Better late than never. That’s how Meadow Lake Minor Baseball president Regan Beck feels as baseball season is finally set to begin locally following winter’s relentless grasp on the region. “Things are looking really good,” Beck said with regard to how the 2026 season is shaping up. “Obviously, the moisture has been a challenge – pushing us back almost a full week here. But, other than that, registration has been solid at about 340 kids and we’re looking forward to a good season.” Beck said the 340 number is average in terms of registration for minor ball the last few years.

“It may even be a hair above average,” he said. “We hit the 300 threshold about five years ago, so it’s been a steady climb for the last number of years.” This season, Meadow Lake Minor Ball will include teams in various age categories including Junior Learn-to-Play, Intermediate Lean-to-Play, U9 softball and Senior Rally Cap on the baseball side, U11 softball, 11U baseball, U13 softball, 13U baseball, U15 softball and 15U baseball, as well as 18U baseball. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough girls for a U17 softball team as of yet,” Beck said. “We’re still trying, but it’s not looking great right now. What’s nice, however, is, the last few years, we’ve also sent a number of teams to provincials as well, which is over and above our regular club stuff.” Beck went on to note players should be on the diamonds at Lions Park some time later this week. “I recently spoke with one of the coaches of our U15 softball team and he said his girls will be doing garbage pickup at the diamonds this week to make sure the diamonds are ready and they can get out there as soon as possible,” he added. 

Beck also shared his thoughts on what makes baseball and softball so popular with Meadow Lake’s young athletes. “If we’re talking specifically here, I believe it’s two fronts,” he said. “It’s a short season on the club side of things, and people really enjoy that. It’s an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. There’s nothing better than sitting around a ball diamond on a nice day watching your kids play. I think people really enjoy that. Also, from a minor ball perspective, we have made a real conscientious decision to keep fees as low as possible. Everything is expensive these days, so anything we can do to help out we will do. We’re not here to make money. We’re here to give kids a good experience, and to make it as affordable as possible.” Club ball is expected to run until late June, while the provincial teams will continue through late July depending on the age group. “None of this stuff could happen without the work of a lot of volunteers,” Beck said. “There’s a lot of people who work very hard to make these things happen. And, we’re still looking for coaches in a number of age groups. We can always use some help there.”