OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Baseball season is underway and high school students are showing their talents on the diamond.<\/p>\n
In recent years, baseball has become more of a suburban sport and the inner city has seen a drop in numbers of kids playing the game, but that may be changing.<\/p>\n
Most metro area schools attract students who want to play football or basketball. Most schools have home courts or home fields. But over the years, baseball diamonds haven\u2019t shined bright in Omaha\u2019s inner core. The lack of places to play and high costs of training and select teams widened the baseball and softball gaps.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then you didn\u2019t have kids that played year-round. That probably happened in the last seven to eight years. And just the parent investment of time, energy and money. And now these kids in the city pay up to $400 a month for training, and that\u2019s just the training, not the actual baseball. And so it\u2019s made the gap larger,\u201d said Jerry Kreber, Omaha Central baseball coach.<\/p>\n
New facilities level the playing field<\/p>\n
Kreber has been around metro baseball for 25 years. He says it\u2019s tough to compete with western metro schools that have newer facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played one home game against Omaha North at the Papillion La Vista sports complex. It was a completely different zip code \u2014 Omaha North versus Omaha Central,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But things are getting better for inner-city baseball. A few years ago, North High School grew its own baseball and softball facilities a few blocks away from the school on Ames Avenue.<\/p>\n
Miller Park has a baseball field that serves Police Athletics and Community Engagement leagues, named after fallen Omaha police officer Kerrie Orozco.<\/p>\n
And now with the help of a grant from Major League Baseball, there\u2019s even more hope that more kids in the city\u2019s urban core will be attracted to baseball, with Central High School\u2019s brand new baseball and softball complex at Boyd Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cA facility like this evens the playing field. It gives the students that elect to come in our attendance area an opportunity and a year-round facility for softball and baseball to train affordably and seriously,\u201d Kreber said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully with this new facility we\u2019ll be able to bring in more girls, but yeah, we\u2019re still building, still getting our feet on the ground and building a program,\u201d said Tashiana Coffiel, Central softball coach.<\/p>\n
Both players and coaches agree there is plenty of baseball and softball talent in Omaha\u2019s inner city. And a brand new shiny diamond just might be the magnet to attract the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants new and shiny,\u201d Coffiel said.<\/p>\n
Any revenue generated from activity in the complex goes to OPS. Outside groups are able to use the facility with the approval of the district.<\/p>\n
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