ELSANOR, Ala. — A “Field of Dreams” might soon become a nightmare for parents and players in Elsanor.

Steve Williams, Elsanor representative for the Central Baldwin Baseball League, says if the they cannot get more support from the community, they might lose the use of the ballfield at Elsanor School.

“Right now, Central Baldwin Baseball League is broken up into school districts,” he said. “Each school district has its own league and its own teams. Robertsdale School District has teams, Loxley School District has teams, Rosinton School District has teams, Silverhill School District has teams and we have teams here in Elsanor.”

But if the Elsanor Sports Association cannot elect officers, it is in danger of disbanding, Williams said.

Last week, the Association held a meeting to elect officers and announce signups for the coming season. Noone showed up, Williams said.

“Mike Hess is president of the Elsanor Sports Association. He and his wife were there. Myself and my wife were there and our kids, no one else,” Williams said.

Williams said the league needs volunteers to serve as vice president, secretary and treasurer to keep track of concessions that raise money to pay umpires, lights and chalk for the field.

“That’s all we need,” he said. “Without community support, (Susan) Runnels, (principal at Elsanor Elementary School) told Mike Hess that the parking lot for the field will likely be turned into a track for the school, so we won’t be able to use it any more.”

Williams is hoping that the whole situation is just a misunderstanding.

“We sent flyers home with the kids to let the parents know about the meeting,” he said. “I think they just didn’t understand the severity of the problem.”

For Williams and his family, losing the use of the field would be nothing short of a tragedy.

“I have seven kids ranging in age from 33 down to 7 and they’ve all played here,” he said. “This is our field and our team. It’s about community pride. We don’t want to play anywhere else.”

The field has been used for T-ball, Peanuts, Minor and Major League teams in the Dixie Youth baseball league for several years.

“We had 13 kids just on my son’s Minor League team, which by the way, won the Central Baldwin League championship,” he said. “I’m not sure if we had a T-ball team, but we had at least two dozen kids from Elsanor and Seminole here playing ball last year.”

While the Major League age players have switched to O-Zone, which uses a larger field and will no longer be able to play at Elsanor, the other three divisions should be able to field teams, Williams said.

Elsanor Sports Association will hold another meeting at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9 at Elsanor School.

If they do not have enough volunteers for officers, the Association will most likely be absorbed by Robertsdale, Williams said.

The Association also has $3,000 in the bank that will be turned over to the school and will likely go toward building the track, Williams said.

“We just need the support of the community,” he said. “Hopefully when all is said and done, we will be the ‘Little Field That Could.’”