Kids flock back to baseball in Calgary, thanks to Blue Jays
Posted Apr 22, 2016 7:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s being nicknamed the Blue Jays bump.
Baseball registration is on the rise in Calgary, thanks to the success of Canada’s only Major League Baseball team.
Calgary West Little League President Kevin Gerla saw registration jump about 25 per cent this season.
“The exact same thing happened in the mid-nineties when the Blue Jays were last in the playoffs and won the World Series,” he said.
He said the biggest age group increase is the seven to 12 year olds — they’ve gone from 20 teams to 30.
A local baseball school is also benefitting.
“We have seen a slight increase in enrollment despite the fact that we have lost 20 families due to the economy,” said Steve Lloyd, general manager of Calgary Coyote Youth Baseball.
The boost was needed, because those 20 families represented about 30 per cent of his students
He says he’s even seeing kids convert from other sports to play baseball, noting many show up wearing Blue Jays gear.
