La Conner youth teams now on school campus

La Conner youth league teams made an adjustment this spring.

The teams had to shift venues after last year’s sale of Hedlin’s ballfield on Maple Avenue.

Youth practices and games are now on the La Conner schools campus.

The transition has required a team effort on several levels, youth league treasurer and board member Catey Ritchie said.

“We really want to thank the school for accommodating the La Conner Little League this year,” Ritchie told the Weekly News. “We couldn’t have had a season without them.”

Ritchie praised former board members Reb Broker, Max Gellert and Brian Masonholder for salvaging what they could from Hedlin’s ballfield and transporting it to the school.

She likewise singled out Pete and Debra Wedin for having put in the time to refurbish the youth league bleachers that were constructed by Vlad Huguet in 1999 as his Eagle Scout project. Savage Roofing pitched in the materials, said Ritchie.

In addition, an anonymous donor purchased a portable pitching mound in honor of late softball coach JoAnne Self. Portable mounds allow the use of a single field by baseball and softball teams of various ages.

Ritchie noted further that Clever Kathy Designs “went above and beyond in helping to get uniforms printed for the kids on a short turnaround.”

“Coaches gave their time to cobble together adequate fields, chalking baselines, digging out bases and even offering to rent a port-a-potty,” Ritchie said.

Still, the move has been hard given the emotional attachment built between the youth league and Hedlin’s ballfield over the decades.

“As a board,” said Ritchie, “we have done our best to move past the sadness and negativity that many people feel about the loss of Maple field to focus on the generosity of members of the community who gave their time and funds to make sure the kids felt loved and supported this year.

“While we really do want to focus on the positive,” she added, “it’s still important to recognize the impact that losing Maple field has had on the kids, coaches and parents who have participated in little league this year. We are sharing fields at the school that are not being used or maintained with little league baseball in mind.”

Youth minor and major teams utilize a former school softball field now used for middle school recess, high school shot put practice and football drills.

“Often,” Ritchie said, “practices and games for minors and majors overlap, pushing the practicing team over to the football field due to shortage of space.”

While fencing for a backstop and dugouts are in place, Ritchie said the school location lacks a dirt infield, warning track, or permanent pitching mound.

“The area,” she said, “is not fully fenced. “Coach-pitch and tee-ball teams have games and practices over in the high school baseball outfield and micro-soccer area. As a coach, I can say that, without a doubt, young kids understand baseball better when they get to use a real field from time to time.”

When the Hedlin family offered the ballfield property for sale to the town two years ago, it meant that a new youth league home would have to be located. Town officials said they would need to develop much of the ballfield area to recoup the cost of its purchase. Eventually, just over one-half acre was retained for a public park.

Town Administrator Scott Thomas in 2020 said that discussions would be held with the school district and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to find an alternative site. Mayor Ramon Hayes and then-Swinomish Senator Joe Williams considered developing a joint town-tribal youth sports complex, but those talks ended when Williams was defeated for re-election.

Realtor Dick Nord, selling agent for the Town, also pledged to find an alternative location.

Then-School Superintendent Rich Stewart committed the district’s assistance, noting that space was limited to accommodate both school and youth league needs. He suggested lighting the fields as the long-term solution, a prospect that concerned some nearby residents and was promptly dropped

Ritchie said finding a permanent answer remains a priority.

“A little league field is a community gathering space,” she said, “and the location definitely imprints in the minds of children in a special way. We need to find a better solution for next year and we haven’t figured out what that is yet.

“We had 92 kids sign up for little league (this year),” Ritchie stressed. “That’s 92 reasons to put our heads together and start thinking creatively.”