Spring has sprung, and so has spring sports in Niverville. The Niverville Youth Baseball Committee has been preparing for this season ever since last year’s season ended. A committed group of volunteers run the program, consisting of Ken Kwiatkowski, Rod Wolfe, Jen Morin, and Ron Hiebert.
The committee started up in 2009, after a long drought of not having any baseball in Niverville. For the first season, volunteers worked to get a shared program off the ground to cover Niverville and New Bothwell. After that year, the communities decided to split into their own programs.
“We could each support our own programs, and decided to split as our numbers had grown, and continue to grow today,” says Ron Hiebert.
In particular, the girls program has been growing. Last year, there was only a girls Mini-Mites team, for ages seven to eight. This year, the girls program has two teams: Mini-Mites and Mites (ages nine to ten).
Hiebert says, “I hope to see the girls program grow even more and reach the higher age levels.”
If this strong group of girls continues to grow, they will compete in Squirts (ages 11 to 12), Pee Wee (ages 13 to 14), Bantam (ages 15 to 16), and Midget (ages 17 to 18). Girls are currently able to play with the boys if there aren’t enough girls to form their own team, or they have the option to play for a different community.
This year, the boys teams are running strong with three Grand Slam teams (ages seven to nine), two Mosquito teams (ages ten to 11), one Pee Wee team (ages 12 to 13), and one Bantam team (ages 14 to 15). The Rally Caps (ages four to six) is a co-ed program where young players learn the fundamentals of the game—throwing, running, and catching. Currently there are 40 players registered with the Rally Caps.
As the program continues to grow, so does the demand and availability of diamonds. “It’s good to see that Hespeler Park is being used,” Hiebert says. “It’s great to see children using our facilities.”
For the first time, Niverville teams this season will play home games on Saturdays. The committee is also hoping to improve their training and development of coaches and players.
