Spring sports need a helping hand in my part of the world
11 Apr, 2008 By: Ron Hall
Spring sports, especially high school baseball and softball in my part of the world, are iffy affairs. Here in northwest Ohio, on the edge of what was once known as The Great Black Swamp, April is as apt to bring freezing rain or snow as it is sunshine and balmy breezes. In that regard it’s not much different than much of the rest of the Upper Midwest, Northeast or New England. I’ve been reading about terrible sports field conditions, caused by brutal early spring weather, from North Dakota to New Hampshire and points in between.
A neighbor youth, Derek, only a high school freshman but an exceptional basketball and baseball talent already, tells me that the local high school baseball team has managed to play just five games, and April is already half gone. Contrast that with teams in the Sunbelt that began playing in January and February. It’s doubtful that the local team is going to be able to play its full compliment of 28 games before the school year ends. And that’s even playing double-headers whenever the weather allows, and playing on weekends, too. The same goes for the female high school softball team. These are minor sports in our part of the country.
Attempting to play spring baseball or softball here, even before trees begin to bud always brings to mind the success a friendly acquaintance of mine, a coach, achieved with a neighboring high school baseball program.
If you played high school baseball for Bob (now long retired) you also did your share of field maintenance, mostly removing moisture from the game infield, working in fresh dry clay and raking, lots of raking and smoothing. No other local coach or players went to such lengths to prepare their home field for play.
You guessed it. This was one of the most successful high school baseball programs in the region for years. And it almost always played its full schedule because its field was better maintained than any of the others in our area.
While I’m not advocating turning all high school baseball or softball players into amateur groundskeepers, I don’t see any reason why the young people that participate in field sports shouldn’t be asked to help keep their fields clean and maintained. It would seem to me that the more effort they contributed in that regard, the more pride they would feel for the facilities they’ve been blessed to use. Playing youth sport is a privilege and not a right.
Please send any technical comments or questions to our webmaster.