NEWBERRY COUNTY — The County of Newberry, Town of Prosperity and City of Newberry have announced an extended partnership in offering youth baseball and softball.
These entities have worked together historically and are now teaming up for a collaboration with baseball and softball. The county has offered baseball/softball as a county-wide youth sport with the older age divisions playing under the Dixie Youth Baseball (DYB) or Dixie Softball Inc. (DSI) franchise since the 1970’s. This renewed and extended partnership will be “Newberry County Baseball and Softball” and will continue to offer baseball for ages 3-17 and softball for ages 8-12.
“The goal is to provide the Newberry County community an affordable opportunity for youth to participate in baseball or softball, regardless of their beginning skill level, with a gradual path to becoming more competitive while still being afforded the opportunity to participate, have fun and advance their skills,” said Jessie Long, director of parks and recreation and Newberry County Parks and Recreation.
While the Newberry County Recreation Department will take the lead in organizing and scheduling the program, the partnership with the Town of Prosperity and City of Newberry Parks, Recreation, and Tourism is vital in ensuring the most robust baseball and softball program is being offered.
“It is also our hope that this partnership will help eliminate any confusion parents have faced in the past as to which program they should register their child(ren). Practices and games will be held at both the Prosperity fields and the City Recreation Complex,” Long said.
As part of this transformation, a new advisory committee has been selected. The advisory committee is a collection of individuals who bring unique knowledge and skills which augment the knowledge and skills of the recreation and administrative staff in order to guide the baseball and softball programs.
The advisory committee members are: Olivia Battle (Newberry), Eric Gallman (Prosperity), Gretchen Haskett (Pomaria), Montae Johnson (Prosperity), Joey Long (Prosperity), and Kerry Suber (Newberry). The committee members serve as advocates for the baseball and softball programs to the community.
“Our hope is to continue offering a program that is dedicated to working with every participant in order to improve their baseball or softball skills while building character and sportsmanship,” said Kerry Suber.
Registration for the spring 2022 season is open through February 11, 2022. For more information, visit: www.newberrycountybaseballsoftball.com or contact the Newberry County Recreation Department if you have any questions (803-924-8328 or recreation@newberrycounty.net).