BOONE SCHOOL BOARD RESCUES RUTH BASEBALL PROGRAM

     ELEMENTARY BOND ISSUE MONDAY - Boone County Fairgrounds, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

 

     BOONE RUTH BASEBALL PROGRAM DIES   

 

     You locals are probably well aware of this. Out of town viewers may not be. But, Babe Ruth baseball in Boone appears to be "dead."

     Babe Ruth baseball in Boone was a gigantic youth program in the late 1950's, 60's and many years beyond. But, "As the World Turns," change evolves. 

     Kevin Houston, who has been heavily involved in the local program for years, told me there was no program due to the pandemic last summer and the year before that, there were just four teams with about 40 players involved. So, no attempt was made for a program this coming summer.

     Little League, another strong Boone program for years, has also been struggling and Houston thinks much of the decline in these programs is due to the increasing advent of AAU traveling type programs, which promise parents they will increase their child's potential in exchange for some pretty hefty participation fees. Few opportunities remain for the "average" player.

     Nationally, Babe Ruth Baseball still exists. It was founded in 1951 with a 13-15 year age group targeted. Starting in 1966, a 16-18 division was offered and a 13-year old division began in 1974. The Boone program featured the 13-15 and then, the 13 only division.

     Ruth claims there are still 60,000 teams in the country with 11,000 leagues and almost two million volunteers.

     At its best, in Boone, there were numerous league teams, hundreds of participants and Ruth All Star state champion contenders. In 1962, the Boone All Star team won the state, the regional (7 state champs) and earned a spot with just seven other teams in the world as Ruth World Series entrants. That series was played in Bridgeton, New Jersey and it was that group, 13-15 year olds at the time, that, eventually, became the Iowa High School State Champion team as juniors/seniors in 1965.

     I, the Kornerman, coached regular Ruth teams for over 20 years, had the pleasure of managing that 1962 team to the World Series and even served as an Iowa State Babe Ruth Director for several years.

    Many of us remember when Ruth baseball in Boone was IT. Families never dreamed of taking a vacation or, in any other way, detracting from the Babe Ruth season. Memorial Park was the shrine, the parents and public, in general, its flock and the young players its idols for a good portion of the summer, until the completion of tournament play.

    It was a successful and interesting time.

    

    BUT NOW, FOR A MORE POSITIVE "REST OF THE STORY"

    The Boone Community School District has come in, on a white horse, to alleviate some of the Ruthless pain.

    Thanks to the district, there will still be organized Ruth-age youth baseball in Boone.

    Its such a formative age for furthering baseball skills that Boone High School Activities Director Brett Collins and the Toreador baseball coach, Charlie Eastlund, realized the loss of the Ruth league would be a real negative for the future of Boone High School baseball. 

    As a result, they spoke to the school board about the possibility of organizing an eighth-grade specific baseball team, to be sponsored by the school district.

    The board voted unanimously to approve the addition of this team.

    There are several positives. (1) It will provide an opportunity for eighth-graders to participate on a school-sponsored team. (2) It will reduce the need to form tournament/AAU or traveling teams for kids to have opportunities. (3) That will keep kids playing in Boone rather than Ames or Des Moines or elsewhere. (4) It will expose kids to a school-sponsored 7-12 Systemic Program and (5) it will move forward what seven of 10 of the other conference schools already offer at the middle school level.

     Funding for a coach, umpires, equipment and travel expenses will be absorbed by the school.

     Practice will begin in mid-May and will be consistent with the ninth-grade team utilizing high school coaching staff. Games will be doubleheaders and held at Memorial Park, since it is the only field in Boone with appropriate dimensions, although the middle school field could also be used for practice. 

     The ninth-graders will play at home with the eighth-graders away and vice versa throughout the schedule.

     Activities Director Collins said that families are used to paying a fee for participating in Babe Ruth, so they may be requested to assist with the purchase of uniform tops. He also indicated that, due to a lower numbers of softball participants, an eighth-grade specific team for girls and a seventh-grade specific team for baseball have not been proposed but study of those possibilities will continue.

K-----K

     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Kathryn (Kay) Burt Miller, 80, Woodland Hills, CA. After a divorce, she moved near a sister in California. Married Bernard Miller and became a step-mom to his three children from an earlier marriage. Survivors include a daughter, Karla Efkamp Keigley of Boone. Services in Ogden.........Jackie Earl Davis, 77, Ogden.

K-----K

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