Little League board members Kaelene Harrison, left, and Briana Schilling stand in one of the baseball diamonds at Volunteer Park with Joshua Harrison, 2, Kysa Harrison, 5, and Wilder Harding, 3. The board members are recruiting players for the season. Practice begins April 4.
More boys - and girls - of summer are needed.
Sign-up for Wrangell Little League began a month ago and has been extended through Saturday. Organizers said there is room for more players and volunteers.
"We just don't have the numbers," Kaelene Harrison, the player agent on the Little League board, said last Thursday. "What it will come down to is: I'll just be calling people, going through our list from last year. 'Hey, are you guys going to play this year?'"
Last year, there were just a few players shy of 100, said board president and coach Briana Schilling. "We have about 40 participants (as of last Thursday). We still need to pull in quite a bit of numbers for our season to happen."
There are four divisions of teams this year. T-ball teams are rostered with 4- to 7-year-olds; minor league teams are 7- to 10-year-olds; major league teams are 9- to 12-year-olds; and junior/senior teams are 13- to 16-year-olds. Ideally, each team will have 12 players, except for T-ball, with 10 players. Each division can have multiple teams depending on how many kids sign up to play.
The cost to play is $40 per child, unless there are more than one child per family, then the cost is $60 per family. Kids need to supply their own hats and mitts, and the Little League will provide uniforms, balls and other equipment. However, Schilling said the Little League has a big tub of mitts to loan out.
Along with the players, the Little League needs volunteers to fill multiple positions such as umpires, scorekeepers, concessions workers, assistant coaches and a junior/senior league coach.
Practice begins at the baseball diamonds at Volunteer Park on Monday and opening ceremonies take place April 30 at 10 a.m. It will also be the first game of the season and major league teams will play.
Kids wanting to participate can still register at the chamber of commerce office inside the Stikine Inn. For more information, call Harrison at 808-265-4482 or Schilling at 907-874-2855.
An umpire training clinic will be held 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, April 4 and 5, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 2.7 Mile. Free food will be provided.
The league had its first volunteer umpire sign-up last week. Jim Shoemaker said it was time for him to give back.
"I've been in Wrangell eight years now, and I didn't umpire because I managed the lodge and I'm on my fourth retirement," Shoemaker said. "But this is my opportunity to give back to the community. We have an obligation. If everybody did one thing with whatever talent they have or interest they have or willing to do something, it is going to make the community a better place."
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