No Field Of Dreams In Dibble

Youth leagues in the town of Dibble have doubled in the last couple of years. Currently, there are at least 10 baseball and softball little league teams, but more are expected.

Sunday, May 6th 2012, 5:29 pm

By: News 9


By Deanne Stein, News 9

DIBBLE, Oklahoma -- Youth sports are an important aspect of any community, but for one, small Oklahoma town, the kids are lacking a decent place to play ball.

Youth leagues in the town of Dibble have doubled in the last couple of years. Currently, there are at least 10 baseball and softball little league teams, but more are expected.

"We've got over 200 kids that play sports right now," said Greg Parks, a little league coach. "There's going to be more, so it would be nice to have a facility of our own so that more kids could come out and play."

Right now, they practice in weeds, with no lights or bathrooms. And even though they get to play their games on the high school fields, those are too big. And for the girls' teams, it's worse. They have to practice softball on the high school football field.

"I don't think we turn anybody away, but there are probably some parents that don't sign their kids up because of the lack of facilities," said Parks.

That's why Coach Parks is trying to raise money to turn a section of land owned by the town into fields of dreams for the entire community. When complete, Parks said he hopes to have at least four ballparks, a concession stand, bleachers, bathrooms, lights and more.

"This is a city park so this won't just benefit us," he said. "It will benefit our senior center where they can come out and walk or kids that want to play Frisbee. It will benefit a lot of things, soccer, whatever you want to do; you'll be able to do out here."

Parks has created his own non-profit organization, the Dibble Little League Sports Complex, to raise money to fund the proposed facility and to also maintain it. Now, he just needs donations.

"We don't want money from people who don't have it," he said. "We would like the donations from people who think it's a good cause, that donate every year to good causes. Hopefully we can find those people."

One way or another, though, Parks said it's going to happen. In fact, he plans to get started in August with whatever money he has raised, with the majority of the labor being donated by volunteers.

If you would like to help you can donate cash or check to the "Dibble Little League Sports Complex" through an account set up at the McClain County Bank at P.O. Box 351, Purcell, OK 73080. You can donate at the branches located in either Norman or Purcell.

If you have any questions or need more information, just email at dllsportscomplex@gmail.com!

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