The Prince Albert Minor Baseball program’s registration period is well underway.
After a delayed start to last season, president Duane Krip says they’re excited to finally get a full season once again.
“We had an abbreviated season last year because we couldn’t quite get started on time,” he said. “It’s been two consecutive years of having a shorter season. We were glad to get back last summer and get as much time as we were able to get, but this year will be our first full season back, and we can’t wait to get going.
“I think everyone is really excited right now. The kids are gearing up to get going. We’re starting our training programs indoors at the Alfred Jenkins. There’s a lot of excitement getting back on the diamond.”
There will be a few changes this year, the biggest being the location where minor ball teams play. With revamped baseball diamonds in Crescent Acres, it will create more space and time for games to be played. Krip hopes it will promote more baseball in the city, and attract more young players from around the area to play.
“We have a lot of infrastructure development that we’re looking forward to doing with the baseball diamonds at Crescent Acres,” Krip said. “We’re going to turn that into a baseball facility, so we’re really excited about getting going over there. Just getting out on the diamond and having a full season without any restrictions or anything to worry about makes us happy for this season.”
While there may have been some hesitation from-parents to register their kids for baseball over the last couple of years with the pandemic, this year has seen a major improvement in numbers. Krip says it’s nice to see all the registered kids, and that the registration process has been smooth and successful so far. Only one age group, the 11U, seems to be struggling.
“Our registration has been really strong in all age groups except for our 11U. That division seems to be having a bit of a sluggish go right now. What we’re blaming that on is two years ago when everything was shut down. I think there are just a lot of parents right now that are wondering if their kids are maybe too old to start in a brand new sport, and that may be why there haven’t been as many registrations for the 11U group.”
After two players, Jack Mortimer and Bronson Paetsch, left the team to play AAA baseball, it leaves the 18U team without two star sluggers. Krip thinks this season will be more of a rebuilding year for the team, but still hopes they will be competitive on the field.
“It’s going to be a developmental year for those kids.” he said. “Simply because within any sport, there’s always going to be an ebb and flow with some of the more elite players. With those two players leaving, it kind of depletes our top end talent. It’s great for Jack and Bronson, but it will probably be another year or two that we’ll be rebuilding our 18U team. But we have some extremely talented kids coming up through our younger divisions, and we’ll be back on top in a couple of seasons.”
The last day to register your child is March 31. The 13U team begins training this weekend at the Alfred Jenkins field house. The 15U team will start training the following weekend. Registration forms are available online at ominorbaseball.com. Baseball season starts in May.