Reeltown Youth Baseball League puts kids first

Good news has spread throughout the communities of East Alabama in regards to the outstanding success that has been enjoyed in the past several years by the Reeltown Youth Baseball League. RYBL is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Diamond Youth Baseball Organization, formerly known up until last year as the Dixie Youth Baseball Organization before its membership voted for the name change. Director Hank Rodgers leads the RYBL and took the time for an exclusive interview with the Examiner to share the key factors that have made it such a home run for all those who have been fortunate enough to get involved at their ballpark in Notasulga.

Rodgers started by providing a brief overview of the RYBL and its background.

"This will be our 26th season coming up. It was started in 2000 by a couple of my mentors that I believe in, Will Solomon and Coach Danny Taylor. We have enjoyed growing success. We are an extremely close knit group of people from three different communities. From Reeltown, Lake Martin and the Notasulga communities. It's a pretty large area that we cover."

"This past year we were at 118 kids. This year we had over 160 to participate in our league. The growth is just happening, especially since covid. Everybody, including Reeltown, had to really work hard to get things back to normal."

"Our 8U group was extremely talented as well as our 10U age group was extremely talented. We just missed making it to the world's series, especially with our 8U group."

Making sure that the kids come first is always the top priority which Rodgers emphasized by describing one of the latest undertakings by the RYBL.

"We put together this thing, I am overseeing it as I always do anything at our ballpark. We put a little wiffle ball thing together and it is for all ages. No fees, just fun. This is what I learned from our people last night. Everybody just wants to continue to be at the ballpark because it is really, really like family. We all enjoy being around the kids, we enjoy being around the ballpark. There is a closeness there that you can't find in many places."

Capturing what has made RYBL so uniquely successful is another aspect that Rodgers touched on.

"There is a closeness at Reeltown, you can ask anybody that has ever been here. Once you are a Rebel you are always a Rebel. That is what we always say and that is the truth. Everybody stays invested from our youth whether they are four years old or whether they are eighteen years old and about to graduate. Everybody keeps coming and supporting and being there for it."

Community support for the young players is a hallmark of what has allowed the RYBL to flourish as Rodgers describes it.

"That is the biggest thing that I can honestly say that is so special about Reeltown is the support of our youth. You can go to some larger cities and you might not see that same kind of support. At least you might not be able to tell it as well as you would with a smaller area. Smaller does not mean we are not big in a lot of areas. I think that we are huge here in some areas. Lots of my friends from the Auburn Opelika area know that what we are doing here is extremely special and it starts with family and support of these kids. Because these kids are our main focus, that we raise tomorrow's leaders. That is so important for communities to always acknowledge and be a part of the process."

"Support at ballparks is phenomenal in our area. I can remember a time, let's say eight years ago. Even at our ballpark we might have had six or seven banner signs. It is support, but it is not enough to support your program. You have to have people invested. Most people will tell you that I have never been turned down for asking for a sponsorship for a banner sign that I can remember."

"I always ask the same question. 'Would you like to put smiles on these kids faces at this ballpark? Because your help will definitely generate what we need whether it is baseballs in the dugout, equipment on their backs'. So many different things. Our concessions are absolutely the best that you can have. These business signs and banners that are abundant now, we actually have about fifty-five or sixty banners vs. five, six or seven back eight years ago."

Modern society and the burdensome onslaught of disruptive technology has been a major challenge for families raising their children in the 21st century which Rodgers took the opportunity to address.

"Getting kids off the iPads and in the dirt and the grass of a baseball park, it is so important that we don't let this technology keep them from being outside. Because you can learn so much from just being outside at that ballpark. There is something that I believe in that is so important and I think that all the readers out there in this article would agree with me. This is more than baseball. It is more than a baseball park. This is fellowship."

"What we do here is not about worrying about how many elite athletes that you have. I am a supporter of DYB which in the southern part of the Unites States is pretty prominent. What we do here is not based on the almighty dollar. It is based off of all of us doing the very best that we can for these kids to be successful through the greatest game that I feel like was ever created which was the game of baseball. It is America's favorite pastime. It is a slice of Americana."

Core values and dedication are the foundation that drives the RYBL which Rodgers remarked upon in summing up his thoughts.

"It is what we do week in and week out for six to eight months out of the year, sometimes even longer. At the end of the day, we are here for these kids not just the elite. Because league ball is something that, everybody knows, every kid will not be elite. But without league ball those kids don't have the opportunity that they deserve. Our people are so supportive. We could not care less if it is the little kid that can't catch or the little kid that can hit home runs. It is every kid. It is every kid's opportunity. League ball is so important. At Reeltown Youth Baseball, I promise you, we are for every single kid."