SB Exploring Baseball & Fastpitch

This last Spring I was approached by parents and community members requesting the South Bend School District consider adding high school baseball and fastpitch programs to our athletic offerings. As one can imagine, the fact that we have been looking into this idea has excited a number of people. Rumors have started and people are beginning to ask questions about what they have heard.

I have always tried to keep the public informed about what is happening at South Bend schools, so I feel it is time to confirm this news and to update the public on our progress.

Yes, South Bend is considering high school boys baseball and high school girls fastpitch.

Background

As I mentioned above, a group of parents and community members approached me this last Spring about their interest in adding these new sport programs. Since then, I have had numerous people in the community contact me voicing their support of the idea.  I value our stakeholders bringing suggestions and ideas to our attention, and it is our goal to fully explore these suggestions and ideas.

Action to Date

After gathering some initial information, I briefed our school board at the regular May meeting. No decisions were made, but I was directed to gather more information related to potential costs and other logistics.  I have been in discussions with the school athletic director as we continue to look at all aspects of the idea.  We have also discussed potential sites for fields, field construction options, and the possible need for funding/community/volunteer partnerships. Finally, we have done some initial looking at possible grant funding sources.

All of this work has been to gather as much information as possible in order to provide clear data to the school board for consideration.

Where from Here?

The board will be holding a special workshop in the coming month to discuss the relevant information we have collected, and the potential for moving forward.

Future posts will be released as decisions are made and/or more information is collected.

Questions and/or ideas about this project can be directed to superintendent Jon Tienhaara at jtienhaa@southbendschools.org