Houston squad heralds return to the diamond

HOUSTON — For the last four seasons, the Houston High School baseball program has been stuck on the sidelines. But now the Hawks are ready to step up to the plate, and this spring Houston will sport a baseball program for the first time since 2004.

“We have a group of parents who have really put forth the effort to make sure this happens,” Houston activities director Norm Bouchard said.

The Hawks have a new head coach, former Wasilla Youth Baseball president Bill Kramer, and more than a dozen athletes ready to represent the Hawks on the diamond.

“From what I could tell, there wasn’t a lack of interest from the kids,” Kramer said. “There was always the interest. It was a lack of leadership.”

Kramer said he started discussing the prospect of resurrecting the baseball program more than six months ago. He met with parents, students and school administrators, and the support and interest continued to grow.

Baseball is considered a club sport by the Mat-Su School District and is not funded. It’s been a problem for Houston, as well as other Valley schools. There’s no budgeted stipend for the coaches or funds for equipment or travel. It all makes for a bigger commitment for those involved, Kramer said, but the parents of the Houston players have not backed down.

“We have a group of parents who have really put forth the effort to make sure this happens,” Bouchard said.

The support for Houston baseball spans further than the parents, Kramer said.

“We’ve found a lot of support within the community, even outside the community,” Kramer said.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Big Lake Lions Club, the Houston baseball team was able to construct two new dugouts at the Houston High School baseball field. Kramer said the program has even received donations from the Fairbanks Lions Club and Fairbanks Youth Sports.

“They want to see a baseball program (at Houston High School),” Kramer said.

The team is made up predominately of younger players. About three-quarters of the players on the squad are underclassmen, Kramer said, but the Hawks will only field a junior varsity team.

“We’re rebuilding with a young group,” Kramer said. “That’s where we need to be.”

Bouchard said he sees the Hawks competing at the J.V. level for at least two years before adding the varsity team.

Houston is hosting a major junior varsity tournament this year, and at least a dozen teams are expected to participate. Kramer and Bouchard both hope the tourney will accomplish two goals — spark interest and show off Houston’s baseball facility.

“It’s one of the nicest (fields) in the state,” Kramer said. “Most don’t even know it exists.”

Houston’s schedule will include games against the other Valley programs — Palmer, Wasilla and Colony. The Hawks also have scheduled road trips to Cordova and Valdez.

“It’s exciting for the young kids to get to travel,” Kramer said.

Baseball is returning to Houston, but the Hawks will go without a softball team once again, Bouchard said.

“It’s hard to get people involved with softball,” Bouchard said.

The Hawks have not had a softball team since 2003. Bouchard said a handful of students expressed interest in playing, but the HHS administration hasn’t been able to find a coach to lead the program.

Like Houston, Palmer will also go without a softball squad.

Earlier this spring, PHS was forced to cancel its softball season for the second straight year, Palmer activities director Jeff Thiede said.

And also like Houston, Palmer has simply not found the right person to lead the club sport.

“We’ve been trying since last year to find a coach,” Thiede said.

PHS is still advertising the position in hope of finding a coach for the 2010 season. Thiede said the hardest part has been finding a candidate who not only can coach, but is also willing to inherit the financial burden of overseeing a club team.

“You have to do all the fundraising for your entire program,” Thiede said.

With no teachers in the building interested in the position, Thiede said another obstacle is finding a coach who can juggle a high school sports schedule.

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