Andover Little League will kick off its 55th year with a parade down Main Street this Saturday, May 3.
The 9 a.m. parade will temporarily close a portion of Route 28 and touch off an all-day affair, as every Little League team in town is scheduled to play its first game at Deyermond Field, which is typically reserved for ages 10 and older.
The Main Street parade will be a first for Andover Little League, according to organizers.
"We've never had one," said Peter Broderick, Opening Day 2008 chairman and a former vice president of Andover Youth Baseball. "Hopefully this will be the start of something we do annually."
In previous years, the league's opening day ceremony only included players ages 10 to 12.
But this year, in an effort led by new league President Len Farris, all of Andover's approximately 1,200 players between ages 6 and 12, plus players in the Challenger Division for special needs athletes, will march in uniform during the parade. Nearly 100 teams will play later that afternoon, he said.
Farris, formerly a member of the Little League board of directors in Groveland, said he started an opening day parade tradition in that town roughly six years ago and it was a hit with players there.
"They remember the parade," said Farris. "It sort of signifies the start of baseball season.
"It was a way to connect the community and it was a way to have the community more involved with the players," Farris said. "For them, it's about being part of a team, being part of a bigger organization."
After the parade, Andover resident and television sports anchor Dan Roche will serve as master of ceremonies for events behind Doherty Middle School on Bartlet Street. Together, the parade and ceremonies are expected to take a little more than one hour. After several speeches and a ceremonial first pitch, teams will head to Deyermond Field on Chandler Road in West Andover.
"We'll be going 12 hours — all day," said Broderick.
Broderick said ballplayers in the 6- to 9-year-old age group will be exposed Deyermond Field for the first time during the Opening Day festivities. They don't normally play at the complex during the season until they are older and advance to the 10- to 12-year-old level.
"We're trying to showcase that field," said Broderick. "As the kids progress, that's where they'll end up when they play Majors and Minors."
Enrollment in Andover Youth Baseball has been increasing steadily, Broderick said, despite increased competition from other youth activities and organized sports like soccer and lacrosse and the extension of the hockey season.
"We're competing with a lot of other sports," said Broderick. "We wanted to keep baseball in the public eye."
With more than 300 volunteers giving time to Andover Youth Baseball every year, Farris said one of the league's goals this year was to ensure that both the players and parents involved had a positive experience.
Broderick said Opening Day will aim to reinforce what youth baseball is all about.
"It's team play, it's fair play," said Broderick. "It's respect for the game and for athletes, whether you're winning or losing. We all think Little League has some life lessons associated with it.
"We hope a little bit of that rubs off into their daily life," he said.
