By David F. Rooney
Mandy McQuarrie is passionate about Minor Baseball and hopes there are men and women in town who share that enthusiasm enough to step up to the plate and become coaches.
“I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m very passionate about Minor Ball and didn’t want to see it dwindle away,” she said in an interview last week.
Baseball for kids dwindle away? In Revelstoke? Despite the legendary Revelstoke Cougars of years ago and the durability of the annual Glacier Challenge Softball Tournament, that’s not an impossibility. Just two years ago the number of children enrolled in Revelstoke Minor Ball had slipped to just 25 kids. Last year was better: there were 55 kids in the program. But that’s just a fraction of the 300 boys and girls McQuarrie said were enrolled in Minor Soccer.
The program is taking some firm steps to bolster the program. It has purchased new uniforms, helmets, balls and T-stands. But it badly needs people willing to spend an hour a day, two days a week for two months to coach the kids who want to play.
“We’ve really, really struggled to find coaches,” she said. “Imagine if you’re a kid coming out to play ball and there’s no one to coach you.”
Interested adults don’t even have to have experience coaching kids’ baseball because on February 20 the Community Centre is holding a one-day, baseball-coaching workshop at the Community Centre. Anyone interested in taking this workshop should call the Community Centre at 250-837-9351 to register.
Parents are also encouraged to register their kids in the Minor Baseball program during the Wednesday, February 18, and Tuesday, February 24, registration nights at the Community Centre between 5:30 pm and 8 pm. (Please click here to view the Registration Night poster.)
The organization is grateful to Tim Hortons for its ongoing support and is actively working to raise its profile. It has established itself on Facebook with a group page and is actively selling tickets for its June 22 draw. The prizes on offer are fantastic. (Please click here to see the official poster that contains the prize list and other details poster for this draw.)
Anyone seeking more information about Revelstoke Minor Baseball is encouraged to contact Mandy McQuarrie by e-mail at mrmcquarrie@telus.net or by phone at 250-837-6639.
