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This year will mark the first year the Bainbridge Decatur County Recreation Authority has offered a travel baseball program, the SOWEGA Spartans. The program consists of four teams: 8U, 9U, 10U, and 14U, with an overall total of 45-50 kids in the program.

This program is something executive director Joel Holmes has wanted to start since he first joined the Rec Authority.

“The driving force behind it,” Holmes said, “is travel ball can be expensive, and we want to help eliminate that cost as the Recreation Authority.” He reiterated this point, that the program would help kids who may come from economically poorer backgrounds be able to participate.

While the program would help alleviate some of the player’s financial burdens, Holmes did state that it would not be a drain on the Authority, but help generate revenue, as they hope to host travel tournaments locally.

The program will start off light this year, with 2-4 tournaments this fall, but Holmes expects it to pick up steam after next year’s spring training, with possibly 6-8 tournaments on the schedule for next year.