Smith running for Dixie Youth national director position

By Patrick Ochs (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, June 20, 2008

NATCHEZ — Natchez Dixie Youth 9-and 10-year-old commissioner Porky Smith is running for the vacated Dixie Youth national director position.

Smith is running against Keith Greenleaf of Columbia and Ronnie Terrell of Gautier for the position Sonny Everett of Moss Point will be stepping down from after a long tenure with the Dixie Youth Baseball league.

Smith said he would obviously like to be elected, but if he isn’t, it won’t be the end of the world.

“If I didn’t think I could win, I wouldn’t have got in there,” Smith said. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing. If I get elected, I get elected. If I don’t, I don’t.

In Dixie Youth, every state has three national directors and one state director.

Over each state there is a Dixie Youth commissioner and president who govern the program.

According to Smith, the election runs the whole month of June, with all 79 Mississippi leagues getting a vote. At the end of June, if a winner is not selected, there will be a runoff during July, with the winner being announced at the Dixie Youth World Series in August.

One thing Smith sees as a possible hindrance to him being selected is the presence of Clarence A. Bowlin, Jr. as one of the other two national directors of Mississippi.

“That’s one thing that is going to hurt me,” Smith said. “I don’t know how people are going to feel about two national directors in the same town.”

Bowlin, who has been a national director for 38 years, said he expects Smith to be a good national director, should he be elected.

“I think Porky would make a good national director,” Bowlin said. “He is truly a man that loves kids. He really cares for the kids.”

According to Bowlin, part of what makes Dixie Youth one of “the best youth baseball leagues in the country” is the fact all of the leaders are unpaid volunteers — who participate because they love the game and love kids.

If elected, part of Smith’s responsibilities would be to attend week-long rule-change meetings during the Dixie Youth World Series — which Smith said will not hinder his current role as commissioner.

Dixie Youth has a presence in 11 states throughout the Southeast, including, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.