Youth Baseball Takes a Big Step in Hadlow…

by Christian Carter - 10/11/2021

KENT BUCCANEERS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE APPROVAL OF YOUTH DIAMOND AT WILLIAMS FIELD, HADLOW

On 8th November 2021, Hadlow Parish Council considered and accepted the proposal for a youth Baseball diamond to be constructed and implemented by Kent Buccaneers Baseball Club at Williams Field, Hadlow, the home of their current adult Baseball diamond.

This announcement is a result of the club’s successful pilot youth academy that was started in July 2021 to gauge the interest of youth Baseball in Hadlow and the surrounding areas, offering free sessions for any child between the ages of 4-14.

“This is fantastic news not just for our club, but also for the community of Hadlow”  said Christian Carter, Kent Buccaneers’ General Manager. “We launched this youth program in July as we wanted to offer an activity in Hadlow for the young people to have access to, as well as secure a future stream of players eventually progressing into adult baseball once they reach the age of 14. This will allow the club to be more sustainable with players coming through the system and making recruitment of players a much easier task in the future. It’s not easy starting up and running a youth team, children require much more attention than adults do when learning sports and therefore those coaching need to have patience and  a passion for what they do, and we are very lucky to have volunteers with those qualities.”  he added.

The youth diamond will be located adjacent to the current adult diamond, and is planned to include a backstop, cut-out bases and pitching mound, providing a suitable facility for young people to play Baseball properly and safely.

Hadlow Parish Council “welcome this youth baseball initiative from Kent Buccaneers. Williams Field is a huge asset for a village the size of Hadlow and the Council is keen for it to be used to promote healthy activity for all ages. We are therefore happy to encourage Kent Buccaneers' baseball teams which accept players of a range of ages - and now including the young people of our community.”

Kent Buccaneers Baseball Club extend our gratitude to Hadlow Parish Councillors for allowing this to happen, and we hope to be able to invite you to the first game played on the diamond.

Below is the planned layout for Williams Field which depicts both our current adult diamond in the top section of the image, with the planned youth diamond in the bottom section: