MVP project rounding third and heading for home

Niwot Youth Sports held its bimonthly board meeting at the Niwot Inn and Spa on July 19 and board members were given some exciting news about the Monarch Improvement Project (MVP). NYS president Pat Longseth told the board that the building was weeks away from opening, would be ready to greet the NYS Fall Ball Softball Season, and was inching closer toward its $500,000 fundraising goal.

The board is now planning a grand opening celebration and hoping to get additional community support to raise the last $65,000 to fully fund the project. There are also several small projects that could use additional help, including landscaping to improve accessibility around the building, adding road base and grading the dirt road leading to the facility, and installing shelving for concessions and storage. For more information or to help, please contact President Pat Longseth ([email protected]) or Marketing Director Riki Frea ([email protected]).

Another successful youth baseball and softball season for NYS is now in the books. Girls softball saw 165 players ages 6-18 come out to play this spring, and in the 10U-18U divisions, 7 of the 11 teams qualified for end of season tournaments.

NYS softball commissioner Glenn Wager gave a special shout out to the 14U Cheetahs, coached by Chad Owens, who finished their regular season 11-1 and the 14U Bulldogs, coached by Sarah Young, who had the highest finish for NYS in the IPGSA end of season tournaments, placing fourth out of 23 teams.

On the baseball side, commissioner Ben Bernstein had a busy spring on his hands, with a record turnout of 364 players ages 4-18. It was the inaugural year of recreational baseball for the high school 15-18 age group, with players competing in a Fort Collins league. The playoffs were particularly exciting this year, with the Mudcats taking home the AAA division championship (ages 9-10) and the Cardinals winning the championship in the Majors division (ages 11-12).

Overall, there were 35 teams in 7 divisions, with each team scheduled to play 8 to 12 games during the season. This proved uniquely challenging for both softball and baseball, due to mother nature's impressively rainy spring season in Niwot.

A record number of games had to be rescheduled, and Wager was in charge of that, rescheduling over 100 games over the course of eight weeks in May and June. Overall, both commissioners and field crews at the Monarch and Biff Warren Complexes put in many hours of overtime to get in nearly all scheduled games. Girls softball fall registration is opening soon. Please check the NYS website for more information.

Finally, NYS flag football is gearing up for its fall season. NYS plays for NFL Flag and has both local practices and games. Games will once again be played on Sundays at the Niwot High School home football turf field. Registration is open for coed teams, Kindergarten-6th grade at https://www.niwotyouthsports.org/register/.