JAMESTOWN-America’s Favorite Pastime appears to lose support gradually year-by-year according to U-8 Travel Baseball Coach Joshua Cosme.
“Each year, the (Travel Baseball) league seems to shrink,” Cosme said. “Many kids leave the Babe Ruth league and join City Rec because the price is much cheaper, or otherwise the kids won’t be recognized by the All-Star team.”
“Kids tend to fall off around the age of 12 as they join other sports like football and basketball.”
Cosme said he believes Jamestown doesn’t appreciate baseball as much as bigger cities.
“Baseball is watered down around here compared to cities like Rochester and Buffalo,” Cosme said. “Those cities take baseball much more seriously while Jamestown takes basketball and football much more seriously.”
Cosme specifically addressed what him and his colleagues are looking for this summer.
“The children we are looking for have either failed to make the All-Star season or hope to continue to play baseball after the House season ends,” Cosme said. “We hope to start the kids young, teaching them fundamentals and allowing them to build a winning culture. Hopefully we can have a successful high school program down the line.”
The Travel Team will have a tryout Saturday from 4-6 P.M at Allen Park. Kids from all over the county are expected to participate from all over the county.
A tournament will take place from July 13-16th in Rochester for those who made the team. Cosme said he hopes to secure more funding in order to alleviate costs for travel, food, lodging and uniforms. He also plans to have a “fun night” at an arcade and gulf-cart course.
I think this is awesome, but our current Allstar teams could use fundraising too, as again, travel, lodging, food, etc. is difficult for those families as well. I, myself, am proud to say that 2 of my children have been a part of the Jamestown Babe Ruth League and Allstars for many years and I can verify that it is very hard to come up with the money to make it all happen…but somehow, we squeak by and make it happen. Could it be possible to start fundraising efforts specifically for these extra programs? I know the families already involved are dedicated to making it a success.