Welcome to Calgary Foothills Little League Baseball's website for the 2008 season. Calling all Coach Pitch and Baseball players from 6 to 18 years old. Any and all interested girls and boys are invited to register and have a ball ! Jim Vlahos 220 Pt McKay Terrace NW Calgary, AB T3B 4V6 Ph. (403) 283-5125 Fax (403) 229-4455 E-mail supertravelguy@hotmail.com Get ready for ball season! Short, cold, and snowy days are difficult to read as signs that baseball season is just around the corner. Still, registering for Little League is a mid-winter tonic that relieves the symptoms of arena fatigue (cold toes, sore bum, yearning for the sun). Although many Canadians claim not to know the game of baseball, the legacy of Canadian baseball includes Jackie Robinson's days in Montreal, to Hall-of-Famer Ferguson Jenkins, to MLB stars Larry Walker, Eric Gagne, and Jason Bay. Indeed, Calgary is home to Seattle pitcher Chris Reitsma who recently put on a Calgary clinic for Little League baseball. Baseball is a game of action, and even more so a game of thinking: each game is punctuated by intervals of frenetic activity when the ball is in play and intervals when the players prepare themselves for the next play. The anticipation of action, the pitch, hit, throw, and run, make baseball a game of great tension. Baseball is an elegant game with dimensions unchanged for a century, perfectly harmonized with the size and speed of the human body. In the absence of mistakes, nearly every play is close. Baseball is also a game of many cool rules: the team that understands the rules the best has the advantage. Because of this, baseball requires an umpire who must make both split-second judgments (e.g., safe/out, ball/strike, fair/out) as well as more knotty interpretations of the game (e.g., the infield fly rule). For those playing the game, time is spent both learning tactics as well as practicing technical skills. Baseball requires a team to play the game, yet individual skills guide the success or failure of the teamboth offensively and defensively. While baseball is a game judged by the yardstick of perfection, imperfection is a part of the game. What other sport tallies the number of errors? Still, getting a hit every four times at bat can earn six-figure contracts in the majors. As registration nears (Jan 26, Feb 9, 20, Mar 1 for Foothills Little League), players clinics are being scheduled (check the website) for some early season conditioning and umpire clinics (all costs paid by the League). New this year to Foothills Little League is the introduction of machine-pitch at the youngest (6-7 year-old) division. Machine pitch ensures that each child will get consistent quality pitching for learning to bat, and will help speed both practices and games. If you or your child ever had thoughts of getting into baseball, now is the time. The Foothills Little League serves the north-central core of the city extending from Shaganappi Trail at John Laurie Blvd. to Deerfoot Trail and Memorial Drive and includes 36 Calgary communities.