Summertime fun in the sun

Summer has just begun, but the Iola Recreation Department’s summer sports are already dwindling down. Only three weeks remain for baseball and softball, with swim team going on till the end of the July. 

The Register had the chance to catch up with Recreational Director Jason Bauer and his assistant, Ryan Latta, to catch up with everything that has been going on at Riverside park. 

EM: What do you really hope to get out of the summer sports, with all these kids putting in effort and playing a lot of games?

JB: I hope we get all the games in. I mean starting the season so late, has put a little damper on it. The parents like to know when the season is going to end so they can go on vacation and us getting our end of the year tournaments is really going to be tough. We can’t guarantee that we will get them in as we have coaches going on vacation, but I know Ryan is going to try to make that happen. 

EM: Ryan what are you trying to do to make it happen? 

RL: Well there’s only so much you can do. It’s a lot different than it was 10 to 15 years ago. The season doesn’t last until the middle of August like it was when adults were kids, and families want to take their vacations towards the middle to late July. That way they some time before school starts. It has been kind of tough, especially with the flooding which pushed the season back a few weeks as we got our field ready. 

EM: What is the main purpose you want the kids and parents getting out of rec ball? 

RL: Well I’ve been trying to get it to where it is more fast paced. I know in the past I’ve had some complaints about certain leagues being slower, and tough to watch. So I have really been trying to focus on making the games a lot faster paced so kids and parents aren’t getting turned off. The goal here is to get kids to continue to play baseball and softball, and we don’t want a drop off after the machine-pitch league heading into live pitching. 

EM: What has been frustrating for you Jason, with the entire schedule for the summer being set behind? 

JB: Not having a home. We are thankful to be here at the COAT office, but we don’t have a place to call our own anymore. We have our computers but don’t have offices, it’s very out of routine. Everyone hates changes, but right now we are just rolling with the punches and hopefully we get back into our building soon. 

EM: What’s the time table on that? 

JB: They are discussing that on Monday’s council meeting, so hopefully we find out soon. 

EM: Have their been any positives from the shortened season at all?

JB: It’s hard to find a positive in it. At least we are still getting our games in, we could have not had a rec ball season at all. We are thankful we’ve been able to crunch it in there and make the best of what we have at the end of June and beginning of July. Hopefully we are able to get all their games in, but mother nature needs to help us out. 

EM: Ryan, after worrying about the season potentially being shortened, how does it feel now that everything is working out so far with few rainouts in the summer? 

RL: Well, knock on wood. We have had a few rain outs, but we have been able to get the games in. When we had that flooding in May, we thought we weren’t even going to have a season. We are grateful to get the season in.