Poplar Cancels Youth Baseball And Softball, Wolf Point Decision Yet To Be Made

Poplar Youth Baseball and Softball has canceled the 2020 summer youth seasons due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poplar coaches Lane Dehner and Coy Weeks both said the season is canceled.

This summer season would have been the 33rd consecutive season for Poplar.

“We have made the decision to cancel our Poplar baseball and softball program for the 2020 season,” Dehner said Monday, March 30.

He said canceling was a consensus of the Poplar coaches.

“We feel it is reckless to potentially put our kids at risk or other communities at risk. This not only puts our kids at risk, but also prevents us from being able to fundraise,” Dehner said.

“Our program relies heavily on community donations. There is no recreation program dumping money into our baseball and softball programs. Parents, local businesses and coaches do a majority of the donating to our programs,” he said.

Decisions had not been made by late Monday, April 6, whether to cancel or delay season starts for Wolf Point Youth Sports, the long-standing City of Wolf Point summer recreation program, and the Yellow Jackets American Legion and Babe Ruth baseball programs.

“I’m not ready to end things yet,” Mayor Chris Dschaak said Monday, March 6. “We’ll see how it goes.”