Baseball is healthy in Manitoba after COVID-19 pandemic

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This article was published 14/06/2024 (638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Play ball,” umpire Kieran Madill gestures to the starting pitcher.

Besides umpiring minor baseball this season, Madill also catches for the U18 AAA Brandon Marlins.

On any given night during the week, the diamonds at Simplot, Andrews or Sumner Fields are a hive of activity when it comes to minor, AAA and senior men’s baseball. Madill is participating in both the game, plus giving back by umpiring.

This is a good sign with the advent of spring, seeing boys and girls playing minor baseball Monday to Thursday, and sometimes on the weekend, at Simplot or Sumner once high school baseball is done.

Likewise, the U13, U15 and U18 AAA Marlins continue to showcase their baseball skills facing other AAA clubs from Winnipeg, Oil Dome and Pembina Valley during the week or on weekends, usually with doubleheaders Sunday afternoon.

Besides the Brandon Senior AA Baseball League playing out of Sumner and Andrews Fields, senior men’s baseball is alive and well in three other leagues: Santa Clara, Border and the South West Baseball League.

Baseball Manitoba executive director James Miller has reason to smile as he peruses registration numbers, whether it comes to players and coaches, or umpires.

“Registrations have grown between five and 10 per cent this year for players,” he said. “We have a few days left for coaches, senior and junior players to be entered, but minor baseball has seen a nice jump this year.”

Looking at Baseball Manitoba’s statistics as of May 15, there were 12,990 players and coaches registered. Of this total, 1,600 coaches had registered. Last season, there were 2,100 coaches registered.

This season, currently 11,398 players are enjoying playing baseball, up 222 from last season.

Miller said senior and junior players are still in the process of registering, and he expects approximately 500 more to register by June 15. Umpires are up to 683 this year, an increase of 64 compared to the 2023 season.

According to Miller, Baseball Manitoba has added a number of new programs during the past few years to keep kids engaged. Most notable is the Prospects Showcase, which you can learn more about by visiting https://www.baseballmanitoba.ca/content/prospect-showcases

Baseball Manitoba has also revamped its provincial championships scheduled in July to include more teams from more areas – focused on smaller communities.

“We have added tiered events at each age group to keep more kids older than 10 years old playing longer into the summer,” he said.

The Brandon Sun sat down for a Q&A interview with Miller regarding the state of baseball in this province, and what’s planned for the future. Here’s what we learned:

Jules Xavier: Any new ideas being employed by Baseball Manitoba to grow the sport in the province?

Jason Miller: “We have a real focus, tied to our strategic plan, on serving underrepresented populations in Manitoba, focusing on Indigenous, challenger and female players, coaches and volunteers. JX: How has baseball rebounded since the COVID pandemic? JM: “We have rebounded nicely, and surpassing our pre-pandemic numbers in 2023. And further surpassing those this year. We suffered greatly in 2020 and 2021, like many sports. Our numbers were cut in half and our season was moved from May, June and July to July and August only.”

JX: With an all-girls baseball team playing U15 level out of Winnipeg, what are the prospects of selling the game to all-girls teams, or whether they integrate with the boys, or their own leagues?

JM: “This is an area that we intent to promote and grow. It is a market we are excited to invest and improve. There are many girls out there just waiting for the chance to play baseball with girls against other girls.

“I am so excited about the process. We are well on our way with this 15U AA team. I expect teams to enter at multiple levels next year. Our female teams are improving and the players are getting better, making an impact on the provincial and national stage. That starts with grassroots involvement and the acceptance of our female athletes and coaches.”

JX: How is senior ball looking from your perspective? It’s a good sign seeing the Minnedosa Mavericks return to the Santa Clara Baseball League after being dormant the past few years?

JM: “Senior baseball seems to be going through an evolution. There is more interest now than we have seen in the past decade. Teams are coming back and new teams are entering.

“There is opportunity for any player coming out of U18 or junior to play somewhere close to home. Our Senior Council is being creative and proactive looking for opportunities to shake things up and improve the parody and competition at the senior level.”

JX: What is Baseball Manitoba’s approach to developing/attracting/retaining coaches?

JM: “Coaches are an integral piece to the puzzle. They have such a huge impact on our players, families, and communities. There are a few ways we are supporting them.

“Every coach gets package with their scorebook, lineup cards, access to our Pitch Count app and the coach rundown. “We have increased support from the office for certification and screening requirements. With Safe Sport being a major focus, we have increased the need to ensure the safety of our players, with added requirement for coaches.

“This can be a burden on their time and discourage some people. With the added online service through our online registration system and personnel in the office, we can better support coaches through the process.

“We also provide access to grants and scholarships for our coaches, to reduce barriers for participation.”

JX: The third team on the diamond, the umpire crews, what’s it looking like for this season when it comes to growth and attracting new umpires?

JM: “Our umpire numbers have grown nicely over the past two seasons, after much decline before that. We have the most registered umpires ever recorded in 2024, going back to 2008, with 683.

“We have moved to a centralized ejection report system, and we are following up with every ejection. Last year, we added an automatic one-game suspension for any coach ejected for verbal abuse.

“This has helped reduce the number of ejections in recent years, but has not eliminated it. We are sending coaches reminders by email throughout the year about respect and following the code of conduct.

“We have started educating young umpires on game management and increased mentorships. With this focus on coach education and umpire training, we are striving for improvement every year.”

JX: How is the AAA baseball program in the province looking since its introduction to commuties like Brandon, where there are three Marlins teams?

JM: “In 2022, we introduced the province-wide AAA league with teams at U13, U15 and U18 playing full or half seasons in the league. This has been a huge success, with players getting better development and improving our high-performance program as a whole.

“We are promoting the league with a social media presence and a new website https://aaabaseballmanitoba.ca/.”

JX: Is there a diamond crunch in the province? What is the inventory like for diamonds, from the cities to the rural areas?

JM: “Maybe a little – in some areas. But, if you look hard enough you will find a place to play. The increase of players and teams has shown there needs to be a focus on facility development.

“There are diamonds that have been let go over the past couple decades that need improvement, as well as need for new diamonds. Thanks to government grants over the past few years, there have been many new projects with diamonds popping up across Manitoba.

“We are super happy to have filled the position on our board dedicated to this – VP Facilities. We will see an increase in support for regions from this addition. More coming soon.”

JX: With more than 20 provincials on the calendar, what has it been like attracting communities to participate because these three-day events require an army of volunteers to work them, plus finding umps, especially when you have multiple events in close proximity to each other like Carberry and Wawanesa hosting U13 on same weekend? Finding accommodations?

JM: We are so excited to have new host communities this year. It can be such a boost to the local community and their economy.

“This is an annual challenge for our hosts, especially when you consider softball, and other summer sports, hosting provincials. People do the best they can with driving, camping, staying with families.”

JX: What does a community need/require to host a provincial baseball championship when it comes to the bidding process each year?

JM: “We have a formal process with an online application. The facilities need to be in order, they need to have a committee together and show us there is a plan in place for all aspects — advertising, promotion, revenue generation, accommodations, officiating, etc.”

JX: Finally, what feedback are you receiving from communities involved in providing baseball to kids/adults?

JM: “Baseball continues to be a wonderful game to share with your family and bring communities together. While there are new challenges related to Safe Sport, facilities, generational differences, weather and volunteer engagement we are finding new opportunities when we strive together for solutions.

“The game hasn’t changed and when it is played well on a groomed field on a sunny day … there is nothing better to do on an evening in Manitoba.”

» jxavier@brandonsun.com

» X: @julesxavier59