Stowe Youth Baseball Onward and Upward
Hi Everyone,
There’s a new leadership team that’s taking the reigns of our great program.
It’s been nothing but a pleasure (even the frustrating times) to be involved with SYB for the last 5-6 years. I first came into the job when a call to get Jake onto what I thought was the proper team turned into a solicitation to be President and you know…that’s how it happens.
I’m not going to spend your time talking about all the great things we all did together, because you know but I do want to say that I’m very excited for the new team (and one vetran) to be taking over. Scott Harvey, our new President with Andy Campbell, Megan Hand, Kathleen James, Matt Brittain and Gary Gillespie will usher in the 2024 season and continue the care, detrmination and drive to continue with the great traditions of great baseball here in Stowe.
I would like to leave you all with a final thought about how special Baseball is as a sport, particularly for youth. Baseball is unlike any other sport (that I’ve been involved with) because it takes SO long to become proficient and it doesn’t just take a long time, it requires many aspects to master. It includes physical coordination, there is not many things more difficult than hitting, throwing or catching a baseball, emotional fortitude to face failure after failure and keep coming back, or to get plunked by a ball and to come back, intellectual openess, players must learn not only the rules but the nuance of the game (the game within the game) to really flourish and it takes all of these things to be done by a group of 9 starters who are all at different levels. Baseball is difficult, it takes a lot and that’s why it’s so great.
Unfortunately I also think that’s why it’s waning in many areas. Baseball is not a sport of instant gratification. It’s the worst sport for that. But there’s no other sport where the joy of self esteem is on such beautiful display. When your player FINALLY gets that solid hit or makes that catch – WOW! And it’s because it didn’t come easy. And that’s what we have here in Stowe, at least that’s what we’ve been doing…having fun with kids at something that doesn’t come easy!
Of course there are the adult challenges, we grown ups have to deal with money and schedules, and priorities and because baseball is so unique in what it requires (specialized fields, specialized equipment, specialized knowledge) it can be a real challenge for large and small towns. We are so lucky here in Stowe to have the support of our Rec Department, currently, Matthew Frazee, David Danfoth and Kelli Millick and so fortunate to have had Bruce Godin (before David). The partnership there is vital to continued growth and success here in Stowe and I encourage any of you who can to pay attention to the plans at the Rec fields because there are big plans for that space and baseball needs to have vocal supporters throughout the process in order to ensure a great future.
My last pitch is for a continued effort towards local baseball. We have not had many options in Stowe and Lamoille County for the past years for players after Little League and this is a problem. It’s a problem because if kids don’t see others playing, if the barrier to continue to play requires travel or money, time or all three, it makes it harder to see a path, for parents more than kids. That’s why college baseball in Vermont is so important. Middlebury, Castleton, UVM (Club Team), St. Mikes, all of these colleges demonstrate a path and potential to continue. I’ve started a Babe Ruth leage in Lamoille County but, as with everything, it needs support from you all. Currently there’s only one team and for there to be more, we need kids who want to play to stay local and we need coaches who can step up. It’s possible to have great baseball in Stowe and Lamoille County – we’ve proven it and we can continue to prove it, but we need our boys to stay here to make it happen and of course we need to match their drive, desire and ability so that they can continue to grow.
Ok thank you for reading, I htink it’s appropriate with all the emails I’ve sent. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this and on behalf of myself, Andrew Kneale, Alison Kaminer, thank you to all the parents, coaches, volunteers and most of all THE PLAYERS for keeping baseball alive and well in this little corner!
See you out there,
Damon Brink