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International City Baseball is an organization offering organized baseball leagues for youth ages four through 18 throughout Lorain County. ICB provides both instructional and competitive co ed divisions based on age, and volunteer coaches lead teams with players of all skill and ability levels. The promotion of safety and development of sportsmanship, teamwork, honesty, courage, respect for authority, and physical fitness are the organization s priorities. In these leagues, it s not about winning and losing; it s about teaching youth life skills, having a positive attitude, and being a good sport. The development of exceptional athletic skills and winning games is secondary to providing all players with positive examples and an overall positive experience surrounding baseball. ICB has been instructing children of the Lorain community since its founding in 1953, formerly under the name of Lorain Youth Baseball. But in 2019, it was reestablished under new leadership and the new International City Baseball name to continue helping to build experiences and lay a foundation of the sport for the children of our community. Under the former name, the teams utilized four baseball parks throughout Lorain. But wanting to offer the best model for baseball here in the city, they decided to adopt one central location. Campana Park, located at 2840 Meister Road, has become ICB s home location, and it houses eight baseball diamonds and three T ball fields. The park offers enough space to accommodate both home and visiting teams, and organizers added features over the past year to promote safety surrounding COVID 19. Even though ICB instituted all Lorain County Health Department protocols, some parents still did not want their children to play at the start of the pandemic. During 2020, ICB experienced a reduction in the number of athletes, and the players dropped to 166 players from 360 players in 2019.
There were 30 teams in 201 and just 1 teams in 2020 In response to the diminished turnout last season, the organization sought to add hand sanitizer dispensers in every dugout at Campana Park. They also aimed to upgrade to hands free restrooms, including contactless light switches, faucets, and soap and paper towel dispensers. Thanks to funding received from the CARES Act, these improvements have made for an overall safer baseball park and have encouraged greater participation with the return of 28 teams this year.
