NFM Babe Ruth opens season
Saturday was a festive day for the 195 players, coaches, administrators and parents at the North Fort Myers Community Park as North Fort Myers Babe Ruth baseball held its 10th opening day ceremony.
It was also a day to be thankful, since some Babe Ruth leagues in the area won’t be having a season, and even the league in Fort Myers is going to have to get used to a new reality, at least for a while.
Melissa Coburn, new president for North Fort Myers Babe Ruth who has been on the board since 2016, said the league is fortunate to have a season.
“Other leagues have had to cancel their seasons. But we are among the fortunate ones that will,” Coburn said. “The numbers are about where they were last year. We definitely got some players from other leagues because we started sign-ups early.”
They could have had more, but many kids did not realize their leagues would not have a season until it was too late to go elsewhere, Coburn said.
Hurricane Ian did a lot of damage to area parks, especially the lighting it takes to have night games and practices. In North Fort Myers, some of the lights are working, but not enough to make playing at night safe.
As a result, the teams will only be able to hold games on the weekend unless they find a team with sufficient lighting at their park. If not the games will be in the daytime, with practices going from 5 p.m. to sunset, which is around 6:30 p.m.
For coaches like Doug Underwood (who is also Bayshore fire chief) things are going to be very different from what teams were used to in the past.
“It was important for the league to get the kids on the field. We still wanted to do something so these kids can get some normalcy in their lives,” Underwood said. “We’ve altered schedules for some weekday practices and games on the weekends, but it gives kids the opportunity to have some fun.”
“I’m glad we’re able to do it. A lot of leagues couldn’t get it together to have a season. We’re happy for the opportunity for the kids to be out there,” said Spencer Cordell, another coach. “It’s a challenge. We haven’t been able to do many weekday practices and starting the season with less practice than we’re used to.”
Once Daylight Savings Time happens on March 12, teams should be able to play games during the week, but might have to play with a 90-minute time limit if the lighting issues aren’t solved.
“The county is doing all it can to get the lighting situation resolved. They are doing a great job. They didn’t bring the hurricane,” Coburn said.
The impact in Southwest Florida has been felt. Buckingham cancelled its season and Hancock is displaced and scrambling to find fields on which to play.
This means that the North kids may have to play each other often. The 12U and 14U league has two teams, meaning they may have to play repetitively.
Last season, North’s 6U, 8U and 10U All-Stars won district crowns, with the latter being state runners-up. The storm threatened to keep North out of the tournament entirely because of the rules.
Babe Ruth offered some relief to area leagues, lifting the requirement for kids to play at least 10 games to qualify for All-Stars because the storm displaced so many kids.
“North Nation is strong. We face our adversities and we overcome. We keep going along,” Coburn said.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com