Youth sports across Manitoba came to a screeching halt amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring, but this week, hundreds of baseball teams will be able to lace up their cleats for the first time this season.
However, action on the ball diamond this summer will both look and feel different.
Much like the province’s “ease-back” strategy, Baseball Manitoba is also implementing different phases for allowing its athletes to return to play.
Phase 1 begins Monday with teams allowed to conduct tryouts, training camps and practices. Phase 2 will see regular-season games get underway, with July 1 as a target date.
“We’re excited that our first phase is just training, so it’s going to help get the people, our members, coaches, players adjusted to what a baseball session looks like,” says Baseball Manitoba’s executive director Jason Miller.
Miller added that it’ll be a lot to get used to for both players and coaches.
“There’s going to be extra hand sanitizing, there’s going to be equipment sanitizing and there’s going to be no shared equipment, no sunflower seeds, no spitting, no going to your mouth to moisten your fingers before you throw the ball,”
Minor baseball usually wraps up near the end of June, the exact time frame it’s expected to get underway this year.
“We’re all getting used to it in our normal daily lives so I hope that people can understand that we’ve done everything that’s been asked of us by the province so that we can play our game safely,” says Miller.
As part of the province’s Phase 2 reopening plan, other sports are also able to kick off with some adjustments. Those sports include soccer, hockey, volleyball, basketball and bowling.
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