YMCA to offer new ball program in 2015
VANDALIA – Traditional baseball and softball leagues for ages 9-14 will no longer be organized at the Family YMCA of Fayette County starting next summer, and another organization in Vandalia may offer a way to help continue the development of traveling teams.
Starting next June, the YMCA will offer a five-week co-ed ball program for kids ages 9-14, which will better teach fundamentals, as well as expose youth to a broader spectrum of sports.
The program replaces the Mustang (10U), Bronco (12U) and Pony (14U) leagues, and allows youth in those age brackets more than double the amount of playing days.
“We had a meeting with the coaches, and for the most part, they knew we had to change something with the number of kids we are losing (to travel teams),” said Executive Director John Ashdown at last Wednesday’s public meeting on the changes. “It’s a dollar a day to come and play ball.”
The new program is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2015, and run from noon-1:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, until July 3, with most activities taking place at the Freight Field.
The five-week program will introduce several types of ball to area youth.
•Week 1: Skills camp
•Week 2: Slow-pitch softball
•Week 3: Fast-pitch softball
•Week 4: Baseball
•Week 5: Alternative games
The kids will select their own teams for each session, and weeks 2-4 will include a Friday Night Lights round-robin on the final day of the week.
Registration cost will be $25 for members and $50 for non-members, and everyone will participate every day and receive a home and an away T-shirt.
In the event of rain, all activities will be moved inside the Y.
“Basically, we are starting a new ball program,” Ashdown said. “When you look at the Y, what our mission is is to serve everyone who wants to play, not just serve elite athletes, so anybody who signs up will get on a team.
“There’s no, ‘You’re not good enough and didn’t make the team.’”
The rise in competitive travel teams has cut down on the number of kids playing in YMCA leagues, but Ashdown said the YMCA will do its part to “facilitate” the process for teams which want to continue playing in the Hillsboro leagues that have been home to Vandalia’s youth teams for several years.
Additionally, the Vandalia Field of Dreams committee is exploring a plan to help organize travel teams, which would co-exist with the new YMCA program.
“Through our organization, we are exploring and discussing options to reorganize and keep the ball program going in Vandalia,” said VFOD President Tom Lucken. “Although we have various groups that are doing ball, not all ages and levels are covered, nor do we have a cohesive program to provide playing at the moment.”
The YMCA will continue to offer co-ed T-ball and pinto leagues for kids age 4-8 in Vandalia.
The new program has been in the works for the past three years, and Ashdown believes it will be beneficial for all kids, even if they are playing in an outside competitive league.
“I hope people will give it an opportunity,” Ashdown said. “I think it will be a fun program and the kids will enjoy it.
“I think it could actually be a positive thing for the kids who are playing on a competitive team, because they can have an environment where they can have fun.”
For more information on the new program, contact Ashdown or Program Director Josh Wetzel at the YMCA at 283-1258, or visit http://fayetteymca.com/wp/?p=3864.
