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The Yukon Little League wrapped up their season Sunday with a barbecue celebration at their Kwanlin D眉n field.

The Star spoke with co-founders Sara (board chair) and Clark (head coach) Skelton after the festivities wrapped up and asked them how the day went.

鈥淕reat. Couldn鈥檛 ask for a better day,鈥� said Clark. 鈥淣ice and sunny. Hot. A lot of people showed up. Kids had fun.鈥�

Sara added, 鈥淲e had a great turnout from our little league but we also had some members of the community come, which is really wonderful. It鈥檚 nice to get to know some of the people around the ball field. Everybody seems very happy to see it being used and to see the kids playing, but there is nothing better than watching kids play baseball. It is so fun just to watch.鈥�

Sara described how their season went.

鈥淔or our first season, we鈥檙e thrilled with the way everything鈥檚 gone. It was a lot of preparation in the beginning and I think that paid off later. We were a little bit frustrated in the beginning locating a field. But once we found the field and Kwanlin D眉n allowed us the use of our field, then everything sort of fell into place. But I think a huge part of what made this league successful this year is the parents鈥� help.

鈥淎nd we have great kids. We have kids that love baseball, that have positive attitudes, that are really hard workers, that want to get better.鈥�

Sara said there鈥檚 been vast improvement in the kids鈥� play during the season.

鈥淪eeing their progress has been amazing. They鈥檝e improved so much.鈥�

Clark said that improvement has been one of the season鈥檚 highlights, as well as having the backing of the community.

鈥淥nce the community got involved, that was when things just got off the ground, which is great.鈥�

Sara added, 鈥淗aving Haines, Alaska, come as well was a blast. So positive.

鈥淚 also think as we鈥檝e been through a pandemic and a lot of youth recreation completely stopped, it鈥檚 just so amazing to see everything get back. And I think everybody that took it for granted before is not taking it for granted. Seeing my kids play baseball is amazing.鈥�

Sara said they haven鈥檛 done it alone.

鈥淲e got a lot of help. We鈥檙e in the forefront, but it鈥檚 the parents at the practices stepping up and pitching in.鈥�

Clark said the parents also helped by getting them in contact with the right people to make their dream a reality.

The series with the Haines, Alaska team was also a highlight of the season for the league.

鈥淚t was a blast,鈥� recalled Sara. 鈥淭hey were so happy. We were so happy just to be able to do something like that. Great vibe, we had music playing. We had a lot of people watching from the community.鈥�

Clark added, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I want for these kids, to be playing teams like that, because that鈥檚 how you get better, is when you play teams that have been playing for a while and the game鈥檚 faster and you gotta step up.

鈥淭hey had such a good time.

鈥淚t was some of those kids鈥� first baseball game ever. They play each other here like, scrimmage games, but like, first game, with a real umpire. And I was just so proud. We jumped out to a six-nothing lead. Their pitcher, he was doing good, but he just wasn鈥檛 throwing strikes. He was throwing hard and the kids were like, 鈥極h my God, this guy鈥檚 throwing hard.鈥欌��

The Skeltons said the Haines team had quite a few older kids.

鈥淚 think we ended up not even really keeping track of the score,鈥� said Sara. 鈥淚 think they won both games. However, the kids, they held their own.鈥�

Clark added, 鈥淚 think the score of the first game was 17-10, which is like 鈥榯hat鈥檚 phenomenal.鈥� Some of these kids have never played baseball.

鈥淭hat team is good. That team鈥檚 been playing together since they were like, 11. And there鈥檚 a couple of kids on that team that don鈥檛 live in Alaska. They only spend summers there. They live in Seattle. And they鈥檙e really good.鈥�

The Haines team were 13-16 years of age. The YLL team ranged from about nine to 16 years of age

鈥淲e had more younger kids,鈥� related Sara. 鈥淏ut they did great.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 funny because we were worried like, 鈥業s there gonna be enough kids here to play?鈥� and there were too many kids,鈥� said Clark. 鈥淭he way we did it was every kid hits, but not everybody鈥檚 in the field. I think our lineup had 24 kids in it to hit.鈥�

鈥淎ll the kids wanted to play,鈥� added Sara. 鈥淎ll the kids had so much fun. They made new friends. They had a great time. It was a really positive vibe. It wasn鈥檛 competitive.

鈥淭he parents were incredible. We made friends with the parents, so it鈥檒l definitely happen again.鈥�

The baseball-founding couple had an update on the league鈥檚 future field as well.

鈥淲e are still working on the Riverdale fields,鈥� advised Sara. 鈥淲e have a plan, we鈥檒l have it ready for the beginning of next season. So we have Arctic Backhoe that鈥檚 doing it all, but we didn鈥檛 want to do it partway through the summer and have to redo it, so we鈥檒l do the field prep right before the snow comes. And that way early next year, it鈥檒l be playable when summer comes, and then hopefully we鈥檒l have younger kids, so we鈥檙e going to need more playable fields.鈥�

Clark said the Riverdale diamond is smaller, so would probably be for 8 to 12-year-olds.

鈥淜ids that are just learning the game.鈥�

Clark described his vision for the future of little league baseball in the Yukon.

鈥淲e play Haines, we play Skagway. My dream is to get the communities going like Watson Lake, you got a team in Dawson, you got Whitehorse teams, Teslin. You鈥檙e playing the Yukon communities but then also, Alaska is right there too. So, we all could play each other.鈥�

Sara said the Haines team even invited them to a tournament the following weekend.

鈥淲e were tempted but I had to shut that down,鈥� she said, adding that they would have only had six days to prepare for the trip to the tourney.

Sara said the Skeltons are planning on travelling to Alaska next year.

鈥淲e鈥檙e planning to do a bit of traveling and for sure in Alaska because that鈥檚 a great trip. And then hopefully down south as well.鈥�

Sara said there are plans in the works to expand the ages of the kids involved to create a younger division.

鈥淔or that, we will need more baseball coaches. And we can help with the training. We鈥檇 like to do some coaching clinics, pitching and hitting clinics, throughout the winter.鈥�

Sara said Clark was coaching all four teams with the help of their assistant coaches this season.

Clark said new kids keep coming out and since their parents have played the game, they know a little bit of baseball technique and can pass it on to their kids.

In addition to coaches Sara said older players took on a role in developing the young ballplayers skills.

鈥淎s we had kids of different ages playing together, the older kids took on mentorship roles with the younger kids, and they鈥檝e all developed really cool relationships and friendships and some of our older kids have really stepped up as leaders.鈥�

They are planning on holding the pitching and coaching clinics at the Canada Games Centre.

Sara said,鈥滻 think the kids just need to come out to our drop-in skills over the winter and try it out. If they haven鈥檛 tried hardball, try it out. It鈥檚 a lot of fun.鈥�

Sara added, 鈥淲e do update our Facebook frequently. So if there鈥檚 anything coming up, it鈥檚 .鈥�