Pine Bluff has always been a volunteer town for baseball, and we’ve got good support,” he said. “Everybody that we asked to step up, they were there for us whenever we were ready. The sponsors are in place, too. It’s just a matter of actually getting to go to the ball field.”

Tryouts for the youth league were scheduled for March 14, but that event never took place.

“We were all set and ready to open up when all of this started,” said Gross, referring to sports being halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic hit here first in the state, so everyone immediately started taking precaution, and I think they’ve continued to do so.

“Everyone was excited, though, from the adults down to the kids because baseball has always been big here.”

Gross said the season has not officially been canceled. Everything has been pushed back until at least August, where the possibility of having a shortened season for five or six weeks exists.

He said he isn’t worried about losing the steam and momentum that was gained before the world slowed to nearly a halt.

“Even if we don’t get a chance to play games this year, we’ve got a good jump start for next season,” he said. “But we’re hopeful we can get something done, and things will get better for everyone. The joy baseball brings will return eventually.”

The pandemic has sucked joy out of youth baseball fields, but there’s not a question in Brown’s mind that things will return to normal sooner rather than later. He said the volunteers he had in place will be more than willing to return.

“We’ve always had great volunteers here,” he said. “When we had to postpone things, we didn’t have one negative comment because everyone wanted to do what was best. I don’t think it’ll be a problem at all for us to get back to where we once were.”

Eckart is also a believer in his organization’s ability to bounce back after enduring a trying period.

“We’ve got great volunteers … just a great staff,” he said. “I think they’ll team up and be able to get us going back pretty quickly.”