Realizing the need for more competition, the Carrollton Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department (CPRCAD) began exploring options for a new youth baseball league last summer.

The six-month process came to a conclusion last month when the CPRCAD chose to join Dixie Youth Baseball, ending its 35-plus-year baseball partnership with the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA).

CPRCAD Athletic and Aquatics Division Supervisor Peter Maierhofer said many area recreation departments had been pushing away from GRPA in recent years and that led to fewer teams playing at district and state tournaments.

“There’s nothing worse than playing a three-team baseball tournament. You want to have as many teams as you can get in there and we just weren’t getting it anymore in GRPA,” Maierhofer said. “We wanted more teams, a little bit more competition and give the kids something to inspire to and strive towards.”

Other local recreation departments, including Carroll County, Temple and Villa Rica, are also making the switch from GRPA to Dixie League. Other nearby communities that have Dixie League teams include Coweta County and Troup County.

CPRCAD Director Wayne Gay said there should be at least 10 and up to 16 teams competing in each age group at district tournaments. In GRPA, Carrollton had only Carroll County and Villa Rica in its district, which stretched from almost Macon to just north of Columbus.

“You’ll still have that local conflict, but we’re not just trying to beat each other’s brains out, we’ve got somebody else bigger that we want to go after also,” Gay said.

Dixie Youth, which is designated for players up to 12 years of age, has teams in 11 Southeastern states from Virginia to Texas. Dixie Boys and Majors is for players 13 and older.

Gay said the rules will be essentially the same, but unlike the GRPA, Dixie Youth has a World Series in addition to district and state tournaments. Gay has attended several Dixie Youth World Series and said they’re well run with good competition.

The CPRCAD is hoping that having a World Series to aim for will get more kids interested in playing baseball through the department.

“The chances of making it to the World Series are pretty slim, but still, if you’ve got a shot to do something like that, it’s pretty fun,” Maierhofer said.

An athletic committee set up through the CPRCAD along with several Carrollton citizens also met with representatives from Little League Baseball and the American Amateur Baseball Congress.

Little League developed a strong buzz in the community due to the success Georgia has had in the nationally-televised tournament in recent years. Warner-Robbins won the Little League World Series last year and Columbus won in 2005.

While Little League is set up primarily as a parent-run organization, Dixie Youth is designed so that recreation departments can still manage teams and that was a major factor in the CPRCAD choosing Dixie Youth.

“If we were coming in and just starting and parents wanted to run it, then (Little League is) probably the way we would’ve gone,” Gay said. “Then we would’ve been a facilitator and not a provider of services.”

Maierhofer said he believes the move to Dixie Youth will help the local economy once Carrollton is able to host district and state tournaments. The ultimate goal would be for Carrollton to host a World Series.

“I mean, that would be the top of the line for us and like I said, it would help put Carrollton on the map, not that it’s not already,” Maierhofer said. “But it would help in terms of building up the local economy.”

Maierhofer said the CPRCAD has averaged 400-500 kids over the last 10 years in its city baseball league, but those numbers have started to slip a bit with some kids going to other leagues for more competitive baseball.

The CPRCAD is hoping the move to Dixie Youth will rejuvenate interest and bring some of those players back in addition to encouraging new players to come out.

“Everybody has played baseball and put on a catcher’s glove or tossed a ball back and forth, so we get a lot of kids out there,” Maierhofer said. “It should be a lot of fun. It’ll be a change for us, which will be nice.”