Softball at Burdett School is a Whole School Initiative

Burdett School kicked off their new softball program in May with a school-wide softball game where three cross-graded teams played against each other. “Everybody had a partner and when they played a game, the older kids weren’t the one catching or hitting the ball, they had a little person they assisted,” explained Vice Principal Amber Pinchin.

For six weeks this spring, each Friday afternoon has been dedicated to softball with the school split into three divisions by grade. Two softball sessions occur each Friday, with two divisions getting to participate each week. 

“For every kid in the school, I sent home a survey/sign-up sheet and gave them an option to either play, which was our preference, but for those who were not interested I set up a score keeping session. My husband, Chris, is a certified umpire in the States and he’s volunteering to come out and we have some kids learning to be umpires,” said Pinchin. 

Helping each Friday is Diedrich Knelsen, a parent who has three children attending Burdett School. Involved with the local Mennonite league, which has lots of youth on the teams, he thought it was a good idea to bring softball to the school.

“I started in Grassy Lake, and I posted I was playing with kids. I saw so many kids coming who liked the game, so we decided to start it in school too. Our oldest boy plays in that league along with others in the school,” said Knelsen. “It’s going well at the school. It’s a little harder to organize with so many kids compared to just 12 or 13. It seems like everybody likes it and they are having fun. At first, I wasn’t sure how we were going to do it, but the plan in place makes it easier when you have 30 or 40 kids around and you want to keep everybody busy.”

The hour the students have for baseball is split into 15-minute rotations with all participating in warmup, stretches and some throwing practice for the initial 15-minutes. “For the next 15 minutes, two teams play against each other, and the third team is working on a skill. Richard Pomreinke (teacher at the school) is often the one who runs the skill station because softball is one of his personal passions. Mr. Knelsen is in charge of running the game and other teachers are outside as assisting supervisors and actively involved,” stated Pinchin.

After 15 minutes, one of the groups rotate to skills, which means each group gets to play for 30 minutes. At the end of the hour, the division on the field goes back to class and the other division scheduled for that Friday comes outside. “We’ve tried to coordinate it so that our junior high students, as they get into finals and Grade 9 farewell, they will be having their weeks off baseball,” said Pinchin. “We’ve made a point of not scheduling field trips and other events on Fridays as well.”

Abram Hamm is in Grade 7 and batting is his favourite part because he gets to hit the ball and run. Baseball has made Fridays a day to look forward to and each week Abram hopes the weather will cooperate. When asked what it’s like playing softball, Abram said the game makes him feel alive.

Grade 7 student Isaak Neufeld also said batting was the best part of the game because when he gets a far hit, which he’s managed a few times this season, it makes him feel successful.

Carrying on with the theme, Grade 4 student Herman Knelsen also likes batting the most. “I get to hit it hard, and it’s gone almost to the green and I went straight to first base. My friend hit it and I went to third base then someone else hit it and I made it home. It makes me feel happy and I’m a fast runner. I wanted to play all of them – umpire, scorekeeping and playing – because they are all fun.”

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer