TORONTO – Registration spiked this season at the Fredericton Minor Baseball Association, so much so that they have some 45-50 kids on a waiting list with nowhere to put them. The demand is such that Matt Stairs recently got an email from one father asking about private lessons for his three boys, all beginners, eager for any way to get them started.

“We have over 800 kids in our program, which we've never had before in our lives, up like 15 per cent from last year,” says the beloved former Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics slugger. “It's hard to put kids on a waiting list. We do a lot of programs. We started with a program where every night from five until 10, I sit out at a batting cage and we're full every night. Kids come in and hit and hit and hit. All we do, is hit. And it's because of the Blue Jays. Everywhere you go, it's, ‘Hey, can we wear the Blue Jays coat after home runs?’”

The surge in interest after the Blue Jays advanced to the World Series a year ago was expected, following a similar pattern following the back-to-back championships in 1992-93 and ALCS runs in 2015-16. With competition and pressures on limited field availability across the country, accommodating all the incoming players is a shared challenge for youth baseball administrators regardless of location. 

In Fredericton, there are efforts to put up five new fields, said Stairs, one of many reasons a $300,000 donation by the Blue Jays and Jays Care Foundation, split into $50,000 chunks and allocated to grassroots organizations selected by six former Canadian players, is especially timely. 

While one infusion of cash won’t resolve the shortage in roster spots, any initiative that helps improve the participation experience, even for just a small segment of players, is important. Especially so while........

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