Oceanside Minor Baseball Association is happy to be back playing ball.
The organization held its season opener on Saturday, April 30, at Springwood Park ball fields which featured a series of games, a parade of teams from tadpoles to bantam division and also refreshments for everyone.
President Rob McGorman welcomed all the players, parents, umpires, volunteers, and the OMB executive.
“After two years of COVID-19 and partial season, it’s nice to say that baseball is back,” said McGorman.
This year, McGorman said, is a rebuilding period for the OMBA. Like many sports organizations, McGorman said, they were also adversely impacted by the pandemic. The association struggled to fill rosters in three divisions going into the spring season.
“Our numbers are down easily a hundred players,” said McGorman. “It has hit us across the province of British Columbia, all of baseball and most of sports because of COVID. We need to push back and come back and play and get kids back on the field where they belong. That happens with parents that encourage their kids to take part in sports. Not just baseball but any sport.”
The OMB has been around since 1982. And throughout that time it has relied mostly on volunteers to help out and also support from local businesses.
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“We are always looking for volunteers,” said McGorman. “Many hands make short work. Right now we rely on a key six, seven people to make all of this happen. Even our sponsorship is down by 70 per cent this year. This is huge for us. It’s absolutely a catastrophe.”
One of the OMB’s major sponsors is Save-On-Foods, who McGorman said has been a staunch supporter of minor baseball for many years.
McGorman said volunteers can take on different roles. They don’t have to be part of the executive or a coach. They can take on roles such scorekeepers, announcers and give support to team by helping the coach and also players.
McGorman also expressed their gratitude to the City of Parksville for helping OMBA secure a scoreboard.
“It cost $24,000 and we worked with the city and local contractors and we managed to get it done,” said McGorman.