Money is flowing in the Beehive State for baseball, but little leaguers are batting at the bottom of the order.
The Beehive State is ready to spend big on baseball, but youth leagues in Utah’s capital face a murky future due to rising field rental rates.
Graham Moore, 10, throws a ball back to his father as they practice at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Despite those increased fees, though, Wachter said his teams are stuck playing on dilapidated diamonds. Meanwhile, Wachter said he’s coughed up more than $20,000 in the past year on bases, anchors for securing those bases, pitching mounds and scoreboard controllers.It’s not just the Foothill Youth Baseball Association that is feeling the squeeze of rising costs and run-down facilities., a nonprofit league that has served the west side for decades, also is on the hook for ensuring its diamonds at Riverside Park are in shape to play ball.
Both the Foothill Youth Baseball Association and Rose Park Baseball run the risk of folding under the current pricing structure, the leagues say. Elizabeth Yanez has seen registration fees rise and participation levels dwindle over the years she has spent with her two sons playing in the Rose Park league.
On the east side, the Foothill Youth Baseball Association has also raised its registration fees to offset some of the new expenses. The city’s chief financial officer, Mary Beth Thompson, said she doesn’t know of any plan to help the leagues and is unaware of a time the city has ever reduced its fees.“Never in my 29 years here,” she said, “have we ever charged the actual cost of the service we provide.”
“They doubled the prices and then they offered us a 50% discount if we put in a whole bunch of work,” Walje said, “which we’re doing anyway, and always have done.”
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