Baseball - as a high school sport in the Greater Toronto Area - is in trouble.
It has nothing to do with lack of interest, since there are teams, but more like how do you run a league that starts in May and ends four weeks later?
Something like exams get in the way and the annual Prentice Cup playoff supported by the Toronto Blue Jays, back at the Rogers Centre after a one year hiatus at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, needs to be played at a certain time because the pro team is making the field available.
By the way, kudos to the pro team for offering their facility to school playoffs. Hint to the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Argonauts, etc.
Whoops, forgot to mention that rain usually shortens a season as there is little time to make the game up. Students, also can’t miss too many classes - or so they say.
Same old problem of municipal parks authorities treating ball diamonds better than some people care for kids. While many people mean well, the parks bureaucrats focus on summer rep leagues and don’t want the high school kiddies chewing up the fields - after a long winter that left the fields looking like a quagmire.
So, games go on, but when the parks boys give the green light.
Would be nice if the Toronto Board of Education - shutting down pools but still spending money on professional development excursions for senior staff - put one, or even two, ball diamonds, on school fields. That could help.
Upper Canada College has a diamond. I know, that’s a private school and can afford it.
Then again, a split season - starting in the Fall and finishing in the Spring makes sense. That, some say, is creative thinking. It does, but not to football coaches pr the students who want to play both sports.
However, most school sports leagues now limit students to one sport - whether that’s right or not is up for debate. So, student athletes would need to make a choice: school baseball or football?
Sit back and watch that discussion go nuts.
I agree that the way the High School baseball season is structured is ridiculous. There are lots of teams and lots of kids playing but very little thought or effort into making it a positive experience. My son’s team plays a total of 6 games plus playoffs. With that type of schedule there is no way you can build a program that justifies the effort that the kids and the coaches put in. Take the High School baseball programs in the States which play up to 50 games and most of the High Schools have their own diamonds which are beautifully maintained.
- David R