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Little League split shakes up baseball scene

The formation of the North Shore Baseball Association means there’s a whole new ball game in the community, with youth players and their parents needing to make a decision on which organization to register with.
Little League shakeup
The formation of the North Shore Baseball Association means there’s a whole new ball game in the community, with youth players and their parents needing to make a decision on which organization to register with.
 
The NSBA was formed this fall after the memberships of the North Van Central and Forest Hills associations voted to split from Little League, forming the new body under the umbrella of BC Minor Baseball. The NSBA has boundaries running from Deep Cove to Lions Bay and Bowen Island and will offer programming for players aged four to 24, according to its website. 
 
NSBA co-president Jacquie Griffiths, previously head of the Forest Hills association, said Forest Hills members voted nearly 80 per cent in favour of withdrawing from Little League to join BC Minor Baseball instead, but added that it was a “tough decision.”
 
“What we were finding is that we needed more options and more choice for our kids, and there was growing frustration among our membership, especially as it related to kids over the age of 12,” she said. 
 
“Little League’s business model is one that focuses in on kids who are in that age 11 and 12 range, and we’ve always had a very healthy group of players aged 13 to 18.
 
“I think for many people, they were looking at it as, ‘What’s best for my kid?’”
 
Griffiths said the ability to have more direct input in the decision-making process for rules and operations through a provincial organization, rather than a global one based out of the United States, made joining BC Minor Baseball attractive. She highlighted the recent decision from Little League officials to discontinue Big League programming for players aged 17 and 18, effective as of 2017, as a contributing factor in branching out. 
 
Wayne Hobson, administrator for the local District 5 Little League, said the two associations opting to leave came as a disappointment and a bit of a surprise, even though he was aware some concerns existed that had nothing to do with local operations. Earlier this month, Hobson said it was tough to predict what the overall impact to Little League would be on the North Shore. 
 
“We’ll lose some players. How many we’ll lose – and how many coaches we’ll lose – we just don’t know yet,” he said. 
 
Despite the changes, players who used to live within the North Van Central and Forest Hills boundaries are still eligible to play Little League baseball. Expanded boundaries for the Highlands and Lynn Valley Little League associations have been approved by Little League Canada to accommodate players within the old catchments. 
 
Additionally, Hobson said that in response to the cancellation of Big League play, Little League Canada is affiliating with the Continental Amateur Baseball Association to keep players older than 16 on the diamond. 
 
“They still have a place to play,” he said. 
 
With Little League holding a legacy on the North Shore that stretches more than 50 years, the rise of the NSBA has created somewhat of a fracture in the local baseball community. 
 
“Has it created some tensions on the North Shore? Absolutely, because change is not easy,” said Griffiths. “I think most of us respect that what there is now on the North Shore is choice.”
 
Choice, she added, is a good thing. Griffiths encouraged players and parents to research both options before deciding whether Little League or the NSBA is the right fit for them. 
 
“I’ve been really surprised with how many people who had left the North Shore to pursue other baseball options have now come back, so that’s the positive side,” she said. 
 
Registration is currently open for both NSBA and Little League play. Visit northshorebaseball.ca and eteamz.com/NVDistrict5, respectively, for more information.
 
A previous version of this story stated that BC Minor Baseball was under the umbrella of the provincial sport organization Baseball BC. However, BC Minor Baseball withdrew from Baseball BC in 2015.