BA Youth Baseball growing in popularity after more than 50 years

For more than 50 years, Broken Arrow Youth Baseball has been teaching area kids the fundamentals of America's game.

"Broken Arrow Youth Baseball provides a place for kids to make friends, have mentors, and have a purpose for themselves," said Operations Manager Tiffany Kelly. "And so that's basically what Broken Arrow Youth Baseball means to me, it is a big family and there's a place for everyone."

Established in 1973, Broken Arrow Youth Baseball's mission is to instill core values like character, respect, leadership, and fitness in young people through the sport of baseball.

Kelly has been involved with the organization for 24 years. She's served in various capacities as a mom, coach's wife, board member, and for the last 13 years as the Operations Manager. She and her family got involved with the program when her oldest son was just four years old.

"You know, from the time they were four until they graduated from high school," Kelly said. "So, I've raised basically all four of our children out here, and now our two grandchildren."

Youth Baseball is available for kids as young as three years through their high school graduation. The games are generally played from March until October. Tournaments are held every other weekend, and recreational league play is scheduled during the week.

"For the Fall League, we have almost 1,000 kids," Kelly said. "So, throughout the season, for spring, summer, and fall, we're at 2,000 or a little over 2,000 players."

Baseball is continuing to grow in Broken Arrow.

"There's a sense of community here in Broken Arrow, and that's just the draw," Kelly said.

Broken Arrow Youth Baseball has kids playing on teams who are from as far away as Claremore, Bartlesville, and Muskogee.

"And this year is another banner year for spring, summer, and fall," Kelly said.

She credits Broken Arrow's facilities for helping to grow the sport.

"I really do believe that it is the facilities that we have, it's a huge complex," Kelly said. "We have fields that are for 13- to 18-year-olds, which most parks don't have. And we provide good service and a good product that they pay for. And so, people return, and they enjoy it because they, too, feel like it's the Broken Arrow youth baseball family."

Teams from as far away as Minnesota have scheduled tournaments in Broken Arrow.

"So, the teams that have really cold, icy weather, they'll travel just about anywhere, and they come here and play," Kelly said.

Kelly appreciates how well the city endeavors to maintain its fields.

"Everything is beautiful, I mean, we have an awesome park," Kelly said. "We get compliments every single day. I get a text, an email, a phone call, or a Facebook message, 'The fields look great, everything looks awesome.'"

And while cold and ice aren't much of an issue for Broken Arrow during the season, rain can pose a challenge.

"I'm definitely not knocking it at all, but maybe if we had the turf or if we had the fields leveled and, in a manner, so that there is better drainage, it would help," Kelly said.

Rainy days lead to cancelled games and make rescheduling problematic.

Kelly recalls that on Sept. 21, the games were stopped due to rain.

"You know we started playing, everything was good," she said. "And then there was a huge downpour, and there was no way we could continue. Something like 50 games were cancelled in one day, with all 16 fields going, and 2,000 people here in the park," she said.

With turf or improved drainage, the games could have continued once the rain stopped instead of being canceled.

Regarding the 2026 General Obligation Bondpackage and a possible 8th Proposition, Kelly says statistics prove that kids are more well-rounded and less likely to get into trouble if they are involved in sports or some activity that they enjoy.

"So, for our cities to get the improvements, and to have better playing surface, bleachers, all the different things that we need," Kelly said. "It's just better for our children and our community, and I don't know of anything more important than providing something for our kids."

She says votes matter to every player and coach on the field.

"This is what we live for, this is what motivates us, and so of course your vote matters," Kelly said. "And it matters to the kids out here."

For more information about how to get involved go to Broken Arrow Youth Baseball.