New community baseball league starts in Carson City

The San Francisco Giants have come to Carson City. A new youth community baseball program with the backing of a Major League Baseball club opened for sign-ups earlier this month in the Nevada state capital.

The Junior Giants community league, run by the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department, is sponsored by the San Francisco Giants Community Fund, a charitable outreach of the professional sports franchise.

The program is free, noncompetitive and open to all coed youth ages 5-13, the local league's web page states.

"Working together with local agencies, families and volunteers, Junior Giants reaches into communities and offers youth a chance to learn the basics of baseball during the summer while also discovering the importance of self-esteem and respect," the web page said.

Scott Chapman, Recreation Sports Program Supervisor with the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department, said the Junior Giants reached out to his office last January.

"Since then we have been in talks with the Junior Giants and through a great partnership we are now offering the program for 2016," Chapman said.

He said all equipment -- gloves, balls, pitching machines, jerseys, tees, team bags and bats -- is donated or provided by the Junior Giants based on registration.

The program also hires a league ambassador, paid through the Junior Giants Community Fund, to oversee the day-to-day operations, games and practices, he said.

In addition to teaching game fundamentals, the Junior Giants is designed to be a positive alternative to unhealthy activities for at-risk youth, the league's web page states, by teaching the "Four Bases of Character Development."

These include teaching confidence, integrity, leadership and teamwork, along with the importance of education, health and bullying prevention, the web page said.

Each week of the eight-week season has a special theme that coaches and team parents are to touch on with their teams, Chapman said.

"This program will not only teach children the wonderful sport of baseball, but it will teach important lessons in topics such as team work, health, integrity, and bullying," he said. "Not only will it teach the youth of the community baseball, but it will also teach our youth many important life lessons."

Chapman said he feels the introduction of the Junior Giants to Carson City will benefit other youth baseball programs in the area, too, by generating increased interest in the sport and boosting player participation.

"I think this program could be a great feeder program to Carson City Little League and Carson Girls Softball," he said. "We hope that this program may give children a boost in confidence to play team sports that may not have had in the past. It’s a very exciting addition to youth sports in Carson City."

Chapman also said that the Junior Giants places a strong emphasize on parent and family volunteers. Because of this, he said he's hopeful there will be greater involvement of the community and lead to greater community participation in other Carson City youth sports programs.

"It’s my hope this program will benefit the families of the participants in the Junior Giants program by promoting involvement in youth sports," he said. "It is our goal to not just involve the youth of our community, but their parents and families as well."

Chapman said the number of teams playing will depend on registration, but he anticipates about 14 teams this season with 12-14 players per squad.

There will be three different divisions between ages 5 and 13, Chapman said.

Carson City's Junior Giants play Monday and Friday evenings (except for July 4) from June 10 through August 5 at the Pete Livermore (Edmunds) Sports Complex in Southeast Carson City.

Registration is running now through June 3.

There will be two in-person registration days held April 30 and May 21 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Carson City Multi-Purpose Athletic Center (MAC) located at 1860 Russell Way.

Parents or guardians are encouraged to register their children online through the Carson City Junior Giants web page.

For more information, contact Chapman at 283-7429 or email schapman@carson.org.