Residents of the Mattawan Consolidated School District, 

I am seeking your support as I approach our school district regarding an enhancement to our men's baseball program by implementing a freshmen baseball team beginning in the spring of 2019.  As I understand it, in past years Mattawan High School has not had enough players to field a freshman level baseball team. The class of 2022 has a significant amount of young men that I assure you will be trying out for the Mattawan High School baseball team in the spring of 2019. But, as we are all aware, there are only so many positions available on the varsity and junior varsity teams. From what I've researched, our 2018 varsity team had 6 seniors graduate, essentially opening up approximately 6 spots on the varsity team. Last season's junior varsity team had 6 sophomore players who will be juniors in 2019 and will more than likely progress to the varsity team, therefore, that will open up 6 spots on the 2019 junior varsity team. From what I understand, there were approximately 8 players cut from the open tryouts held in the spring of 2018; those players will be sophomore/juniors in the spring of 2019 and will be more than likely tryout again. With all of that being said, I assure you that the freshmen class of 2022 will bring in at least 20 young men who will tryout; hence the need for a freshmen baseball team. Additionally, I do know there are other schools within our conference that have freshmen baseball teams; Gull Lake, Portage Northern, and Portage Central have freshmen teams that Mattawan would play against in conference play. Not only will this create an opportunity for the freshmen class of 2022 baseball players, but also for future players. As a community we understand there is a significant amount of work that goes into organizing a sports team, but we feel our children are worth it.  With your support we can show our district that there is a need for a freshmen baseball team.