The Estevan Minor Baseball Association has been accepting registrations for the 2020 season, with the hope of having kids out on the ball diamond at some point this spring.
Registrations have been coming in for the upcoming season. The organization is using a register now, pay later system, so that if people sign up and the season is cancelled, they won’t lose anything.
About 100 people have pre-registered already, but according to president Joe Williamson, a lot of people are holding off on signing up due to current uncertainty.
“It just gives us a chance to see what the numbers are like. And then if Saskatchewan Baseball gives us the go-ahead … we know the numbers, how many coaches we need, schedules and stuff like that,” said Williamson.
Minor baseball was supposed to be at city-wide registration at the end of March, but that event was cancelled.
Most of minor baseball’s registrations last year happened online, so Williamson said losing city-wide shouldn’t mean a big loss for the organization.
The players are looking forward to hitting the ball diamonds for the upcoming season. The AAA tryouts were just getting started when they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had lots of people out for our skills development sessions, so we had lots of interest,” said Williamson, who added those skills sessions were happening Thursdays.
A lot of ball diamond upgrades have been taking place at Cactus Park under the leadership of former minor baseball president Mel Murray.
Umpire clinics have also been postponed.
Minor ball is scheduled to host the under-11 (formerly mosquito) provincial tournament this year from July 17-19, which would bring an influx of teams to the community. Williamson is hopeful the tournament can still happen. They also had other tournaments booked, and a full host of leagues.
While baseball isn’t as prone to COVID-19 as other sports, there are still some risky areas. Williamson pointed out there are still three people in close proximity around home plate at all times, and there are usually several people close to each other in the dugouts, which are covered.
So they’re hopeful to play ball this year, but right now they’re in a holding pattern.
