Ball league hoping to offer mite division this season

By Yvette d'Entremont - The Weekly News

This summer, organizers of the Sackville Surge (Greater Sackville Ball League) are hoping to offer the first boys' mite softball division in the HRM region.

The Greater Sackville Ball League is the minor softball organization serving Sackville, Bedford and surrounding communities.

The league offers a Learn to Play program for girls and boys ages four to nine. They also offer fast pitch softball for girls from age 10 to 19.

The group's Learn to Play coordinator Stephen Burns said the decision to offer a mite softball division for 10-year-old boys this summer falls on the heels of last year's success.

They added a new level to the program for eight and nine year old boys, and the reception was overwhelmingly positive.

Many of the nine-year-old boys who played last season were eager to continue with the sport.

Burns said older youths playing the sport tend to be females. In fact, the softball league was actually an all girls' league until three years ago.

While they now have opportunities for younger boys, once the boys reach the age of 10 there's nothing available to them.

"A lot of the kids who became involved in the Learn to Play (last year) were boys. There was nowhere else for them to go after that level of Learn To Play," Burns explained. "Nowhere else in HRM that we know of offers softball for youth boys. It's all baseball."

Burns's boys first tried softball three years ago. As the Sackville Surge's Learn to Play Coordinator, Burns quickly noticed the growing number of boys being drawn to the sport.

Although Burns has eight boys willing to play in a mite boys division this season, the numbers aren't enough. He would ideally like to have 21 boys (age 10) participating so he can have a minimum of three teams.

Boys from Sackville, Bedford, Beaver Bank, Fall River, Waverley, and other surrounding communities are welcome and encouraged to join.

"They love the fact they get to play, play, play. There's no stress put on them for competing, everyone's there to enjoy the game," Burns said.

With the Learn to Play program, Burns said players with both high and low skill levels are all actively involved and enjoy fun and success.

The Sackville Surge website states that "activities and lead-up games are patterned after informal playground games that promise an hour of fun and lots of action."

The league's website also notes that participants go home at the end of the night happy and tired, all the while improving their fitness levels.

"Players would come up and ask me who won at the end of the game," Burns started chuckling loudly. "No matter who asked, I'd always say 'You did.' Everyone was happy."

The league starts in mid-May and runs until school reopens for the fall. The league operates out of the Gertrude Parker Elementary School field in Lower Sackville.

For more information on all softball programs offered by the Sackville Surge, visit their website at www.gsbl.ca or e-mail president@gsbl.ca.

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca