It’s going to be a bear of a half-month for local sports volunteers if everything gets covered as required.
In less than three weeks the B.C. Senior Games will start. That event will need the services of more than a thousand non-competitors, some for brief periods, others for days at a time.
Less than a week after that event closes, baseball teams will arrive from across western Canada for the Western Canadian Senior (different kind of senior) Men’s Baseball Championship hosted by the local Orioles.
Please remember that they will need many hands to hold a quality tournament, as well.
The ball, at Butler Park, won’t require the assistance of hundreds, but will need several dozens of helping hands - contact Wayne Florko or Jimmy Maniago if you have an available set of those.
Both events are big time showcase opportunities for the region as well as providing the opportunity for local athletes to compete at the highest level.
Both events, as all big time small-town projects do, will need as much assistance from those not directly involved as they can muster.
At the ball park, for instance, it would be very helpful if a rotating groundskeeping crew could be available for the duration - so local players warming up for a match or resting between matches won’t be needed for working on that, in the expected sunshine, as well as getting ready to play.
It isn’t technically difficult and doesn’t take long each time, but is crucial to keeping things running well.
Small things, such as the ability to rest and focus, can add up to big things, such as winning games and championships.
Of course, while you are helping out, you will have the opportunity to watch some of the best, “amateur,” baseball that will be played in Canada this season.
Get on board for either event, or both, if you can.
You still have time to vote, if you haven’t already, for Butler Park in the favourites poll.
Even if you have, you still have time to message everyone in your address book with an urgent plea to support the park at baseball.ca/eng.home.cfm.
There isn’t much doubt that, pound-for-pound, few communties contain as much love and respect for their institutions as the Home Of Champions. There is no doubt that other parks in Butler’s bracket reside in areas with much larger populations than we have here - so extra miles must be walked for Butler to have a chance to move on.
It’s a good old park and I have enjoyed many hundreds of good times there, including the weekend that the engineer militia squadron kicked the artillery version’s collective butt in everything from drill to tug of war.
That being said, my favourite ball park is in Chavez Ravine, where the Dodgers play, and the best place I have every played was Capilano (now Nat Bailey) Stadium, in Vancouver.
I have, however, found a way to vote, twice, in support of our iconic home field and hope you and your friends and acquaintances will do the same.