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thursday aug 15 2002 25 economist sun stouffville tribune sports i i i jerome watt staff writer its a blast blastballthatis the sport designed to teach young tots the fundamentals of baseball has caught on in york region different leagues in the region are using the system with children as young as two its a learning experience in a non competitive manner said brian gordon vicepresident of house league for the thornhill baseball club the club introduced the game this season before this we had nothing for this age group mr gordon said the game is played with six players per team although teams can have fewer players the defensive players take an infield or outfield position and the batter hits the ball off a tee if the hitter can reach a base before one of the opposing players catches the ball in the air or catches it and yells blast he scores a run typically there is only one base in the game and when players step on it it emits a loud honk noise players use a foam bat and soft ball so no gloves are required the game can be played on any grassy location and because it takes up a small area it can also be played indoors depending on the objective of the coach and the childrens age level rules including distances to bases can be changed mr gordon said his league is tweaking the game to see what works best next year the thornhill baseball club is considering reducing the age of the participants from six to five the response to the game has been overwhelmingly positive said sharon kravitz a mother with two children in the league ms kravitz who is convener of the blastball division was instrumental in getting the league up and running theres nothing for kids this age in an organized community event she ames said theyre too young for soccer they were hoping to get 20 kids now they have 49 kids ifs a night out for the kids she said the game is good for young children such as her sons josh and jake both four because no score is kept and there is no pressure to win fiveyearold aaron arieli a blastball participant in the thornhill club said he likes the noise the base makes when he steps on it and the chance to hit the ball i like hitting he said bob mckillop executive director for baseball ontario said a large number of leagues and associations across the province are now using the blastball system the response back to us has been exceptional he said mr mckillop said blastball is a good way to attract children to the sport at an early age we recommend it for five and six- yearolds he said we needed some thing that got our kids involved earlier the bottom line is weve created some thing they enjoy mr mckillop said involving chil dren in a baseballrelated activity at an early age may help retain their interest in the sport as they get older it should be instantly changed to keep it interesting said mr mckillop adding coaches should keep in mind they are dealing with younger players you need to make it fun you have to be silly said sheila epton coach and vicepresident of the newmarket minor softball association she ran a blastball program for the association last fall and winter when ms epton coaches younger children she plays games such as pre tending to be a duck to get kids warmed up she also said childrens focus should be placed on skills devel opment not winning id like to see more associations take the win or lose out of it she said from age 10 down kids dont need that thornhill blastballer jake kravitz stomps on the honking base a key feature that helps keeps the attention of younger players focused on the game the thornhill baseball club has had a good response after introducing blastball this year mitchell brown been there done that ifs frisbee with attitude the ultimate what exactly thats the only question i could come up with prior to meeting ultimate player barry goldlist mind you im not saying hes the ultimate player in the sense hes the best athlete in the world at 39 the richmond hill property manager may be a little past his prime to hold that title no im calling him an ultimate play er just as i would call curtis joseph a hockey player as in he plays a game called ultimate its a sport that combines athleticism and comraderie ultimate players are really the best people ive known it gets confusing sometimes but you catch on after a while anyway back to the original ques tion why ultimate its the ultimate sport mr goldlist said i remember playing softball and baseball and thinking that was a sport until i started playing this now i look at baseball and softball as more like leisure activities consider it frisbee with attitude although some players will tell you they prefer the term disc frisbee being a duly registered trademark of the wham- o corporation see sport page 26 9 club 3cc bcwl 146 old kennedy rd markham 905 4770894 ycum eua4pee ogwling with lite weight calls gcclp summer special 1 hcuc f bcwlin6 e clc paic ce cental shces jbjst s2ccc with birthday paptc packages private pap1t pcca4s wwwclub3ccbgwlccm taxes extra where applicable no cash value offer available monsat im mil during the month of september i i i