Oak Hill couple's love for baseball ignites fire to create youth sports league

Erica Van Buren, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·5 min read

OAK HILL — Erin Anderson has fond childhood memories of playing baseball in New Smyrna Beach.

Now, Erin and her husband Don, want to bring that same joy to kids in Oak Hill. To that end, the couple has created a youth sports league.

“There hasn’t been a youth league in our town for 20 plus years,” said Erin, 47. “I was a kid the last time I remember Oak Hill having a Little League. I want to bring back that parks and recreation ball that we all grew up playing and the memories we had.”

Erin and Don Anderson started the Oak Hill Sports Club for kids 4 to 12 years old in 2020.

Don and Erin Anderson on the field in Oak Hill recently. “I remember my husband and I at our opening day last year, seeing what we accomplished in a matter of months. Seeing the kids in their baseball uniforms, we just looked at each other and started crying," said Erin Anderson, founder of Oak Hill Sports Club.
Don and Erin Anderson on the field in Oak Hill recently. “I remember my husband and I at our opening day last year, seeing what we accomplished in a matter of months. Seeing the kids in their baseball uniforms, we just looked at each other and started crying," said Erin Anderson, founder of Oak Hill Sports Club.

“I remember my husband and I at our opening day last year, seeing what we accomplished in a matter of months. Seeing the kids in their baseball uniforms, we just looked at each other and started crying.”

'Two birds with one stone'

The couple relocated to Oak Hill from New Smyrna Beach after tying the knot in July of 2020.

“Before we moved to Oak Hill, (Don) was a (Little League) coach for over 16 years,” said Erin. “When we moved to Oak Hill I didn’t want him driving all the way to New Smyrna Beach to coach anymore. I started working for the city of Oak Hill, that's when I noticed that there's nothing for these kids to do here. I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone by bringing a sports league here and having my husband coach.”

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In August of 2020 Erin turned to social media to get the word out about the league.

“I put a post on Facebook and I said, ‘Hey! Would anybody be interested in a free baseball clinic,'" said Erin. “At our clinic we had five kids. The next day I went back to Facebook and I said, ‘I need help. Can anybody donate some gloves, bats, shoes? We’re going to have free baseball clinics.' We did this every other weekend. As the weekends went on the club started growing. We ended up with about 22 kids.”

Erin said the next step was to come up with a name for the club.

“I didn't only want to focus on baseball,” said Erin. “I wanted to be able to broaden it. So we named it Oak Hill Sports Club. That way in the future we could introduce more sports like soccer, flag football, and basketball. In February of 2021 we decided to see if we could get enough kids interested in joining a spring Little League.”

'It has grown pretty quickly'

Don said with the number of kids that showed interest in the club, the couple were able to create four Little League teams.

“Last spring we had about 45 to 47 kids,” said Don. “We basically had 45 kids to start the spring Little League season last year and now we're over 85 kids with 10 teams for this season. It has grown pretty quickly. The support that we’re getting not only from the families and the kids but from the community is overwhelming."

"It cost $40 to play," said Don Anderson. "But we don’t turn anyone away. We have community sponsors that pay the fee to make sure every kid gets to play."
"It cost $40 to play," said Don Anderson. "But we don’t turn anyone away. We have community sponsors that pay the fee to make sure every kid gets to play."

'Every kid gets to play'

"It cost $40 (for the season) to play," said Don. "But we don’t turn anyone away. We have community sponsors that pay the fee to make sure every kid gets to play. We’ve raised kids and we've had the trials and tribulations of competitive sports. So we made a decision from day one that we weren't going to be affiliated with any leagues like the Little League World Series. We're just going to keep it recreational and keep it fun.”

Don said the city of Oak Hill stepped up to the plate to help out.

“The city is not only allowing us to use a field, but applied for and was approved for a $140,000 ECHO grant to improve our field for next season. So it's really exciting.”

Oak Hill city administrator Kohn Evans told The News-Journal in an email, "The Oak Hill Sport Club’s success is being recognized. The city is happy the citizens have rediscovered the city parks again. So, after a successful season of the club, the City Commission unanimously agreed to pursue an ECHO grant with Volusia County, for the Mary DeWees Park baseball field for $285,785 with the city responsible for $144,893.

"The Oak Hill Sports Club has since approached the City Commission and they expressed their dreams for more sports and other events for the community and the Commission reacted by approving the pursuit of the property to the north of Mary DeWees Park and the creation of a City Parks Master Plan for the entire city. The ECHO grant for the baseball field is approved. The ECHO grant for the purchase of the property to the north is just going through the application process. Oak Hill Sports Club is growing and the city is here for it!"

'The best thing for them'

Long time Oak Hill resident Paula Cleaves learned about the baseball clinic from a Facebook post. Her son, Phillip, 12, now plays in the league.

“There’s nothing here to do for these kids,” said 51-year-old Cleaves. “I was raised here. This is home to me. I literally live four streets away from where I grew up. I played ball on both of the fields here. I was the only girl that played on the boys' ball team.”

Tim Morton, a resident of Oak Hill for 12 years, says his son Kane, 9, is excited about being able to play baseball.

“It’s a great thing for this town,” said Morton. “ When I was a kid I played in New Smyrna Beach and they haven't had a league since I was probably in middle school. That was back in the mid- to early-90s. Most kids want to play on computers all day. I think this is the best thing for them.”

For information on the program or to donate please visit Oak Hill Sports Club at oakhillsportsclub.com or call 386-314-5734.

Erica Van Buren covers general assignment and Ormond Beach government for The Daytona Beach News-Journal and USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@News-Jrnl.com or on Twitter: @EricaVanBuren32

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Oak Hill couple's love for baseball ignites fire for youth league