The numbers for local youth baseball and softball are reported to be unusually low for the upcoming season.
There could be different reasons for that, but I hope it’s not a sign that many Yazooans are giving up on our local programs. That would be a terrible thing for our community.
It is of course none of my business what kind of program any parent chooses for their child, but I hope that everyone with children eligible to participate in our local leagues will consider the importance of having quality youth programs in Yazoo City.
I understand why some may be frustrated. Our local parks have left much to be desired over the years, and there always seems to be dysfunction when it comes to our local leadership having discussions about funding the programs.
But the parks are still headed in the right direction despite those challenges. We’ve had tremendous rain recently, and yet the fields were in as good of shape as I’ve seen them at this point in the year when our daughter had her first softball practice this week.
The grass is cut, and the new dirt is down on the softball fields. I remember a time when that might not have been the case.
Our Parks & Recreation program is working hard to provide quality parks with extremely limited resources. I hope that many Yazooans will be willing to reward those efforts by getting involved and helping out how they can.
Youth baseball and softball is a volunteer-driven effort. It’s mostly moms and dads racing to practices and games after work. They’re not doing it for a paycheck, but because they want the best for their children and for the youth of our community.
It obviously benefits our children and their families who enjoy watching them play. These programs especially benefit those children who come to that first practice with little or no knowledge of the game and end up learning to love it.
But it isn’t just those on the field and in the stands who benefit. Our whole city benefits economically from all the activity in town every week. More people are eating out, buying gas and doing other business.
We can’t afford to give up on that. We need to rally behind our youth sports programs.
