Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:18 amMike Griffenberg,
TR Sports Writer
Baseball is the farthest thing from most peoples' minds in December.
For 27 students at Valley City High School, baseball might be on their minds right now.
In March, VCHS will field its first baseball team since the mid 1990s when it was a club sport.
"We've been trying to get a school program going for a couple years," Valley City Baseball Association president Ron Zitzow said. "Some of the kids just wanted to play more baseball than what was being offered in the summer." Not only will the students have the opportunity to play baseball in the spring, but they will also have the opportunity to compete for a state championship. The school district provided no funding for the team (that is done by the VCBA and the Hi-Liner Booster Club), but does sponsor the sport, which means the Hi-Liners will be eligible for the state tournament this year. There's a long way to go for the Hi-Liners, though.. About $3,000 dollars. Zitzow estimated that it would take between $11,000 and $12,000 to finance the club. As of now, the VCBA and booster club have raised $9,000.
The $3,000 should not be a problem, though, as there are more fundraisers on the way, including: a coupon promotion with Subway, a possible baked-potato stand at the Winter Show, a possible baseball garage sale and a possible three-on-three basketball tournament.
The baseball team has also been helped by sizeable donations, one of which was made by the Larry Becker Memorial, which was created to honor Larry Becker, who was a baseball enthusiast. Becker passed away on Nov. 3.
The memorial donated $1,930 and Becker's employer, Cargill in Spiritwood, donated $1,750.
"Larry was just an avid baseball fan," Zitzow said. "His favorite person was Mickey Mantle, and he had quite a bit of baseball memorabilia in his house. So, [the family] thought this was an opportunity for the memorial to help out the program."
The school district may not be contributing any funds this season, but that might not be the case next season. Zitzow said that if the program is successfull, meaning a large turnout of kids, then the school board will more than likely approve money for coaching next season.
The recipient of that money is still undetermined. Zitzow said the VCBA is close to picking a coach but have not named one yet.
Whoever the coach is, that person will take the field with the Hi-Liners on March 19 when the team begins practice. The Hi-Liners' first game will be in mid-April.
They will play in the Eastern Dakota Conference, with some Class B schools making up the non-conference schedule.
The 27 kids that are signed up to play far exceeded the number that Zitzow had hoped for. He hoped for 13 or 14, enough to field a varsity team. Instead there are enough kids to fill a varsity and a junior varsity roster.
The larger-than-expected turnout does have its cons, though. The team has to come up with more money than was anticipated.
Zitzow is far from upset about the extra costs.
"I was happy that there was just that much interest," he said. "I was really surprised that there was 27 kids interested in playing baseball."
There will come a time when wins and losses matter most to the Hi-Liner baseball team, but according to Zitzow, that won't be this year.
"Our goal is to become established and get some kids that are really interested in the game and want to learn more about the game," he said. "Hopefully we can put a team together that can play well and be competitive."
I love the part about competitve team. Hopefully they'll be better on the diamond than on the FB field or BB court.
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TR Sports Writer
Baseball is the farthest thing from most peoples' minds in December.
For 27 students at Valley City High School, baseball might be on their minds right now.
In March, VCHS will field its first baseball team since the mid 1990s when it was a club sport.
"We've been trying to get a school program going for a couple years," Valley City Baseball Association president Ron Zitzow said. "Some of the kids just wanted to play more baseball than what was being offered in the summer." Not only will the students have the opportunity to play baseball in the spring, but they will also have the opportunity to compete for a state championship. The school district provided no funding for the team (that is done by the VCBA and the Hi-Liner Booster Club), but does sponsor the sport, which means the Hi-Liners will be eligible for the state tournament this year. There's a long way to go for the Hi-Liners, though.. About $3,000 dollars. Zitzow estimated that it would take between $11,000 and $12,000 to finance the club. As of now, the VCBA and booster club have raised $9,000.
The $3,000 should not be a problem, though, as there are more fundraisers on the way, including: a coupon promotion with Subway, a possible baked-potato stand at the Winter Show, a possible baseball garage sale and a possible three-on-three basketball tournament.
The baseball team has also been helped by sizeable donations, one of which was made by the Larry Becker Memorial, which was created to honor Larry Becker, who was a baseball enthusiast. Becker passed away on Nov. 3.
The memorial donated $1,930 and Becker's employer, Cargill in Spiritwood, donated $1,750.
"Larry was just an avid baseball fan," Zitzow said. "His favorite person was Mickey Mantle, and he had quite a bit of baseball memorabilia in his house. So, [the family] thought this was an opportunity for the memorial to help out the program."
The school district may not be contributing any funds this season, but that might not be the case next season. Zitzow said that if the program is successfull, meaning a large turnout of kids, then the school board will more than likely approve money for coaching next season.
The recipient of that money is still undetermined. Zitzow said the VCBA is close to picking a coach but have not named one yet.
Whoever the coach is, that person will take the field with the Hi-Liners on March 19 when the team begins practice. The Hi-Liners' first game will be in mid-April.
They will play in the Eastern Dakota Conference, with some Class B schools making up the non-conference schedule.
The 27 kids that are signed up to play far exceeded the number that Zitzow had hoped for. He hoped for 13 or 14, enough to field a varsity team. Instead there are enough kids to fill a varsity and a junior varsity roster.
The larger-than-expected turnout does have its cons, though. The team has to come up with more money than was anticipated.
Zitzow is far from upset about the extra costs.
"I was happy that there was just that much interest," he said. "I was really surprised that there was 27 kids interested in playing baseball."
There will come a time when wins and losses matter most to the Hi-Liner baseball team, but according to Zitzow, that won't be this year.
"Our goal is to become established and get some kids that are really interested in the game and want to learn more about the game," he said. "Hopefully we can put a team together that can play well and be competitive."
I love the part about competitve team. Hopefully they'll be better on the diamond than on the FB field or BB court.
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