Thanks to new programs and renovated parks, baseball’s momentum is building in Richmond and John Braaten is doing his part to ensure it won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Standing on the city’s first artificial turf diamond, Richmond City Baseball Association’s (RCBA) new president is already looking at the next item on his wish list.
“Half our registration is 5-to-9-year-olds and most of them play out of Dixon (elementary) where it has more or less been the same for the last 35 years,” said Braaten. “What we need is somewhere with three diamonds, like the girls have (at London Park) and dugouts so the kids don’t have to sit on benches anymore.
“The first thing when I took over (as president) was move the focus back to the young kids. That’s what we are working on.”
RCBA ushered in its 52nd season with opening day celebrations at a renovated Latrace Field last weekend which is part of the $6.3 million sports fields amenities upgrade at Minoru Park.
Latrace is just the second artificial turf baseball field in the Lower Mainland and features a removable 700-pound fibreglass mound. The three-piece pitching hill has been securely installed for the duration of the baseball season but will removed to accommodate fall sports, including field lacrosse and soccer.
“We are usually looking at a lot of potential rain outs until the end of April,” explained Braaten. “Now with this field, the kids can be playing again 10 minutes after the rain stops.”
In an era of sports specialization, RABA saw its registration numbers slip from nearly 600 in 2009 to 450. Instead of offering year-round play to fight the battle for players, the executive was only interested in improving the overall experience at the grassroots level.
Baseball Canada’s Rally Cap and Grand Slam programs provide better structure with a more emphasis on skill development.
Small sided games and pitching machines are now being used right through the Tadpole Division to keep kids more engaged.
“By going to (pitching machines) in Tadpole, there are 15 more chances to field the ball per game, on average,” explained Braaten. “The long term benefit is the kids will develop a better skill set from that.
“We are now a couple of years into this structure and have seen significant growth in younger divisions. Word of mouth about the structure offered of smaller teams and more activity during sessions which incorporate three team that practice and play games at the same time in rotation.”
Braaten made it clear there are off-season programs available for players but there never is any pressure to participate or chose one sport over the other.
It’s actually the exact opposite.
“We want our kids to go play hockey or soccer in the winter and come back as well-rounded athletes,” he added. “We are finding more and more that other sports are now running year round to keep athletes and forcing them to `specialize` at a much earlier ages than is necessary. This is a constant unfortunate battle our sport deals with in Richmond.”
For more on Richmond City Baseball visit richmondcitybaseball.ca
