The primary goal of the new Prospect Meadows sports complex is to give every boy and girl in our community a chance to play ball.
The Positive Sports Training youth baseball program heartily agrees and has scheduled at least 86 games at Prospect Meadows this season. Additional games could be added during the year.
Positive Sports Training has been in existence for more than 30 years.
There are 195 teams and approximately 2,500 boys in the program this season. The age groups run from 7-and-under through 14-and-under.
The PST games will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at Prospect Meadows, which is located north of Marion at the juncture of Highway 13 and County Home Road.
"We are very excited to see the number of teams aligned with Positive Sports Training coming out to Prospect Meadows to play this spring and summer," said Jack Roeder, the general manager of the sparkling new complex. "One of our main goals from Day 1 was to give a large number of local kids the opportunity to play at this beautiful new facility, and this starts the process."
Prospect Meadows is scheduled to open in late May with eight regulation fields and a Miracle Field for people with disabilities. The facility plans to open eight more fields in 2023 for a total of 17.
The teams in Positive Sports Training have scheduled their 86 games from May 28 through July 2 this year. Once the facility is open for the entire season in 2020, the league might be able to schedule as many as 200 games from April through July.
Positive Sports Training has developed strong relationships over the years with the people who run the many fine municipal and school fields in Eastern Iowa. Now the organization is looking forward to becoming a major tenant at Prospect Meadows as well.
"People who are involved with youth baseball and youth softball have been wishing for many years that somebody would build a major youth sports facility to give more kids a chance to play ball," said Jim Ecker, a member of the Executive Board for Positive Sports Training. "Prospect Meadows will be an incredible boost for baseball and softball in our area and will help our community continue to grow and prosper.
"We are anxious to start running the bases at Prospect Meadows and start heading for home!"
Positive Sports Training stresses good sportsmanship, proper fundamentals and excellent competition for all boys, regardless of their ability or financial resources. The age divisions are organized according to level of play, with teams that run the gamut from high-powered travel teams to entry-level clubs and everything in between.
Positive Sports Training is a member of the USSSA national sports organization, with teams able to compete in state tournaments, national tournaments and major in-season events.
Positive Sports Training is currently looking into the possibility of adding girls youth softball to its program in 2020.
Anyone with questions about Positive Sports Training can contact Jim Ecker, PST Executive Board, at this email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
