A total of 185 Malibu children ages seven to 12 visit the Malibu Bluffs Park baseball fields each week for Little League practice.
Founded in 1955, Malibu Little League has been teaching baseball and valuable life lessons to local children for 57 years. This year’s program is made up of a total of 14 baseball teams and two softball teams. The softball teams practice at the Malibu High School fields and contribute an additional 30 players.
Steve Parks is currently serving his first year at the league’s president, but he is no stranger to the organization — he has served on the board for five years and was a Malibu Little League player himself in the 1980s.
“A diligent Little League community worked together to obtain temporary field space [which is now Malibu Bluffs Park] from the County of Los Angeles, raise money to construct baseball fields and put hard work into building the fields,” Parks wrote about the history of the league in a letter addressing Little League families.
He said that, this year, the board is trying to turn Little League into even more of a community program by getting players more involved in fundraising efforts and running combined practices on Fridays for the majors teams.
“Because they play together, they’re learning the same skills together and developing equally,” Parks said.
Steve Prudholme has been coaching Malibu Little League for six years and has watched his two children progress through its levels. He currently coaches both of his children on the Braves majors team. Prudholme and Parks agreed that this year’s teams are balanced and improving at a similar pace.
“We have 15 to 18 returning majors players and the rest are all new,” Prudholme said. “For each team, it’s been kind of a learning process to get these kids who have never played majors before more used to what the majors division has to offer.”
Prudholme added that he has witnessed the league’s competitive growth and an improvement in District 25’s overall coaching.
“It’s a testament to how much the community has put into the league,” he said.
Parks also stressed the importance of Malibu Little League’s stance as a community-based recreational program.
“This program is designed to make it fair for everybody,” he said. “This is about kids playing with their friends, playing against their friends and having ice cream together afterwards.”
Prudholme’s 12-year-old daughter, Sophia, is one of few girls to play Little League baseball in Malibu. She is currently in her last season, but said she will leave the league with valuable lessons that she can apply to other sports.
“Playing with a team, strength and team bonding really help,” she said.
Sophia added that some of her favorite memories from Little League include winning the championship during her first season in AA and hitting a homerun over the fence this season in majors. She also enjoys being teammates with her younger brother, Stevie.
“It helps a lot to hang out with him,” she said. “He makes it better and it’s just really fun with him.”
Playoffs for all three divisions begin in mid-May, and all teams automatically qualify. The brackets will be determined by coin flip.
“By the time the playoffs start, anyone can win it,” Prudholme said about the majors division. “I see our younger kids getting better by each practice and each game. They’re going to be the ones that are going to be the difference in the championships.”
Malibu Little League will host a pancake breakfast fundraiser at Malibu Bluffs Park on Saturday, April 16 from 7 to 11 a.m. Money raised will go toward umpires’ pay, field maintenance, equipment and uniforms.
“Our registration fees don’t cover the full expense of running our Little League program,” Parks said.
Parks emphasized that the Malibu Kiwanis Club has played a major part in putting the fundraiser together — especially president John Paola, who has run the snack shack at Little League games for 31 years.
Although Malibu Little League has held a steady enrollment over the years, Parks said he hopes to see the program expand even more in the future and continue to offer fall ball for players who are interested.
“There’s no better place to play baseball than at Malibu Bluffs Park,” he said.
To learn more about Malibu Little League, visit malibulittleleague.org.