I was invited to participate in the Opening Day festivities at the Southwest Sports Complex in District 1 Saturday morning. We were celebrating the 2024 season of youth baseball, t-ball, and wee-ball at the park.
We were also cutting the ribbon on a newly-constructed all-weather, covered batting cage that the county built for the park.
It was a great day. Lots of happy families, excited players, and extended families celebrating the season's start.
There are more than 300 players signed up, and the park was packed for opening day. It was great.
Thanks to PBYSA, the volunteers, and the FAMILIES----- for the invite and for all they all do to provide a place for these youth to hone their skills in baseball. And fellowship. And leadership. And socialization. And the leadership building they are fostering.
(I was also asked to throw out the first pitch which I did. I didn't bounce it, but my pitch was high and outside, LOL.)
An interesting side conversation I had was enlightening: "These parks are getting CRUSHED by the utility bills to keep the lights on" said an official familiar with the operations at the SW Sports Complex and PBYSA.
"3 years ago, our yearly light bill was about $22,000 a year. Now, it has tripled. It is $66,000 a year. and it is killing us." Said this individual. "Thankfully, we have the travel baseball teams and the tournament promoters who bring tournaments and collect fees which they pay us---otherwise we couldn't afford to keep this afloat" said this source. "We couldn't do it without them!"
It is sad for me to hear that the utilities costs are killing some of these programs for kids. As I walked through the park, it brought back memories of my sons playing baseball at NEP at John R. Jones Park.
But we didn't have the pressure back then that these families have now.
I hope they are able to hang in there and sustain these programs for these families and players---but things are changing. We need to keep these programs in place for the players and the families!
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