Baseball Registration is underway here in southeastern Manitoba and organizers are excited for the season.

Louis Cote is one of the Co-Chairs of Carillon Minor Baseball which oversees 15 different baseball associations in the Southeast including Steinbach Minor Baseball. He says online registration is in full swing across the region and will wrap up on Thursday, April 1st.

Cote says once registration is complete, they will make sure teams are organized and then kick off practices.

"A lot of it depends on what Manitoba Health decides for requirements and what Baseball Manitoba has in its return to play and return to train guidelines but the way things are looking now, people will be able to practice as soon as we can get outside and that looks like it is going to open up right away for that as long as the snow stays away. A lot of arenas in the region have been opened up for practices as well."

Cote says at this point, groups of 10 can practice together in a designated area. He notes practice is an incredibly important part of the season.

"There are way more touches going on and way more at-bats in the practice environment so they can get a lot of skill development that way and if we can start playing games mid to late May there are still lots of opportunities for game activity after that."

Kim Stott helps run Steinbach Minor Baseball Association. She says the season will run a little later than normal.

"Our regional league play, our games are supposed to start May 31st, in and around there and then the league will go until a little bit later in summer than normal, in July. So, we are hoping with this the kids will get a little more baseball with the delayed start but it is still leaving the majority of the summer available with other activities."

Stott notes these dates are all flexible and will depend on the province. She adds it seems to community is very excited for the baseball season.

"There has been a lot of interest, especially this year. I would say last year we had a very successful season amid playing in the middle of a pandemic, there were some good protocols in place and we probably had 60% to 65% of the regular number of kids playing. This year I have a feeling it is going to be a bit higher. I think we could potentially max-out in each division and that is a good thing!"

In the meantime, both Stott and Cote encourage anyone who is interested to sign up online on the Carillon Minor Baseball website or the Steinbach Minor Baseball website.