Home run addition to IU's club sports

IU offers 49 club sports ranging from soccer to shotokan karate to swing. Of the 49, one notable exception has always been missing: club baseball.\nEnter Matt Ostrega. The IU sophomore is starting the University's first-ever club baseball team and plans to have a squad ready for competition by the fall of this year.\nOstrega, an avid baseball player and fan who is also an IDS employee, submitted his presentation for club registration Tuesday to the IU Club Sports Federation. He was approved to start the team and hold its first meeting.\n"I played baseball in high school and on a number of traveling teams," Ostrega said. "When I came to IU, I figured I would try out for the varsity team, but I got cut my freshman year. My longing to get on the field and play again was really strong, and I was willing to do anything to get a team started."\nOstrega contacted IU's RecSports division and enlisted the help of his friends to manage the workload. He even asked his girlfriend, sophomore Elyse Billera, to help with the paperwork. \n"Matt has a really busy schedule with classes and work," she said. "I am just helping him organize things."\nAs far as Ostrega and company have come to register the team, much work still remains before the team will compete in games in early 2006. One challenge is money.\n"Club baseball, unlike varsity baseball, will cost players out-of-pocket dues for equipment and uniforms," he said. "The varsity team plans to donate some equipment, but we will still need to fund raise and hope for some donations."\nOstrega got his friend and former roommate, sophomore Darek Wojewnik, to help him handle all of the finances.\n"Matt dragged me into helping him with budgeting and allocating expenses so we can stay under a budget," Wojewnik said. "I don't play baseball, but I am willing to help out. It is a lot of work, and I give Matt credit for everything that has been accomplished so far."\nBesides being team manager, Ostrega also will work as a player/coach for the team when it begins to play on the field next fall. The team has organized deals to practice at various Bloomington parks and to play some home games at Bloomington North and South high schools. \nBefore the team plays, Ostrega and others will hold tryouts in the fall to whittle potential players down to a squad of about 25 players. The team, however, will not be exclusive in nature.\n"Our practice squad will not be limited to any number of players," Ostrega said. "Anyone will be welcome to come and practice with us whenever.\nThe first step in the process begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday when the club will hold its first gathering, an informational call-out meeting in the Student Recreational Sports Center Auditorium. While it's still early, Ostrega has big plans for the future of the program.\n"My ultimate goal is to come back in a few years and see the club sports program prospering, especially club baseball," he said. "Baseball is the greatest game in the world to me. This will allow students to play that game in college."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Eamonn Brennan at eabrenna@indiana.edu.