Sandpoint Little League to hold upcoming tryouts, clinics

Registration now open for youth baseball and softball seasons

By TONY BUTLER

For the Bee

SANDPOINT — With all the snow and wet weather in winter it can be difficult to start thinking about the next baseball or softball season, but many Sandpoint Little League volunteers have been doing just that for the past several months, with registration now open and clinics and tryouts slated to start on Feb. 17 at Sandpoint High School.

The actual season may only last a couple months, but a significantly longer amount of time goes into preparation for the upcoming season, as well as reviewing opportunities of improvement at the end of each season. Baseball is a seasonal sport, but Sandpoint Little League is a year-round, all volunteer organization dedicated to providing baseball and softball opportunities for the youth of Sandpoint.

Part of that is making people aware of upcoming clinics and tryouts. Registration is now open and all families wanting to participate are encouraged to log onto SandpointLittleLeague.com to register their player. Last year all registrations were conducted online, which will make the process even quicker this year for returning participants. New users will create an account before registering their player and that information will update automatically each season they return.

Sandpoint High school coaches Chase Tigert and Elizabeth Hawkins will be hosting baseball and softball clinics for youth players. Both clinics will occur at the high school gymnasium with baseball taking place on Feb. 17, and softball on Feb. 19. These clinics are led by coaches and players from their respective programs and will focus on fundamentals and fun. Go to SandpointLittleLeague.com for clinic details and applicable registration information.

Tryouts for the older divisions of both baseball and softball will be the following weekend on Feb. 24, at the high school gym. Start times for the different divisions can also be found online.

Again this year Sandpoint Little League and District 1 will strive to launch the Challenger Division of Little League. The Challenger division enables boys and girls with physical and mental challenges, ages 4-18, or up to age 22 if still enrolled in high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide. Today, more than 30,000 children participate in more than 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide.

Last year Challenger had a slow start with only two players in the District participating in Sandpoint, but SLL was able to field a game dedicated to those two players and it was a blast for all involved. Sandpoint Little League hopes to see even more kids on the ball fields this spring enjoying a game that we have all come to love as well.