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T-Ball program sparks interest
Ainsley Jones gets hitting tips from her father, Mark Jones of Bassett.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
By RUSSELL CARTER - Bulletin Sports Writer
It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a community to teach that child a love of baseball.
Around 150 kids, ranging from ages 4 to 7, took to the softball and baseball fields at Bassett High School on Saturday for the last day of Smith River T-Ball’s inaugural season.
All of them played, most of them scored and everyone left with a few good memories of the game.
With growing concern that youth interest in baseball and softball is dropping drastically, Bassett junior varsity baseball coach Warren Fisher, along with a number of high school and middle school coaches, set out to battle the trend.
“We didn’t want things to decline to the point where we couldn’t field a (high school) team,” Fisher said. “We could either sit around and talk about it, or try to do something. This is our attempt to do something.”
So Fisher, along with Bill Parks, Bassett’s varsity coach, and F-C Middle School coaches Charles Byrd and Greg Hylton, set out to make a league, hoping to get children interested in the sport at an early age.
At the conclusion of Saturday’s games, the parents, siblings and friends of the T-ballers could see the fruits of Fisher and companies’ labors.
All-smiles as each player received his or her trophy, parents were quick to comment on how much each child, complete with nickname, has received from the eight-week program.
“I think this has been wonderful,” said Stephanie Ratcliffe, parent of Ashton ‘The Lancer’ Lynch.
“I think this has taught him to love the game. He couldn’t even run in a straight line when we started,” she added with a laugh.
Although ‘The Lancer’ wasn’t ready to be interviewed by the press, many kids were.
Zoie ‘Stinger’ Shough, 6, said playing had been fun, adding that her favorite part was the running.
Brandon ‘Doctor’ Deal, 5, who liked hitting the best, is looking forward to next season.
When asked why, he simply said, “Because I like it.”
Mike Deal, Brandon’s father, was happy his son had the chance to play baseball at this young age, since he wouldn’t be eligible for Henry County Parks & Recreation’s little league program for another year.
“This was real good for the kids,” he said.
Fisher said it took a great deal of support from coaches, parents and the community to set up the league, but was pleased with the turnout and looked forward to next season.
This year, the league fielded 12 teams, all sponsored by a local company or business, and coached by a volunteer.
But the coaches weren’t just a chaperone that provided Gatorade and band-aids — Fisher said interactions with the kids was one of the most important staples of the league.
“I think kids want to play (baseball),” Fisher said. “You just have to make it interesting for them.”
Coaches were taught to focus on making the game active during all aspects of play instead of, for example, having one child hit while others stood in the field.
Fisher reported that 156 kids signed up and and fewer than 10 dropped out — participation rates that Byrd hoped would continue through high school.
“If you have 150 kids and you keep half of them interested, you’ve accomplished something,” he said.
Byrd added the league gave the middle school and high school players a chance to give back to the community as many of them turned out for games and practices to share experience with the up-and-coming athletes.
Parks thought the season was a success, not just because it had so many kids turn out, but because it produced smiles and something fun for the kids.
“To see kids enjoying the game, that’s what we’re out there for,” he said.
“Seeing them enjoying the game is what it’s all about. You can’t replace that — even if they don’t go on to play in high school.”
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