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Buy This PhotoAustin Spooner delivers the tag for the ORR Bull Dogs during a Gateway League baseball game.
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July 28, 2013 12:00 AM
"; aryZooms[imgCounter] = "javascript: NewWindow(870,625,window.document.location+'&Template=photos&img="+imgCounter+"')";Mike Messina didn't like what he saw when he took a good, hard look at the future of baseball in Southeastern Massachusetts a few years ago.
"All the towns around here, they're all experiencing the same things. All the baseball leagues are losing kids," said Messina. "There's a lack of interest; they're either playing games, or playing other sports. The numbers are dropping, but the quality of the baseball is improving, because you're only getting the kids who really love the game and want to play it."
Messina, president of the Wareham-based Gateway Babe Ruth League, also saw it happening within his own organization.
"Just like all the other leagues, we didn't want to admit it, either, but that's what we saw," he said. "That's what the numbers indicated. My charter used to have 17 teams. Last year we had six, and this year, just five. The kids aren't there."
Messina and Gateway Babe Ruth decided to open their doors up to other teams and leagues that were in similar dire straits.
"We're not looking to steal kids from anybody else. We're just looking to offer a chance for baseball to stay alive in this area," he said. "In fact, we've had a number of kids play in our league that still play in their hometown league. We just ask them to give us their schedules and we make ours around theirs. We're trying to make it as accessible as we can."
The Gateway Babe Ruth program has been around for a number of years, but it was about four years ago that Bourne joined up.
"That grew to a couple of more towns last year, and then this past winter, it just exploded," Messina said.
Last year, Gateway had 17 teams; this past season, it expanded to 32.
"They were all Babe Ruth charters like ourselves, but they had dwindled down in size. Each only had about three or four teams, and they were getting sick of playing each other all the time," Messina said. "The idea with bringing in other leagues to Gateway is to give these kids a chance to play against other teams and other competition. We want to get more towns involved so it makes it more exciting for the kids."
After some initial concern about how it would all work out, Messina met with representatives of the incoming leagues and they hammered out a plan to allow each league to maintain its own identity under the Gateway banner.
"It's almost like each team is its own franchise," Messina said. "We made sure nobody could load up into a super-power team, and it was pretty even. Some teams still had some growing pains, but I think now that they've all played a full season, they understand how to make it work and next year, there will be even more parity in the league."
Messina is already eyeing four new possible additions to the league next year, and is also hoping to bring in Falmouth, the only Cape team not yet in Gateway. They would also like to welcome in players, teams and leagues from the Acushnet, Fairhaven and New Bedford areas as well, if they are interested. Gateway is already running an American League that encompasses the Cape teams and a National League that covers the off-Cape teams, but said that he is looking to break both leagues up into smaller divisions as the Gateway umbrella expands.
Gateway also has two different leagues-within-the-league: the Babe Ruth league and the Varsity league.
"The Babe Ruth league is for the incoming players and those who don't make the more elite Varsity league," Messina explained. "We think the Varsity league is equivalent to AAU baseball and a lot of AAU players are joining because it's cheaper and there's less travel, with the same quality of baseball."
While AAU teams can collect individual player fees of between $1,500-$3,000, the teams under the Gateway charter charge just $175 per season.
"All the other teams and chartered leagues handle their own registration and have their own fees, which are right around the same amount," Messina said. "Then I collect a small amount from each league to pay for the trophies we give out, the banquet, and umpires for the playoff games."
Messina began putting the league website (www.gatewaybaberuth.com) together in March, and before the season was over, the site had already logged over 35,000 unique hits. Some of the other leagues that had joined up with Gateway even abandoned their own sites and began using the Gateway site as their main web presence.
Gateway had one person do all the scheduling for 32 teams, taking into account everyone's school sports schedules, graduation dates, confirmations, and even making sure that high school-aged pitchers didn't throw a ball for the Gateway league until their scholastic season was over.
"Not one kid missed a school or another league game because of the schedule," Messina said. "As a result, we've seen the partnership between us and the schools start to grow."
The 2013 season was a rousing success. The Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins won the Varsity League after taking the American League crown and defeating the National League-winning (and defending Varsity champion) Wareham Tigers.
In the Babe Ruth League, the Sandwich Anglers won the National League and the Martha's Vineyard Angels captured the American League, but the two teams were unable to meet to determine a BRL champ.
As great as 2013 was, Messina thinks next year will be even better, and that this consolidation of leagues is the best way to keep baseball moving forward in this era.
"I want to see it keep growing, and being a stronger league," he said. "One where we can be a partner for high schools and middle schools in prepping the kids for school ball. I'd love to see more kids, more talent."
"There are so many charters out there that are in the same position these teams were in. They're about to die off, to just dissolve. Those teams that started playing with us, the interest came back and they're growing and getting stronger again. There's still room for other charters to do it, too."
Gateway Babe Ruth will be holding fall tryouts and evaluations for all 12-year-olds who will be eligible for Babe Ruth in the 2014 spring season from Acushnet, Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Rochester and Wareham. The tryouts will be held Sept. 8 and 15. For more information, visit www.gatewaybaberuth.com.
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Buy This PhotoAustin Spooner delivers the tag for the ORR Bull Dogs during a Gateway League baseball game.
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By
July 28, 2013 12:00 AM
"; aryZooms[imgCounter] = "javascript: NewWindow(870,625,window.document.location+'&Template=photos&img="+imgCounter+"')";Mike Messina didn't like what he saw when he took a good, hard look at the future of baseball in Southeastern Massachusetts a few years ago.
"All the towns around here, they're all experiencing the same things. All the baseball leagues are losing kids," said Messina. "There's a lack of interest; they're either playing games, or playing other sports. The numbers are dropping, but the quality of the baseball is improving, because you're only getting the kids who really love the game and want to play it."
Messina, president of the Wareham-based Gateway Babe Ruth League, also saw it happening within his own organization.
"Just like all the other leagues, we didn't want to admit it, either, but that's what we saw," he said. "That's what the numbers indicated. My charter used to have 17 teams. Last year we had six, and this year, just five. The kids aren't there."
Messina and Gateway Babe Ruth decided to open their doors up to other teams and leagues that were in similar dire straits.
"We're not looking to steal kids from anybody else. We're just looking to offer a chance for baseball to stay alive in this area," he said. "In fact, we've had a number of kids play in our league that still play in their hometown league. We just ask them to give us their schedules and we make ours around theirs. We're trying to make it as accessible as we can."
The Gateway Babe Ruth program has been around for a number of years, but it was about four years ago that Bourne joined up.
"That grew to a couple of more towns last year, and then this past winter, it just exploded," Messina said.
Last year, Gateway had 17 teams; this past season, it expanded to 32.
"They were all Babe Ruth charters like ourselves, but they had dwindled down in size. Each only had about three or four teams, and they were getting sick of playing each other all the time," Messina said. "The idea with bringing in other leagues to Gateway is to give these kids a chance to play against other teams and other competition. We want to get more towns involved so it makes it more exciting for the kids."
After some initial concern about how it would all work out, Messina met with representatives of the incoming leagues and they hammered out a plan to allow each league to maintain its own identity under the Gateway banner.
"It's almost like each team is its own franchise," Messina said. "We made sure nobody could load up into a super-power team, and it was pretty even. Some teams still had some growing pains, but I think now that they've all played a full season, they understand how to make it work and next year, there will be even more parity in the league."
Messina is already eyeing four new possible additions to the league next year, and is also hoping to bring in Falmouth, the only Cape team not yet in Gateway. They would also like to welcome in players, teams and leagues from the Acushnet, Fairhaven and New Bedford areas as well, if they are interested. Gateway is already running an American League that encompasses the Cape teams and a National League that covers the off-Cape teams, but said that he is looking to break both leagues up into smaller divisions as the Gateway umbrella expands.
Gateway also has two different leagues-within-the-league: the Babe Ruth league and the Varsity league.
"The Babe Ruth league is for the incoming players and those who don't make the more elite Varsity league," Messina explained. "We think the Varsity league is equivalent to AAU baseball and a lot of AAU players are joining because it's cheaper and there's less travel, with the same quality of baseball."
While AAU teams can collect individual player fees of between $1,500-$3,000, the teams under the Gateway charter charge just $175 per season.
"All the other teams and chartered leagues handle their own registration and have their own fees, which are right around the same amount," Messina said. "Then I collect a small amount from each league to pay for the trophies we give out, the banquet, and umpires for the playoff games."
Messina began putting the league website (www.gatewaybaberuth.com) together in March, and before the season was over, the site had already logged over 35,000 unique hits. Some of the other leagues that had joined up with Gateway even abandoned their own sites and began using the Gateway site as their main web presence.
Gateway had one person do all the scheduling for 32 teams, taking into account everyone's school sports schedules, graduation dates, confirmations, and even making sure that high school-aged pitchers didn't throw a ball for the Gateway league until their scholastic season was over.
"Not one kid missed a school or another league game because of the schedule," Messina said. "As a result, we've seen the partnership between us and the schools start to grow."
The 2013 season was a rousing success. The Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins won the Varsity League after taking the American League crown and defeating the National League-winning (and defending Varsity champion) Wareham Tigers.
In the Babe Ruth League, the Sandwich Anglers won the National League and the Martha's Vineyard Angels captured the American League, but the two teams were unable to meet to determine a BRL champ.
As great as 2013 was, Messina thinks next year will be even better, and that this consolidation of leagues is the best way to keep baseball moving forward in this era.
"I want to see it keep growing, and being a stronger league," he said. "One where we can be a partner for high schools and middle schools in prepping the kids for school ball. I'd love to see more kids, more talent."
"There are so many charters out there that are in the same position these teams were in. They're about to die off, to just dissolve. Those teams that started playing with us, the interest came back and they're growing and getting stronger again. There's still room for other charters to do it, too."
Gateway Babe Ruth will be holding fall tryouts and evaluations for all 12-year-olds who will be eligible for Babe Ruth in the 2014 spring season from Acushnet, Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Rochester and Wareham. The tryouts will be held Sept. 8 and 15. For more information, visit www.gatewaybaberuth.com.
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication.
Not sure how to add your comment? Here's how
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