No Permit Needed… Yeah Right [Baltimore ed.]

That’s what we were told as we were planning months in advance for our free youth baseball clinic with BBBS of Central Maryland in the Baltimore area. 

You don’t need a permit for the ball fields that you will be playing on. Be sure to arrive early to secure the fields for the time slot that you would like to use them.

Sounds alright for us. We planned on arriving at 8 AM. Two hours before our scheduled event was to start at 10 AM. We hoped to set-up early, hit some batting practice, take some grounders and practice our pitching technique.

We arrived at 8 AM and set-up for our event. The contact that we had worked with was an employee at the neighboring Back River Community Center. The Back River Community Center, next to the fields, did not open until 9 AM. 

As we set-up for the morning with music, bats, balls organized around the field, we were ready to go! 

However, right as 9 AM came around, an old man came firing out the doors and headed straight towards us. He didn’t look happy.

You can’t use these fields. I have nothing from Karen saying anyone is using these fields. No music. You have to leave now.

Well, we had talked with Karen and because our event use was going to be under 20 people on the field and without the aid of their electrical output at the community center, we would not need a permit. The old man was a bit frazzled because his day was not going to go EXACTLY as he had planned. It took some coercing, smooth talking and ego-stroking, but eventually he understood that we were to be playing baseball with kids from the Baltimore area and we weren’t here to cause chaos. 

It was no problem for the kids and volunteers though! Everything was resolved and ready to go by the time they started arriving at 10 AM. Tyshaun, Ivan, Chris and Diallo were great additions to our event in the Baltimore area.

Diallo and Tyshaun were relative newbies to the sport of baseball (our favorite!). Diallo and Chris had played a few times, but the clinics and game atmosphere we provided for the day were both new experiences for him.

Diallo was a kid with a fun personality that really showed his goofy side out on the diamond. He LOVED the pickle drill and was great at evading the tag with moves like this one!

Tyshaun was taking on the game of baseball for the first time. He made it look fluid and easy as he danced around tags, smacked around homers and left the field with a smile like this one.

Thanks Chris, Ivan and Natalie with Big Bro Big Sis of Central Maryland! You guys are doing a great job with Diallo and Tyshaun and it was evident with how excited they were to come to the clinic with us. Truly a pleasure seeing the spark you put in their eye. 

If you’re in the Baltimore area and wanting to add a fun and positive addition to your life… join up with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Maryland MEOW!!