Vote to come on Baseball Alberta?

A proposal to the Powerline Baseball League of possibly joining Baseball Alberta for the first time in many years is still up in the air.

“We’ve had some teams give us grief for not having two umpires, and unfortunately, unless we are with Baseball Alberta, I just can’t guarantee two umps in Armena,” said Armena Royals manager Jason Buzzell. “Camrose’s rep umpires are assigned out of (Zone 5), and those umpires are under Baseball Alberta. We only have one local umpire that can come out on a regular basis.”

A small contingent of officials in the Vegreville areas are taking care of Ryley and Holden, but that’s a different zone than Camrose’s, and there’s only a handful from that area. With games every night in Ryley, Holden or Bardo, those umpires are not available for Armena to use.

Baseball Alberta charges recreational men’s leagues $200, plus $50 per team to be covered. For the six-team league, that would result in a $500 bill for the season. Approximately $85 per team. It is not possible for only one or some of the teams to be covered, according to Baseball Alberta.

The league is moving closer to a vote on the matter. Some teams mentioned concerns with restrictions Baseball Alberta could put on equipment such as helmets.

Posted on April 3,2010 by Jason Buzzell