Commentary by Larry Lannan
It may not feel like baseball weather right now, but the Fishers S.P.O.R.T.S. Baseball program is already preparing for the upcoming season.
Todd Jamieson started out as an assistant baseball team coach when his sons began playing the sport. Jamieson is now a member of the Fishers S.P.O.R.T.S. board and plays an integral part in the local youth baseball program.
S.P.O.R.T.S. is the local nonprofit group that runs most Fishers area youth sports programs, including baseball.
Serving as a board member has allowed Jamieson to learn all the ingredients that must come together for a program like youth baseball to happen each year.
“You see the baseball games go on, but you don’t realize what goes on behind the scenes,” Jamieson said. “The scheduling of the fields, the preparation of the playing fields, the uniforms, the equipment, just the day-to-day activities that nobody sees, the board must oversee all this for the season to come together.”
Jamieson enjoys his work on the board, but his first love is coaching. He loves meeting the young players and watching them improve their baseball skills, but he mostly enjoyed getting to know so many families in the Fishers community through his volunteer work.
“The coaching part was fun for me, watching the kids progress and learn things,” he said. “Later on, down the line, I’ll see these kids around town, they’ll come up and say hi to me. I know I had an effect on where they’re at. I thoroughly enjoyed that.”
As his sons advanced in the baseball program, Jamieson retired from coaching and now continues to volunteer as a board member. His specialty is baseball equipment.
How many baseballs does it take for an entire baseball season? With 200 teams in the recreation, travel and fall programs, and all the travel team tournament games Fishers hosts, that can equal up to 9,000 baseballs a year.
“Baseballs aren’t cheap,” Jamieson said.
Jamieson knows setting aside time to volunteer is a daunting task with the busy schedules many of us maintain. But the reward of volunteering your time can be great.
“Once you get started, once you get past that first step, you meet tons of new people in the community. Whatever group you’re with becomes almost like another family,” he said. “When you take a volunteer position, there are different lives you get to affect. It’s really worthwhile.”
If you would like to be a volunteer for the baseball season, check visit, www.fishershseyouthbaseball.com