Sports

Minor Softball registers record numbers for this season

June 1, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Tottenham-Beeton District Minor Softball Association is reaching a record number of players this season.

In 2019, the Association had 244 players registered. This year they have topped out at over 400.

“In 2022, we made a concentrated effort to increase female participation,” explained Association president Kevin Boston. “Since 2019, we have grown our female participants from 21 per cent to 29 percent. In addition, we have almost equal representation of female coaches. In 2022, we were one of the few successful grant recipients from Canada Women & Sport, where we underwent an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Training Program to help our organization improve our program offering.”

This spring, the Association will host a pitching clinic for players ages 8 to 19. A skilled pitching instructor showed young players the techniques needed to pitch. This was a free 8-week clinic for players to learn the art of windmill pitching as part of player development programming.

Because of active sponsors and a grant from the Ontario Sports Network, they were able to upgrade equipment.

Also new is an upgrade to the website, e-mail communications, and social media presence to improve communication with parents and key stakeholders.

In 2022, the Association completed an overhaul of the governance and rules of play to help improve the organization as a whole.

The softball season got underway, with the first games on May 22.

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