Improving Max Long is important for our community

We like the way the Highlands County Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee, better known as R-PAC, responded to Sebring's Dixie Youth Baseball request. Board members moved quickly to support a proposal for major improvements to the baseball complex, and obviously understood the importance of this request.

The Highlands County Commission will get a request for $18,000 to add to money from the local Dixie Youth board and from the city to make improvements at Max Long Recreational Complex.

These improvements are to basically improve drainage by re-grading the infields and replacing turf. As it stands, "lips" on the infield cause dangerous bounces that could injure young baseball players. And drainage has become such an issue that tournaments this year were hampered by an inability to get water to run off the fields during rains.

Anyone who thinks these improvements are a waste of time should spend some time at Max Long. No other facility in the county, with the possible exception of the fairgrounds, serves more people and provides more enjoyment than Max Long. Nearly every month of the year, young people from Sebring and throughout the county use those baseball fields for practice, regular season play, AAU and for tournaments.

To the credit of many volunteers, the place keeps going, but at some point large improvements are necessary and they are bigger than any volunteers can pull off. Max Long needs a lot of that, and we hope it doesn't just stop with re-grading, although that makes sense as the top priority.

That facility needs many improvements to match others in this area and around the state. New backstops and fencing, netting to protect people from foul balls, definitely new dugouts and bleachers are all needed. There are many more things that could be listed, but let's just start with those.

Contrary to what many think, our cities and counties don't put that much into recreational facilities for our children, compared to other places around the country. In Sebring, when it comes to the baseball fields at Max Long, a lot of the cost is incurred by the Dixie Youth board who pays the light bills, which is substantial with those old lights and frequent use, and for basic maintenance of bases, chalk, equipment, etc. Mowing is done by the city as well as a few other things. Over all, though, it's largely the baseball league that pays for things.

Max Long should be a first-rate baseball complex, considering the level of talent that flows from this area and the importance of baseball for recreation, and even commerce. District and especially state tournaments draw entire teams and their families into the area for several days. That boosts the local economy.

We give kudos to R-PAC for seeing that, and we hope the county goes along to help Sebring Dixie Youth make improvements. We also hope to see many more improvements come to those fields in the near future.