Capitol News

The Lansing School District is examining a proposal to upgrade the batting cages for Sexton and Everett High schools after being presented a request for purchase at its March 9 meeting.

The district is also in the process of replacing the batting cage at Eastern High school, which was destroyed during a recent winter storm that caused a tree to fall on it.

The new cages will be utilized for baseball and softball and have a life expectancy of 20 years, with the nets needing replacing after 10 years.

The district has also taken a survey of all their athletic facilities and equipment and Athletic Director Chris Henderson is working through all of them, trying to prioritize what needs to be replaced.

“I will tell you, our focus in athletics this year is increasing participation, focusing on facilities, and being visible: communication, really spending a lot of our attention on communicating and making it known that it's available, the opportunities we have,” he said. “So, with baseball, we have the depth of a junior varsity and varsity team. In terms of softball, we've struggled along the years and we've gone to a co-op where all three schools combine for one. I will tell you that three years ago, when we combined the teams for a co-op with softball, our numbers were still pretty low. Last year, they grew quite a bit to where now they established a solid junior varsity and varsity, and we hope that it continues.”

Henderson added that over 150 students participated in fall middle school athletic programs – a 50% increase from last year.

The district recently applied for a $50,000 grant for their baseball and softball programs, and also received a smaller grant for small equipment pieces for the district.