ON A MISSION: Di Barrymore has been working hard to get softball back up and running in Maitland.
Softball is set to return to Maitland for the first time in a decade following a six-month off-field pitch.
The Maitland Meteors have been formed as a club and will exist under the Newcastle and District Softball Association banner for season 2012-2013.
Meteors president Di Barrymore has been working behind the scenes since November to get the club up and running in Maitland.
“It is my absolute passion,” she said. “It is all about getting the kids out onto the park.”
Barrymore, of Beresfield, has been involved in the sport for 30 years and said Maitland was an ideal spot to promote the sport and offer alternatives in the summer months.
“We had a lack of numbers in Newcastle and we noticed that there weren’t many players from this area,” she said. “So this [forming the club at Maitland] was part of expanding the game in the Hunter.”
This has already been received with a degree of success according to Barrymore, especially for young girls looking to play team sport.
“I have already been taking inquiries from ladies at work and a lot of the boys from the Maitland Mavericks [baseball] have said they are interested,” she said.
The exact make up off Meteor teams, in both juniors and seniors, will be determined by player numbers in the coming months.
The season starts in October and Barrymore said she was hoping to field at least two junior teams in the first season.
All Newcastle and District Softball Association matches are played out of Stevenson Park on a Saturday.
A club uniform and logo have already been designed for the Meteors and more information can be found by following the links on the association’s website.