Broadneck’s Youngest Prepare for the Game

Broadneck Baseball and Softball Club was formed four years ago by merging three local ball programs in this area:  Mago Vista, Broadneck and Cape St. Claire. The BBSC now includes 750 youth players, ages four to 17, all from the Broadneck Peninsula.

The youngest players, the four- to six-year olds, start learning the basics of the game in the T-Ball league where the emphasis is on having fun and learning good sportsmanship. The kids learn the basic skills of fielding, hitting and some of the rules of the game. T-ball guidelines have been developed to maximize the youngsters’ participation in the game, which helps to hold their attention and create the most player involvement.

The Ironbirds, a local co-ed team with ten 4- to 6-year-olds, is coached by Tom Waters and his two assistant coaches Mike Gardner and Phil Albrecht. As the kids take the field, so do numerous parents lending a hand. The biggest challenge at this age is attention span and the parents are a great help keeping the kids moving.

“We encourage parent involvement at practice and during the games,” said Albrecht. “It’s never been a problem getting parents to pitch in; we have a great group of families.”

Beginning players come to the team not knowing how to run to first base when the ball is hit or what order to run the bases. To eliminate the confusion, the Ironbirds are taught throughout the season how to run the bases as a group, always being prompted to touch each base as they run home.

The team is also shown how to play a specific base and how to play in the outfield. Each player is individually given time hitting the ball off the t-stand, learning how to correctly stand and hold a bat.

Karen Fedor, parent, said, “These coaches are all really good at keeping the kids engaged during the entire practice.”

“We really try to keep them all active and not bored, so we have to keep them moving,” remarked Albrecht.

The club's 15-team T-Ball league plays one game a week on Saturdays. The games last only an hour and during that hour every team player participates. During their offense turn, every player gets up to bat and always gets to experience the excitement of running the bases and coming home to the cheers of their family and teammates. During defense time, all the players are in the field and no one is left sitting on the bench.

Young player Michael Schwob’s mother, Susan, said that Michael is the youngest boy in their family and has always gone to his brothers’ games.

“Now he is happy to finally have his own uniform and be playing in the game,” she said as she happily cheered him on.