Orillia Legion Minor Baseball (OLMB) officials are hopeful more players will register in the coming weeks as they continue to prepare for the upcoming season.
Currently, about 250 players have registered, which is a massive decrease from the typical 450 players that are usually signed up by this time of year.
OLMB president Wes Winkel is concerned about the lack of interest in the baseball season, especially considering the league has not yet asked players for a cash commitment.
“We are just asking for kids to sign up and give their information if they are interested in playing baseball so we can plan for the season,” he said.
Winkel believes many pandemic-related variables are playing into the lack of interest in the baseball season so far.
“I think for a lot of people it’s in the back of their minds right now because of the way things are in the world. A lot of people are skeptical if there is going to be a season or what a season might look like, so it’s hard to sign people up right now,” he said.
Another factor working against OLMB is the inability to spread awareness and host in-person registration.
“We usually do sign ups and awareness sessions at Rotary Place, the Legion, 2nd Century Source For Sports, and we can’t do that this year, so it’s harder to get the word out,” Winkel said.
If OLMB is not successful with signing up more kids this winter, running baseball operations this spring would be next to impossible.
“It would be very difficult because there aren’t enough kids in each division to run house league, we wouldn’t have enough teams to play each other, so we would either have to join with another community or figure out something else,” Winkel said.
“Running with this amount of kids is not an option for us.”
Winkel says it’s important for local youth to return to team sports this summer after a year of being sidelined by the pandemic.
“Obviously there are lots of benefits to playing baseball - kids get to be involved in an outdoor activity which gives them exercise, they learn a skill set, they get that sense of comraderie with a team, and they get that social aspect that they have been missing out on,” he said.
OLMB is also struggling to obtain volunteers and umpires for the upcoming season.
“We are struggling, we are already three board members short of a full board because we’ve had some resignations and we haven’t been able to fill the spots yet,” Winkel said.
“We are always looking for coaches, board members, and umpires.”
For more information or to register for the upcoming OLMB season, click here.