LIHU‘E — Ninety-seven boys and girls gathered at the Lihu‘e Ballpark on Sunday, October 24 to try out for a spot on one of nine Shetland Division teams. At the end of the day, all youngsters had been drafted and,
LIHU‘E — Ninety-seven boys and girls gathered at the Lihu‘e Ballpark on Sunday, October 24 to try out for a spot on one of nine Shetland Division teams. At the end of the day, all youngsters had been drafted and, with their parents, attended a drug informational session sponsored by the County of Kaua‘i. “It was a great day,” said LBL President Warren Koga. “Our enrollment increased by about 25% this year. We had to run the Shetland and Pinto Divisions separately this year because we expected this kind of interest.”
The Shetland Division accommodates 5, 6 and 7 year olds in a non-competitive, tee-ball format. Shetland Division stresses the fundamentals, and is ideal for children who have never played before, says Koga. The try out session has been held for the past two years by LBL in order to ensure that the teams are balanced among more experienced and less experienced players.
In order to take advantage of the drug education program offered by the County, the LBL required that each child attend the session, which was held immediately following the try outs. The County program was created by Councilmember Jimmy Tokioka and funded by the Council. The vision is for the County to deliver quality, drug awareness messages to families through the island’s various sports leagues. “If the leagues can help us get this message out and keep our kids drug-free, we will have come a long way in our fight against illegal drugs on Kauai,” stated Tokioka.
The program is administered by the County’s drug programs coordinator, Roy Nishida. Nishida contracted this session out to the Boys and Girls Club of Lihue, which presented “Smart Moves,” conducted by Brett Gabby, Napua Lee and William Trugillo. It included information on what are “good” and “bad” drugs, and from whom a child should accept medication of any kind.
“Anyone involved in a sports league who wants to set up one of these sessions just needs to call and schedule it through us,” stated Nishida. “We provide the educators if you provide the audience. And it’s all age-appropriate information.”
Nishida was appointed by Mayor Baptiste more than a year ago to coordinate drug prevention, treatment and enforcement programs island-wide. Nishida can be reached at 241-6312. Mayor Baptiste and Councilman Tokioka attended Sunday’s session, and congratulated parents on being involved in their kids’ lives and keeping them involved in healthy activities like baseball. The Shetland Division will kick off its season on Saturday, November 13. Teams will play multiple games per week until closing day on December 11.
Schedules and other information about LBL can be found on its newly created website: www.lihuebaseball.org. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.
If interested, please contact Kaleo Smith at 639-1591.
