[Alsfastball] Canadian Men's Tourney

[Al Doran]

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 21:42:56 -0400
From: Ken/Cheryl <fen at bmts.com>
To: fastball at pmihrm.com
Subject: Canadian Men's Tourney



I've followed fastball for years, coached it, played it, watched it. I 
learned a few things at St. Croix, Nova Scotia this past week.

Growing up, fastball was a cheap and fun sport. Buy a glove or a 
hand-me-down and you were there, ready to go. Nobody had spikes..sliding 
shorts were unheard of. In tournaments in Owen Sound, kids always got in 
free and had the run of the park. The more kids, the better. Everybody 
brought their glove and got to use it, tossing on the sidelines.

Although I hate to discourage anyone from promoting ball or criticising 
volunteers, I think that this year's Sr. Men's was not kid or ball 
friendly. The adult price was 50% higher than I have ever seen it in 
Canada. Kids under FIVE were free...I'm sure all those toddlers have made 
up their mind to be ballplayers by then. My boys, 13 and 15 paid full 
price, $15. I've never paid for the boys before at any tournament. They 
usually just say " Go ahead, I didn't hear you were 15". My 7 year old girl 
could care less if she saw a game but it still cost us $5.  Each day of 
ball cost me $65. The most I ever had paid was $20 for the family anywhere 
else. That's not just my opinion, but the overwhelming concensus at the park

How far afield did the organizers have to go to recruit ex-Marines with 
severe toothaches at the gate? They where belligerent. Very non-Nova 
Scotian. The security "Ball Park Narcs" didn't allow any games of catch at 
all until my kids and I saw the opportunity for a scrub game with about 20 
enthusiastic aspiring ballpayers on Saturday night. I borrowed a bat from 
Dave McDonald of the Keith's ( Thanks, Dave ) and asked the grounds crew to 
turn on the #2 lights.Kids came from everywhere and no where. They  had a 
riot. Nolan with his big hits, Brandon slugging, the kid with the great 
single arm in the outfield and the permanent glove, Sam at first and my 
inconsistent stuff on the mound. THAT, organizers,is what fastball is 
about. Kids. I can't easily count the number of people that watched the 
scrub game or came to me or my boys afterward and positively commented 
about it.

Don't discourage the future of our game. Make fastball an affordable 
pleasure, not a money-making venture.

Ken Fenwick
<mailto:fen at bmts.com>fen at bmts.com


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