Hawks ground baseball and softball

May 1, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

HOUSTON - The baseball and softball programs are now history at Houston High School.

Houston High activities director Jamie Smith said declining interest and resources are among the reasons the Mat-Su Valley school opted to cut the two spring activities.

&#8220It was a combination of a couple things,” Smith said. &#8220These programs have not been very viable.”

The HHS students interested in hitting the baseball and softball diamonds each spring has dwindled each year, and the support has not been there. Smith said there are no booster clubs set up to help these sports, and there has been a revolving door as far as coaches.

Baseball and softball are outsourced sports - there is no financial support from the Mat-Su School District - and Smith said Houston decided to focus more on the development of the spring sports that do receive financial assistance from the district.

Houston also fields track and field and soccer teams for both the boys and girls in the spring, and Smith said the school has already seen an increase in number of athletes in both the track and soccer programs. Smtih said he hopes this could lead to the soccer teams having enough athletes to form junior varsity squads.

Houston is preparing to make the jump from the small-schools 3A level to the large-schools 4A level next season, and have worked to find ways to strengthen each of its programs.

Another hurdle for the Houston baseball and softball squads is waiting for the fields to be ready for use.

&#8220The toughest thing for us, we don't have any place to play,” Smith said.

As of Monday there was still snow on the Houston High baseball field, probably won't even be ready for use for at least another week.

In the past, the Houston baseball program has had to share a field with Wasilla High School.

&#8220It's a logistical nightmare,” Smith said.

The programs were relatively young - only about four years old, Smith said. Surprisingly, Smith said, there has been virtually no negative feedback from students or parents since the school decided to cut the sports.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.