Organizing a Neighborhood Baseball or Softball Game
It’s important to keep kids active and engaged! This is especially true in the summer, when kids don’t have much to do during the long summer months, and end up spending a lot of time at home. A great way to get your kids and their friends playing in the summer sun is to get together a neighborhood baseball team! With a little bit of collaboration, you and some of the neighborhood families can have teams going in no time. Here are our top tips for getting started when organizing a neighborhood baseball game for your kids. You might even want to plan a day-long neighborhood tournament as a way for your kids to get motivated to practice!
Spark Interest in your Community
Distribute flyers around the neighborhood. This will help you recruit interested players and also get to know the local families a bit better. List your contact information so that families who want to play can let you know. You can create a generic email address that you only use when organizing community events. That way, your personal information is kept private. Tell your neighbors what you have planned, and ask them to pass it on!
Decide on the Details
Once you have a comprehensive list of those who want to play, send out an email with an attached Excel document of possible practice times, so that you and your neighbors can coordinate schedules. Find a day where everyone can attend and designate that day as the time to pick teams. Before that day, gather the proper equipment or make sure that the participants have their own -- baseballs, mitts, bats, etc! You’ll also want to scope out local parks or available fields to play at. Make sure that you have a location, time and date ready after you’ve gotten your teams together. Be sure to confirm the information with all participating players.
Get in Some Practice
Once the teams have been settles try to get everyone together for a few practice sessions. And, though the game is primarily about fun, a little competitive spirit never hurts. Throw the ball around, test everyone’s skills and try to figure out which positions suit each player best. This is also the perfect time to explain the basic principles of the game to any first time players.
Plan for Game Day Festivities
With any large group gathering, it is always a nice gesture for organizers to provide snacks and drinks for the day’s activities. After all, playing baseball or any sport for that matter can work up the appetite for a child or adult. Remember to keep plenty of water on hand and healthy, refreshing snacks like fresh fruit and crackers. Ask the neighborhood parents to contribute something as well. For added fun, plan a post-game barbeque or block party.
And last but not least, enjoy playing ball! With all these steps out of the way, you just need to focus on having fun and making sure your kids have fun. Take this opportunity to learn about a new sport, keep active with your kids, or simple get to know your neighbors. The team-building nature of sports can turn any group into fast friends.
