Since my son first got interested in playing baseball, the silent battle between Leagues and organizations has plagued the growth of the sport. While they battle, the war has already been lost to soccer.
Compared to what I’ve seen of the other sports, the current structure for youth baseball is too restrictive and doesn’t promote the sport enough. There is not enough cooperation across organizations and as a result, grass-root efforts that often help resurrect dying sports, are improbable.
The organizations need to come together in an effort to cooperate in terms of recruitment, promotion, development and training. And it's not like the people involved in baseball aren't good people. They are all passionate people and have put in a lot of time and effort as volunteers. They just aren't seeing the big picture and are too defensive of what they've worked hard to build.
There needs to be a youth baseball summit in the Ottawa-Valley where cooperative strategies among representatives of organizations, leagues, and universities are discussed to help resurrect the sport.
Lastly, the city desparately needs a year-round indoor baseball facility where players can improve.
A place where fathers can bring their children to work on their batting, where pitching coaches can provide one on one instruction, where coaches can bring their teams for batting practice, where parents can host birthday parties.
Cartoon by Vlad4040