By Kim J. Harmon

With two trips to the Cal Ripken World Series, national honors, several New England Regional championships and several more Connecticut state championships it’s hard to imagine the youth baseball experience in Newtown getting any better.

But that is exactly what the Babe Ruth Baseball program is seeking to do – make the experience better for the more than 1,000 kids who play spring ball, travel ball and fall ball.

And the process has already begun.

The board of directors recently expanded from four members to seven and is led by president Matt McWilliams and vice-president Ron Schmidt. Pete Cochrane – the longest standing member of the board – serves as secretary with Ed Marks as the treasurer, Warren Spencer as the director of spring and fall ball, Tim Braun as the director of operations and Bill Kneisel as the director of summer baseball.

That’s just the start, though. There are many more angles from which to attack the process.

Volunteerism …

“Our objective,” said Mr Schmidt, “is to get more people to step up and volunteer. Our volunteer recruitment has gone well, but we are looking into other areas … especially what I feel is a big untapped resource, the moms.”

One of the first moms to step forward was Karen Kelley, who will serve as the league controller (the money man or, in this case, the money woman). But many more will be needed for concessions management at all age levels, field maintenance, fund raising and sponsor recruitment.

“Historically,” Mr McWilliams said, “our league has been managed by older age group parents. With so many younger players (in the league), we’d like those parents to become more involved.”

The internet …

A new web site – www.newtownbaseball.com – is already up and will serve as the focal point of Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball. The template for the site came from a friendly source in Virginia, so some of the content has yet to be revised but before long all the necessary information – especially about online registrations – and information on each division will be posted.

Online registration will begin with the spring 2006 season and parents will be able to save $20 per child if they register online between January 1 and February 17.

In season, expect to see action pictures and current standings posted on the web site.

And, of course, the board will need some people – like Jessica Braun – who will serve as the web managers of their respective divisions, responsible for updating standings, schedules (including postponements and cancellations), results and other important information. The program is Front Page and Mr McWilliams said the learning curve is only 30 to 40 minutes.

“Our intent,” said Mr Schmidt, “is to manage the entire league through the web site.”

Sponsorships …

The board will make a big push to find the right person to fill a new position, Director of Fundraising, and is seeking to significantly increase its sponsorships from local and area corporations and businesses.

On top of such sponsorships at the fields and the scoreboards, the new web site will include banner ads with links to the businesses’ own web sites.

Community …

Newtown American Youth Football and the Newtown Youth Basketball Association have built a strong relationship with their respective high school programs – from the coaches right down to the players – and Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball hopes to cultivate the same sort of relationship.

High school players could serve as assistant coaches or umpires (Matt McGrath will put a big push on raising recruitment levels for the young men in blue) or earn community service credits by helping maintain some of the fields. With that sort of relationship, the board may be able to enhance the upper level Babe Ruth program and keep kids playing from ages 13 to 19.

“We want a smooth-running organization with a high level of volunteers,” said Mr Schmidt.

And the board is asking for your help. It meets, generally, the first Tuesday of the month at the Edmond Town Hall and anyone is invited to attend. But also be prepared for the big Winter Banquet, a league-wide event to kick off the 2006 season, in which the board hopes to feature a former major league baseball player as a keynote speaker and other events, such as a silent auction.

The youth baseball experience has been pretty good … but the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball board of directors says it can be better and the work has already begun. So, who wants to help out?