A fading pastime: Mariners youth initiative not just fun and games

When several hundred kids take over Safeco Field Friday for the Mariners first Youth Spring Training event, it’ll all be fun and games to help kick off the upcoming start to the baseball season.

But there’s a certain seriousness underlying all the activities – the future of America’s past time.

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It used to be most that kids growing up dreamed of being a baseball player. They’d take to the streets and parks in droves for pickup games.

Here in the Seattle area, that’s always been tougher because of our weather. It’s certainly one big reason fewer kids around here are hitting the diamond like they used to, according to KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan, a youth baseball coach in Mill Creek.

“First of all, no one likes playing when it’s 42 degrees, windy, and raining,” Sullivan said.

But our area isn’t the only one seeing fewer kids playing ball – so you can’t just blame the weather.

The Wall Street Journal reports the number of people between the ages of 7 and 17 who played baseball in the U.S plummeted more than 41 percent between 2002 and 2013.

Mariners Marketing Director Gregg Greene says there are two big reasons why.

“One, there’s a lot more options for kids to play. There are lacrosse leagues, soccer leagues and football and basketball,” Greene said.

There are a lot more kids content to limit their play to the couch, choosing video games over real baseball, according to Greene.

And that’s got the Mariners and the rest of Major League Baseball seriously concerned about the future.

“The game needs more kids playing the game, attending baseball games, interacting with it, so we’re looking at a lot of different ways to get kids throughout the Northwest involved,” Greene said.

The Mariners have launched a new initiative to do just that.

The Junior Mariners program kicks off Friday with a Kids Spring Training at Safeco Field, with youngsters 14 and under taking the field with parents and other family members for a series of activities.

The most visible sign of the new initiative – Wiffle balls. The team plans to give out more than 100,000 to kids at schools, hospitals, community parks and playfields, along with other places and events throughout the year.

“We’re putting that ball in their hands in a fun way,” Greene said. “There’s some magic in it. As soon as you put a ball in a kid’s hand, they want to play with it. They want to play catch.”

But Greene acknowledges it will take far more to turn the tide.

Other new initiatives include sponsoring youth baseball and softball programs so low-income and at risk kids can participate, partnering with schools on a fitness program that awards free game tickets for those taking part, and providing 50-thousand free tickets to Boys and Girls Clubs and other non-profits.

“We have ideas and designs that will take us beyond this year and hopefully the next decade into getting more kids on board, whether it’s creating fields, helping coaches, creating more mentors programs,” Greene said.

In the short term, though, coaches and players around here would simply like the rain to stay away long enough for them to actually get on the field.

“Parents are frustrated, I’m frustrated, the kids are frustrated, it’s ridiculous,” said Sullivan.