OTTAWA – The Saskatchewan Baseball Association has seen its registration numbers climb over the last three years and a major factor in that rise is their dedication to promoting Baseball Canada grassroots programs.
Of note, the Winterball program has been a major success in Saskatchewan and Sask Baseball’s Executive Director Mike Ramage indicated that there is a simple reason for its success with the schools in the province.
“Honestly, it’s the availability of all the free equipment,” says Ramage with a laugh. “I know other sports go into the schools and do clinics as well, but we’re the only ones who actually give them the equipment so they keep the program going year round.”
“It’s a definite advantage on our end,” he adds.
As for Rally Cap, despite its own growth across the province it has been more of an uphill climb to get the information needed to the local associations in order to get them to buy into the program.
However, word of mouth has spread in many of the communities in Saskatchewan, a fact that Ramage has been made well aware by the number of inquiries from parents and coaches alike.
“There are just more and more questions each year,” says Ramage. “I get a number of calls each day asking about the program and what it’s about.”
Sask Baseball, along with the other provincial associations, hope that the increase in registration at the grassroots level will translate into increases at the higher levels over the next few years, including high performance.
But Saskatchewan may not have to wait that long as recent years has seen an improvement in high performance, including two consecutive bronze medals in the Bantam Girls Championship, a fourth place finish at the 2009 Midget Championship and a fifth place finish at the 2009 Canada Summer Games.
“We’re not too far off. Our results over the last couple of years have improved,” says Ramage. “We’re doing a lot to develop these kids and Greg Brons (High Performance Director for Sask Baseball) is doing a fantastic job in the high performance aspect of the game.”
But the provinces promotion of the grassroots programs has been their key to success over the last few years and now Sask Baseball is looking to help contribute in the development of new programs.
“We’ve approached Baseball Canada in regards to the new Grand Slam program to see if we could pilot the project,” says Ramage. “Some of our local associations have shown some interest in trying it out.”
There are signs of resurgence in Saskatchewan for the sport of baseball, and it all points to a continuing trend of growth and development.
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