Spring baseball underway in Brandon

Warmer weather and longer evenings are welcomed by all this time of year, especially the minor baseball scene.

The opportunity to hit the diamond for Brandon Minor Baseball arrived this past week, with all age groups getting underway with practices at Simplot Millennium Park.

Registration numbers in Brandon are holding steady with a few slight changes to the upcoming season ahead.

As of this week, 436 kids are registered across the various age divisions ranging from seven-and-under to 18U with all teams returning to the diamond to commence training ahead of another busy season, weather permitting like always.

For the board that oversees all aspects of operations here in Brandon it feels like a long time coming, but rewarding to see local youth players return and in promising numbers.

“We’re seeing stable to growing membership,” said Scott Preston, president of Brandon Minor Baseball.

“As kids get older, we see the numbers start to decrease because kids get busy and start to focus on school sports, some get part-time work, and just the demands that come with life as they grow, but we’re almost at capacity.”

House leagues are seeing stable participation numbers, neither a significant jump nor decrease in the overall numbers across the board, but a slight increase at the 15U level means four house league teams in that age group, up one team from last year.

The 7U age group has eight teams this year playing in house league, while 9U has 10, 11U has nine, 13U has six, and 18U will have one as well as a AAA team.

The 13U and 15U age groups will also have AAA teams, although with one more interesting change to this season in that the 15U AAA team is merging with Oildome, meaning the best players from Brandon and outside the city will comprise the roster, and as such may make some noise in the provincial scene and beyond.

Maintenance work always continues as well as an investment is being made in lighting upgrades at Simplot Millennium Park. One of the diamonds will need to be converted to a 15U diamond to accommodate this summer’s events, but primary efforts are to continue focusing on ensuring the overall health of the sport is in a good spot.

“We’re competing with soccer, school sports and spring hockey. Twenty years ago, that wasn’t the case,” said Preston.

“We have lots that start out strong but as they grow the numbers start to decrease. We’ll just need to keep adapting and being flexible so that both the kids that want to pursue high performance can, and those that want to play for the love of the game can.”

Coach and umpire recruitment efforts are always ongoing as well, as there is always a need for volunteers.

Volunteers will also be a key part of some of this summer’s marquee events.

Baseball Brandon is hosting the 15U AA provincial championships the last weekend in July as well as the annual Canada Day Triple Crown Challenge for AA 11U, and 13U and 15U in AAA.

Teams from across the province and western Canada will descend on the Wheat City that weekend as teams officially begin summer ball.

The fact that youth players oftentimes hit their stride as the season reaches its peak in June and July, players and reps from Baseball Brandon will be hoping for few rain delays and as many warm evenings as possible between now and then to continue growing both the base and the performance of all.

» mpackwood@brandonsun.com