As the 2016 municipal baseball and softball seasons approach, the City Council of Pell City is weighing its options on how best to spend Saturdays at Lakeside Park. Should they be used for more local practices and games or more revenue-generating opportunities?

During the Council meeting on Dec. 14, Parks and Recreation Director Bubba Edge presented next season’s proposed schedule, which with the exception of Easter weekend is fully booked on Saturdays. Edge told members this was done to address feedback from this year’s events.

“We had a few complaints,” Edge said. “One, that there wasn’t enough practice time, and two, that there weren’t enough games on Saturdays.”

Edge said opening the City’s six fields to teams on Saturdays gives family members from outside the area a chance to drive in to watch loved ones play ball. It’s also necessary as the number of participants in Pell City leagues continues to climb. In 2015, 563 children between the ages 3-12 fielded 62 teams.

However, the success of this year’s venture into hosting local tournaments for the City leads some Council members to think differently about their weekends. In June 2015, Pell City held it’s inaugural Pre All-Star Invitational Baseball Tournament, which grossed more than $30,000 and put more than $8,000 into local coffers.

By comparison, the City returns about $600 per day for renting its facilities out to travel ball tournaments, Edge said, and most — if not all — of that is spent on staffing the event.

“The All-Star Tournament produced double the amount of money of all our travel tournaments combined,” Edge told the Council. “Everything just seemed to flow really well last year, and we’re going to try to duplicate it again with just a couple tweaks.”

Council member Jay Jenkins, in a sentiment echoed by other members, said Parks and Rec should focus on more City-hosted, multi-day tournaments in 2016, which could generate more cashflow but eliminate some Saturday practices and games at the park.

2016 Tentative

Schedule Highlights

Baseball Season Opening Tournament: Scheduled for March 10-12, this addition to the schedule will kick off the season by having local teams compete.

The season features 31 game days between March 19 and May 13.

The City’s End of the Season Softball Tournament is tentatively scheduled for May 12-14.

All-Star practice begins May 16 and, and the season lasts through June 25.

Practices and games are not scheduled for Wednesdays and Sundays.