As youth participation wanes, organizations seek ways to bring back the fun in America’s Pastime
By Matt Swenson
Allie Lafon, wise beyond her 15 years of age, believes baseball is meant to be difficult. “They call it a game of inches for a reason,” says Lafon, a pitcher and middle infielder. She and her twin sister, Audrey Lafon, both of suburban Atlanta, thrive on the mental and physical demands required to excel at America’s pastime.
That’s why they have continued on the path less chosen for young female athletes by playing hardball since they were four. This spring, they made the local high school’s junior varsity team and are travel team regulars in co-ed and all-girls events.
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They play in tournaments at Georgia’s many venues like LakePoint Sports, as well as in Branson, Missouri; Panama City Beach, Florida; and other sports tourism hotbeds. The Lafons also participate in USA Baseball’s Trailblazer program for girls and have competed in Baseball for All’s national youth girls tournament. Their all-girls team also earned a coveted spot in the inaugural Youth Banana Ball Tournament, organized by the Savannah Bananas and Athletx Sports Group, in Cleveland in 2024. Their team made the championship round.
While they also play travel and varsity softball (a fall sport in the Peach State), baseball is their clear preference, as any of their neighbors can tell from the slinging in their back yard. “I like the competitiveness of it,” says Audrey, a catcher.
Baseball’s slow-burn nature is clearly appealing to the Lafons and a significant number of children of all ages, but it’s never been for anyone. Now, the troubling trend for the sport is that noticeably fewer athletes believe it’s for them.
According to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, baseball has experienced a 19.3% decline in core participation among 6- to 12-year-olds within the past five years. Among 13- to 17-year-olds, it’s a 16.2% decrease in the same time span. However, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association reports casual participation is at an all-time high of 16.7 million.
Jessica Beaudry, founder of the travel sports agency 3UPSports who specializes in baseball and hockey events, says kids playing the diamond sport are cracking under the pressure from overzealous coaches and parents with unrealistic expectations.
“We’ve lost the ability to recognize that it should be fun, and it should be a little bit silly along the way,” says Beaudry.
Banana Ball Catches On
The Savannah Bananas have been serious about being silly since their original iteration as a college summer team flopped a decade ago.
Fans First Entertainment, run by Jessie Cole, took over in 2016. There were hints as to what was to come back then, but it wasn’t until the Bananas left the Coastal Plain League to play their fast-paced, jovial style of ball that the phenomenon took off. Choreographed dance routines, trick plays, and a set game clock are among the elements that separate the experience from a traditional day at the ballpark. All addresses concerns about a slow, if not boring, pace that many attribute to the sport’s struggle to maintain younger audiences.
Banana Ball is an unquestionable hit. The national tour, featuring six independent professional teams, sells out major league venues, including Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and site of three Super Bowls.
The players proverbially and literally let down their hair, which is often dyed a neon color in a sign of the relaxed atmosphere. Bronson Balholm, a catcher for the Party Animals, the Bananas’ chief rival, goes even farther by selecting a fan at each game to paint his fingernails. Teams are asked, and more than willingly oblige, to interact with spectators before and after the games.
The Savannah Bananas prove that baseball still has stories worth telling — and worth traveling for. If your group is ready to write one of its own, our Baseball & Softball Facilities Guide is a solid place to start.
“‘We’re fanatical about the fan’ is what we like to say,” says Balholm, who has built a personal brand around the motto “Catch Kindness,” which extends to his off-the-field venture of teaching STEM-based baseball lessons at local schools. Balholm has degrees in physics and aerospace engineering from Arizona State University.
Banana Ball players like Balholm and shortstop Ryan Cox see themselves as ambassadors, not just for their style of play but for the sport. They try to inject their love of the game at youth camps and tournaments the Bananas run, such as the event the Lafons attended.
Allie Lafon appreciates the Bananas’ effort and sees the benefits in her performance. “When it’s low stress and I’m just playing loose, I’m having fun and doing a lot better,” she says.
Cox builds connections to fans via social media posts, which clearly demonstrate the fun he and the kids are having in the relaxed training sessions. Cox notes there are important messages that’s often lost in travel tournaments like he used to play—namely, that it’s just a game and it’s okay to strike out occasionally.
“Just because you were 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, that doesn’t determine who you are,” says Cox, who is conscious about not overreacting to an error during the game. “If I make a mistake, watch my reaction; don’t just watch the highlights,” he says.
Looking for Love of the Game
Matt Loucks co-founded Glowball with the purpose of teaching baseball and softball players and families to lighten up. Glowball games are played under black lights with lasers, UV face paint, and music. It’s not uncommon to see players wear glow-in-the-dark tutus and face paint.
Created in the Pacific Northwest, the company has expanded to provide this unusual experience across the country, typically after kids play regular games. It’s a low-pressure situation, in which the adults pitch and the children are the base coaches.
Loucks describes the offering as the antidote for the seriousness of ailing baseball. “It’s pretty bad when you’re seeing kids that are nine and 10 years old talking about leaving the game because of how much pressure is put on them,” he says. “There’s no college recruiter that’s going to go look at a nine-year-old. It’s just crazy.”
Beaudry and Loucks urge parents to combat burnout by pushing against perceived or genuine pressure to specialize in a single sport like baseball. “Professional sports don’t play 12 months a year, and there’s a reason for that,” Beaudry notes.
Amanda Shank, executive vice president of strategic initiatives at Unrivaled Sports, which acquired Ripken Baseball in 2023, agrees with some of the criticisms leveled at travel baseball. She said Unrivaled and Ripken have adapted programming to encourage building friendships and memories and not focus solely on taking home trophies.
Its fastest-growing event series is All Ripken Games, which Shank says blends a tournament experience with training and camaraderie. The point is to foster enjoyment, which will create a broad base of participants and increase business for rights holders and event operators.
“Children don’t need to be pushed or pressured to help them improve; we need to teach them and let them love the game,” says Shank. “Event organizers should focus on creating an environment where kids enjoy playing and providing quality instruction and encouragement that meets them where they are. Improvement will naturally happen from there, and they’ll want to keep playing.”
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