Sports Editor

By all official means the deadline to register a child for recreation league baseball/softball at the Troy Parks and Recreation Department has come and went.

But that doesn’t mean the registration period is quite over, according to TPRD Youth Sports Director Vaughn Daniels.

"We’re still signing up a few," said Daniels. "For those leagues that are down a little bit, we’re still taking players and trying to get the numbers up for anybody wanting to play. Right now, we’re really just ordering uniforms and getting sponsors for the teams."

Daniels said the number of children participating in summer league ball is about the "same as it was last year", when over 800 youngsters from Troy and the surrounding area took part in the recreation season.

"Girl’s softball is down a little bit this season," said Daniels. "We lost a team each in our Angels and Ponytail leagues. With our eight-year-old girls we tried to get them on a pitching machine, but we didn’t get many girls that age signing up. So we ended up combining our eight and seven year olds to put them on a pitching machine."

Farm League (6-under) numbers were up this year according to Daniels. This season 11 teams will compete in the league, made up of both girls and boys, with over 14 players per team.

"That’s a pretty good number for that age group," he said. "The numbers are growing in our younger groups, but it’s in our older groups where they’re dropping off. We lost a team this year in our Dixie Boys (13-14 year-olds) and two teams in Dixie Minor (9-10). But we gained a team in Dixie Youth (11-12). It’s up to ten teams this season. Overall, the program is doing good and we’re up to roughly 850 kids this season."

Since area high schools are in the middle of baseball and softball competition, Daniels said the sign up for Dixie Majors (15-18), Dixie Belles (13-15) and Dixie Debs (16-18), will be later next month.

"We get a lot of kids from the high schools that play in our league," Daniels said. "That’s the reason we start later with them."

Opening Day is set for April 7th at the Troy Sportsplex, but prior to that the TPRD will be holding registration for Swim Team on Monday, March 19th and will continue throughout the week.

"The only requirement for Swim Team is that the kids have to already know how to swim," said Daniels. "If anyone is interested the fee is the same as for baseball, $25 for one child, $40 for two, and $60 for three or more."