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Ten years ago, the Leicester Blue Sox launched its community outreach programme with the support of BaseballSoftballUK, Sport England and host of Sponsors.
Together in this time, we:
Invested in a permanent backstop at our Western Park ballpark.
Launched a successful youth programme reaching over 500 youngsters.
Had more than a dozen Leicestershire children playing internationally for the UK/GB National baseball teams.
Worked in partnership with both primary and secondary schools developing youth baseball/softball.
Hosted School Games events at Western Park, reaching over 1,000 school children.
Had continued on-field success with our adult first team, winning National titles in 2012 and 2017, and the regional Championship title in 2019.
Continued to attract new adult participants to the sport of baseball through indoor taster sessions, a second adult team and a number development team games.
Invested in coaching education with over a dozen new baseball coaches becoming qualified over the period.
Expanded into women and girls softball, initially, between 2013 and 2020, with several players being selected for GB National teams.
Followed this success with the creation of the Leicester Diamonds Women’s baseball club in 2021, attracting a whole new generation of female and non-binary players.
Despite this success, we, like many other amateur sports clubs have also struggled with the various effects of the Covid pandemic:
Our baseball field has fallen into a state of poor condition, as we were unable to access the site during most of 2020 and then with various supply chain issues in 2021, it meant we were unable to obtain the necessary materials to continue with annual maintenance.
With little or no baseball activity during 2020 and then only a limited schedule in 2021, there has been a large drop in participation and membership, which in turn has affected revenue and severely depleted reserves, which are usually set aside for ground maintenance.
Erected 10 years ago, long term wear and tear has also taken its toll on the backstop and some of the upper fence panels now urgently need replacing.
The batter boxes, catchers box and pitcher’s mound areas are unsafe and in serious need of attention.
We are looking to raise £4,500 to invest in the following areas:
£1,500 – for 10 tonnes of baseball dirt, to improve the safety of the diamond cut-out and mound areas.
£500 – for unfired clay bricks, to improve the safety and durability of the batter boxes, catchers box and pitcher’s mound areas.
£500 – for full replacement of infield and outfield plastic safety marking fence and fence poles (current fencing is over 10 years old and badly broken up)
£500 – for the hire of a ride-on roller to help level the infield and outfield playing surfaces.
£1,500 – for replacement of broken top panels of baseball backstop fence.
These investments will significantly improve the ballpark in terms of safety and playing quality and will benefit the next generation of baseball players over the course of the next decade.
The Leicester Blue Sox and The Leicester Diamonds need YOUR help!
No amount is too small and every single penny raised will be invested for the benefit of community baseball activities at Western Park.
If we are unable to raise the full amount, our plans are scalable to invest in the highest priority areas first.
We are currently tendering a bid for the BaseballSoftballUK Facilities Fund for 50% of this project, i.e. £2,250. We are hoping to raise the remaining £2,250 from this Crowdfunding Site.
The highest priority work will begin at Western Park in April 2022, so we need to raise as much money as possible over the next 8 weeks, to get us off to a good start.
Let’s go Blue Sox and Diamonds!
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