SUNDRE – With plans for the coming season getting into the swing of things, Sundre Minor Ball is still searching for more umpires.
“We are always looking for more umps for baseball and softball,” Michele Blackhurst, the board’s new president, said on Feb. 16 during a phone interview.
“They’re all paid positions,” said Blackhurst, adding umpire clinics for both baseball and softball have all been announced.
Anyone aged 12 and over who might be interested in learning more is encouraged to contact Alexa Suitor, umpire coordinator, by email at [email protected].
The new board was formed on Feb. 9 during the organization’s annual general meeting, when a new position of past president – filled by Jason Bird – was introduced, said Blackhurst.
The core executive of the 13-member board is comprised of Blackhurst, president; Ashley Edgar, vice-president; Alexa Blackhurst, secretary; and Rachel Prince, treasurer.
The remaining members are: Joelee Jansen, baseball coordinator; Jenna Packer, softball coordinator; Rebecca Rock, 1st League coordinator; Bobbi Winsor, scheduler; Sam Speight, registrar; Jen Hopper, equipment coordinator; Mark Crouch, diamond maintenance coordinator; and Suitor, umpire coordinator.
On Feb. 15, the group held its first regular meeting with exceedingly few absentees.
“We had pretty much 100 per cent attendance, which was really nice,” Blackhurst said. “It’s hard when you have such a big group to pick a date that works for everybody.”
Registration is underway and closes on Feb. 28.
“After that time, there will be a late fee applied, unless we are actively recruiting for a team,” she said. “We don’t charge a late fee if we’re short players for a team that we need to fill.”
Throughout the registration process, the organization also endeavours to recruit additional volunteers to help with the teams.
“So, coaches, assistant coaches and managers as well,” she said.
An eight-session softball pitching clinic with Mike Weiss for the U9s and U17s gets started March 4 and wraps up April 29. Indoor practices will start in the first week of April, with the season expected to be in full swing come the first week of May, she said.
During last week’s regular meeting, the board also scheduled for May 5-7 the third edition of the Sundre Minor Ball doubleheader invitational tournament in which each team is guaranteed to play two games, she said.
“It started a couple of years ago just as kind of an intro to the season, get everybody playing some games,” she said. “So, we invite as many teams as we can from other towns.”
Although the board also had a preliminary discussion to make plans for a baseball skills clinic, there at the time of the interview had not yet been a coach lined up, she said.
The fast ball teams play on the Chinook Baseball League, while the softball squads play under the umbrella organization called Softball Alberta, she said.
And while the organization has kept its main logo, Sundre Minor Ball has universally rebranded all of the baseball and softball teams as the Sundre Stealers.
“We put it to a vote on our Facebook page at the end of last season; we wanted to have a name that represents all of Sundre Minor Ball, just like the Sundre Huskies, for example, for hockey,” she said.
“The vote ended up that we would be the Sundre Stealers. We just wanted to keep it uniform when teams are going to provincials or representing us at other tournaments.”
Of course fundraising efforts always remain ongoing, whether through putting on events or soliciting sponsorship from businesses in the community, she said.
“There’s still a couple open sponsor spaces on our board,” she said.
