The Kiwanis Club of Staunton was founded in November 1922. Since its founding, the Club has devoted its time, energy, and resources to improving the lives of children in our community. Kiwanis has been associated with youth baseball in Staunton since 1945, when four civic organizations—Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, and the Young Men’s Civic Club—came together to establish the city’s original youth baseball program. In 1946, the Kiwanis Club of Staunton assumed full responsibility for the program and has operated it continuously and successfully ever since. It is estimated that nearly 25,000 children have played on Kiwanis Baseball teams over the program’s long and proud history.
In the years immediately following World War II, the program served youth ages 13 to 15. Games were played at the fairgrounds ballpark located on the site of what is now Moxie Stadium, home of the Staunton Braves. Teams originally represented various sections of the city, such as Selma, West End, and Sears Hill, and players lived in the neighborhoods they represented. Teams carried names like the Termites and the Woodpeckers, and games were played during the summer months of June, July, and August.
Kiwanis Baseball’s first program director was Eddie Bryant, the football coach at Staunton Military Academy. His charge was to teach not only the fundamentals of baseball, but also the values of sportsmanship and character. Under his leadership, the program enforced the Club’s guiding rules: No Smoking, No Chewing, No Profane Language, and No Destruction of Property—principles that continue to influence the program’s culture today.
From its inception until 1984, Kiwanis Baseball operated as an independent league. In 1984, the program affiliated with the national Babe Ruth Baseball organization. In 2026, Staunton Kiwanis Baseball made the intentional decision to return to its roots by once again becoming an independent league. This change allows any child ages 4–12 who wishes to play baseball in the Staunton Kiwanis Baseball program to participate, regardless of where they live.
Today, the program operates as a spring season, beginning in February and concluding at the end of the school year. Staunton Kiwanis Baseball serves children ages 4 through 12 and maintains a strict no-cut policy, ensuring that every registered child has the opportunity to play. The Kiwanis Club absorbs a significant portion of the operational costs in order to keep the program accessible and affordable for families.
Games are played at the Kiwanis Baseball Complex in Gypsy Hill Park, a facility built and continually improved through the combined efforts of the Kiwanis Club and the City of Staunton Department of Recreation and Parks. The first major improvements occurred in the late 1970s with the construction of Kiwanis Field, made possible by nearly $50,000 raised by the Club. Those funds provided a lighted field, brick dugouts, a two-story brick press box and storage area, and separate concession and restroom facilities.
In the mid-1990s, the Kiwanis Club launched another major capital improvement initiative, raising funds to support the City’s construction of a new softball field at Montgomery Hall Park and the addition of two new youth baseball fields at Gypsy Hill Park. The relocation of adult softball programs allowed Gypsy Hill Park to be dedicated exclusively to youth baseball.
The larger of the two new fields was named Jerry May Field in honor of local resident Jerry May, Kiwanis Baseball’s first alumnus to play Major League Baseball, whose life was tragically cut short. Jerry’s friends contributed substantially to the fundraising effort. The smaller field was named Bosserman Field in recognition of longtime program director Ken Bosserman and his parents, whose dedication and service profoundly shaped the program over many years.
This fundraising effort—supported in part through the sale of coverlets featuring Staunton landmarks—raised more than $60,000 and enabled the construction of the two fields, along with fencing, bench areas, a two-story press box and storage facility, concession stand, scoreboards, and lighting for both fields.
In the early 2000s, the Kiwanis Club continued investing in the program by funding upgrades to dugouts, improvements to playing surfaces, fencing, and scoreboards. In 2018, the Club completed its most recent major project by doubling the size of the concession stand at Kiwanis Field, creating a more efficient and modern facility that supports the sale of an estimated 10,000 hot dogs each season. All funds for this project were provided through the baseball fund of the Kiwanis Foundation of Staunton.
Over the decades, Kiwanis Baseball has earned a strong reputation as a high-quality youth baseball program. Kiwanis teams won Babe Ruth district, state, and Southeast Regional championships in 1984 and 1986, advancing to the Babe Ruth 12-and-under World Series in both years and finishing third each time. From 1984 through 1992, Kiwanis Baseball all-star teams captured Babe Ruth state championships in one division or another for nine consecutive years.
The program’s quality was further recognized when Babe Ruth Baseball selected the Kiwanis Baseball Complex to host major regional tournaments, including the Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken 2006 10-and-under Southeast Regional Tournament and the 2009 and 2014 Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken 12-and-under Southeast Regional Tournaments—the final step before the Babe Ruth World Series. These events were highly successful and provided both recognition and financial support for the program.
While proud of its tournament accomplishments, the primary focus of Staunton Kiwanis Baseball has always been the local spring program and the children who participate in it. The program continues to emphasize sportsmanship, skill development, and fun. Coaches and volunteers are supported with training and resources, league rosters are intentionally kept small, and rules require that every player participates in at least half of each game.
In 2022, Staunton Kiwanis Baseball served 247 children ages 4 through 12 across 19 teams in five divisions, including tee ball, coach pitch, rookie (machine pitch), junior (minor), and bambino (major). Tee ball was first offered in the late 1980s and formally added as a division in 2002 to serve players ages 4–5.
That same year, Kiwanis International named Staunton Kiwanis Baseball one of the Top 10 Signature Projects worldwide, recognizing the program’s lasting impact and community value. The annual cost of the program averages approximately $80 per player. These costs are covered through a combination of registration fees, sponsorships, concession revenues, and fundraising efforts by the Kiwanis Club of Staunton.
The Kiwanis Club of Staunton, together with its long-standing partner, the City of Staunton Department of Recreation and Parks, is proud of the youth baseball tradition built over more than 70 years and looks forward to continuing that tradition for future generations of children. In 2026 Staunton Kiwanis Baseball will celebrate 80 years of service to the community!