Organisers of baseball on the Island are targeting Government with a letter blitz in a bid to secure permanent facilities for the sport.

Dave Brining, president of the Bermuda Youth Sports Programme, is hoping to gain access to the baseball and soccer fields already set up on the Morgan's Point development site.

He has written to the parents of 400 children who regularly play the sport in the West End outlining the problems and urging them to send their own letters to Premier Pamela Gordon, new Youth and Sports Minister John Barritt and Finance Minister Grant Gibbons.

Vince Ingham, chairman of the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, the quango established by Government to develop the baselands, is also on his mailing list.

Brining said: "This growing organisation (the BYSP), which is run by volunteer parents, has relied on the use of school fields, as well as White Hill Field, for all games.

"This lack of permanent facilities is the main issue facing us today.

"We are running out of space to accommodate any more children in our programmes because we don't have access to sports facilities or equipment storage.

"We are now seeking help from Government officials, as well as the BLDC, for access to the fields set up on Morgan's Point.

"Several parents have told me they have already responded and if we can get about 200 letters off to each of these people it should up the level of pressure.'' Barritt was recently the guest of honour at the BYSP's end-of-season awards ceremony, which was followed by games between representative sides from the BYSP and the Youth Athletic Organisation, which organises baseball in the East End.

Brining added: "We have had a brief chat, but Mr Barritt is fairly new to the Sports job and it will take some time to come up to date with all the issues.

"However, he played baseball on the Island in the 1970s and was amazed by the growth and how many children are now involved. I think he is interested in assisting us.'' Meanwhile, Brining insisted hopes of establishing a baseball league for those aged 16 and over were still a couple of years from fruition.

He said only three of the current crop of the 13-15-year-olds were at the elder end of that spectrum, but that would have grown to 12 to 15 children in a couple of years.

The matter came to a head early in the season when one of the organisers of the YAO programme, Brian Calhoun, claimed there was no provision for baseball players once they got past 15.

Calhoun, a scout for Major League side LA Dodgers, warned players with potential to establish pro careers risked slipping through the net. Bermuda had been identified by Dodgers personnel as the "next baseball developing country'', with players in the 15-18 age range their targets.

But Brining said: "We've got one or two players -- especially pitchers -- among the older players who could get a chance at college baseball, and that would be great. The idea that there are 20 prospects in Bermuda is not realistic. It doesn't happen in football and cricket and it's not going to happen in baseball.''