Batters up on P.E.I.: Baseball director makes pitch for more fields as registration climbs

P.E.I. is in desperate need of more baseball fields, and organizers want municipalities to step up to the plate.

Rhonda Pauls, executive director of Baseball P.E.I., said the sport has experienced consistent growth of five to seven per cent over the last four years. She said it is at the point where kids will get turned away unless more fields are built.

The shortage of ball diamonds has already cut into practice times, she said, and some divisions have had to cap registrations. She said that could become more common if infrastructure doesn't keep pace.

"It's like when you get on the ferry, 'Sorry, this is the capacity of the ship. You're going to have to wait till the next sailing,'" she said.

"That's the same idea. So you literally would be turning kids away from your sport at some point."

Rhonda Pauls, executive director of Baseball P.E.I., says the lack of ball diamonds has already cut into practice times, and some divisions have had to cap registrations. (Shane Ross/CBC)

Pauls estimates the province needs about 30 per cent more fields just to cover all their bases.

"Our numbers are projected only to keep going higher," she said. "So we are working with municipalities to develop more field spaces virtually across the island in all the associations."

Pauls believes population growth on P.E.I. is contributing to the higher registration numbers on P.E.I., especially in the rural areas where it is more affordable for young families to live. That's where registrations are growing the fastest, specifically within the five-to-nine age group.

Souris sees big jump

In Souris, for example, baseball registration jumped from about 40 to 140 over the last four years. The town's mayor, JoAnne Dunphy, said the community is focused on renovating and improving the current fields, but it may not be enough.

"There's been discussion amongst the baseball teams for expansion in the Souris area. With the growing numbers, expansion may need to happen to cover the interest and need for more fields," she said in an email to CBC.

Baseball teams, especially in the younger divisions, have been using fields designed for softball, which isn't ideal because softball fields don't have an elevated pitcher's mound. Using fields designed for other sports doesn't work because baseball requires specific elements such as a fence and backstop.

"It's not a small game that you can just go play it in the gym or play it in a different place," Pauls said.

"We actually play baseball outside on a large space. So there isn't a lot of shared spaces."

Pauls said P.E.I. needs about 30 per cent more baseball fields to meet the demand. (Ken Linton/CBC)

Paul said the desired ratio of practices to games for player development is about 70-30. But she said that doesn't happen.

"They want to play games and parents want to watch their kids and they want to feel like they're competing, not just practising all the time. So we reduce the number of practice times that the kids get in order to just be able to play enough games to make league play."

That puts P.E.I. at a competitive disadvantage with other provinces, especially when combined with the short summer season and lack of indoor training facilities.

Pauls said registration in many sports tends to drop off after age 13 when kids choose to specialize in one. She'd like more reasons for them to choose baseball.

"Baseball is a year round sport. You can't just pick up baseball and be in shape to play it six months later after you haven't played. So the reality of year-round training is that most of our elite athletes that are serious about baseball probably go away to school or go to an academy somewhere in another province."