You might not know it from looking out your window, but spring is just around the corner, and spring in Oak Park means baseball and softball season is back. Registration for spring baseball and softball is ongoing at www.opybs.org. In person registration takes place Saturday, January 23, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Longfellow Center, 610 S. Ridgeland, Oak Park.
Oak Park Youth Baseball and Softball has been a springtime ritual for generations of Oak Park families. As OPYBS grows, it continues to make a difference in the lives of countless girls and boys in the village.
OPYBS offers all levels of play from competitive tryout teams and travel teams to non-tryout teams. At the center of it all is instruction. Through clinics for coaches and players as well as community resources, OPYBS aims to give kids more opportunities to learn and play. From the batting cages OPYBS recently installed at the River Forest Community Center and Ridgeland Common, to the partnership with AYSO to upgrade the fields at Oak Park’s Julian field, OPYBS helps build the infrastructure in the community to meet the needs of the league.
OPYBS President Greg Price notes that baseball and softball programming now exist year round thanks to the efforts of the 501(c)(3) organization. “We offer spring ball and fall ball programs for boys and girls, and we have winter training programs to keep the sport going year round.”
Spring remains the most popular season to play, and Price expects to see about 1,500 kids hit the fields in the coming months. OPYBS has expanded to serve children from the age of five through fourteen. Children who are in kindergarten and 5 years old can begin playing t-ball on teams made up of 5, 6 and 7 year-olds. Seeing a need in the community, OPYBS recently began an 8 year-old Pinto League for boys which offers the experience of machine-pitch baseball before the boys move up to manning the pitching mound themselves.
Price stresses that while teaching the kids about baseball and softball is the main idea, OPYBS is a community organization. “We have about 400 volunteers from the community, including coaches, assistants and umpire coordinators. If you’re over 16, you can apply for an umpire job, and 14, 15 and 16 year olds can work lining the fields and setting up the bases.”
Community organizations sponsor teams, allowing local businesses to support the youth of Oak Park while spotlighting their businesses. For the fourth year in a row, OPYBS is partnering with the Chicago White Sox to provide uniforms and training opportunities.
At the end of the day, Price says that baseball and softball are about having fun, sportsmanship and teamwork. “It’s America’s pastime. I remember playing in my childhood, and I hope my kids will have those memories too. The life lessons they learn from being on a team, making friends and playing a sport, it’s as American as apple pie.”