Petition to Sanction High School Baseball in Wyoming

To the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) and State Educational Leaders:

Every year, hundreds of Wyoming student-athletes miss out on the opportunity to play one of America’s greatest sports — baseball — under their school’s banner.
Wyoming remains one of the only states in the country without sanctioned high school baseball, leaving students without access to structured programs, community representation, and affordable pathways to college athletics.

Challenges in the Past — and Why They Can Be Overcome Now

We recognize that in the past, several challenges made high school baseball difficult to sanction:

Harsh Spring Weather:

• Wyoming’s spring weather can be unpredictable, but other cold-weather states (like Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota) have successfully adjusted their baseball seasons by starting later, scheduling flexibly, and prioritizing field maintenance planning.

Cost Concerns:

• Initial costs for baseball fields, coaching stipends, and equipment are real. However, many communities already maintain fields for Legion baseball, meaning existing facilities can be shared, costs can be minimized, and sponsorships, booster clubs, and grants can offset start-up expenses.

Overlap with Legion Baseball:

• Wyoming’s strong Legion tradition is a point of pride.
• Rather than competing, school and Legion programs can complement each other by coordinating schedules — allowing athletes to represent their schools during the academic year and continue with Legion during the summer.

Historical Lack of Demand:

• When Wyoming set up its high school sports programs decades ago, there weren’t enough schools asking for baseball at the time.
• Legion baseball (club baseball run separately from schools) had already been around for decades and became the “unofficial” high school baseball option.
• Because Legion was strong and widespread, the pressure to create a school-based season just never materialized—even though it grew in other states.

Why Now Is the Time to Act

Every year we delay, another generation of athletes loses the chance to:

• Represent their school.
• Grow under the mentorship and discipline of a school-coached environment.
• Pursue college athletic dreams tied to school participation.

Our students deserve the same chances that students across America enjoy.

High school baseball builds leadership, teamwork, resilience — and memories that last a lifetime.

The community support is here. The athletes are ready. The opportunity is overdue.

We respectfully call on the WHSAA and Wyoming education leaders:

• Sanction high school baseball.
• Give our students the field they deserve.
• Let’s make history together.