The Stanley Park Optimist Ball Program: An Overview

Back on 1978 a group of local parents got together and founded an informal ball program so their kids could play ball. The program was so successful that within a few years it had grown to the point that the operation require more structure, facilities and volunteers --- which is where the Optimist Club of Stanley Park "enters" the game!

The ball program continued to flourish and, over the years, expanded from a T-Ball league for boys to include Blastball, as many as 3 age brackets for T-Ball and 2 age brackets for 3-Pitch with all play evolving to being co-ed. Up until 2024, when operation of the Ball Program was handed off to the Stanley Park Community Association, each year* 400 to 600 children of ages 3-13 were able to play ball at the recreational level thanks to the efforts of club members and close to two hundred volunteer coaches and assistants. Sponsorships and donations helped keep the registration fee reasonable for everyone but the Club also offered subsidized registration to eliminate any financial barrier from participation. The Club also supplied all necessary equipment: bats, balls, helmets, masks, catcher's gear, gloves, sanitizer, etc. so everyone could play and play safely.   *Unfortunately, Covid restrictions caused the complete shutdown of play in 2020 and 2021 and 2022 was a "recovery" year.

Stanley Park Ball was, by far, the largest program that The Optimist Club of Stanley Park operated. It was one of the City of Kitchener's Affiliated Sports Groups but was not associated with any provincial nor national sports body. The ball program was not dependent on the Club for financial support but did recieve grants to help with the costs of specific program enhancements from:

• • the Kitchener Sports Association for:  the play screens at Franklin and Midland parks, several grants for over the years for caged batting helmets and infielder masks, ongoing support for fee-assistance with registrations so no one was ever turned away from play for financial reasons
  • Rangers Reach, over several seasons, for additional masks infielders in both T-Ball leagues could also have face protection 
  • Tobacco Free for fincial support initiating that aspect of our program
  • The Community Foundation for supplying a water jug to each team, i.e.over 50 jugs, and a grant for the purchase of gloves for lending purposes to players in need of one. 
  • Dominos for supplying complimentary pizzas to our coaching volunteers and crew of officials
  • the City of Kitchener and both local school boards for helping us promote the program by distributing our flyers and registration forms and posting on various bulletin boards and websites.

Play in our ball program was open to everyone with play in an appropriate league based on age. 

Each year the season ended with a Hot-Dog Day Party that was held on the final Saturday of the season utilizing all 4 diamonds at Wilson Park and featured the championship games along with entertainment by Erick & Kathy, face-painters, jumping castles, various activities/games, treats such as candy floss, and special guests such as Rangers Tex, the police and firefighters. When the event got too big and busy, the format was changed and each team partied at their last scheduled game at Franklin Park/School with Domino's pizza. Team photos, awards and trophies were distributed at  those celebrations that were spread out over 3 or 4 days.

Over the years, we shifted the officating of the games, more and more,  to youth as young as 11 umpiring with older youth serving as trainers and supervisors in conjunction with a strictly enfored "No Abuse" policy. We also had a mandated requirement for teams involved in competitive play to have a Sportsmanship Manager actively involved as every event.  This "Umpire" program provided local youngsters the opportunity to get a first-time job, learn more about the game, and develop confidence and their ability to make quick decisions all while earning some money. As years passed, the crew grew to involve over 40 youth and had cost of over $8,000 --- and worth every penny! (It was the discretionary bonuses we paid that proved it!) This truly became a Youth Development Program for our Club.