Feds buoy Round Hill’s PBL possibilities

What would a team from Round Hill look like in the Powerline Baseball League?

Would Armena and Bardo suffer or cease to exist?

Would there be enough for everyone to exist?

Those are questions that will be answered down the road. The fact of the matter is, the Federal Government has invested more than $28,000 into a new baseball complex in Round Hill, according to the Canada’s Action Plan Website. 

And although the construction is slow, it’s a matter of time before we could see another PBL member or even possible relocation of some teams that could shake up the league once again, let alone defections of players from current teams.

In the past, Round Hillers would head to the small hamlet of Armena to join up with kids from New Sarepta, Hay Lakes and Kingman areas. Once the new fields are constructed, one has to think it could spell the end for Armena’s hopes of kickstarting a youth program again and possibly jeopardize the existence of the Armena Royals men’s team, which has existed in some fashion in the modern era since 1999. Several of the core players, including all-star Ian Sherbaniuk who is from the Round Hill area, are casually talking of fleeing the last place club for their hometown diamond.

Another casualty could be Bardo – maybe not as likely with the talent they put on the field, but could two teams exist in a small market just a few miles from each other? Maybe it turns into something like what Cadogan and Provost had. However, we had something like that brewing with Bardo and Camrose in the past until the Roadrunners closed down shop with the batch of youngsters.

Still, the field is taking forever to finish, and despite rumours, no one has stepped up and said they would enter a team in one or two years once the field is finished. As much as we’d like to see another team, most would probably agree they don’t want to see it at the peril of another franchise. But there may not be much of a choice – unless a midget/junior age team steps into Round Hill much like Holden did and leaves the current players on other teams alone.

At the end of the day, it’s still all rumours and contingent on the field and the Fed’s money being used properly, which we all know takes lots of time and sometimes doesn’t amount to much.

Until then, we’ll wait and watch.

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Jason Buzzell