For Francesca Mundrick, the inaugural Hitting4Habitat Baseball/Softball Tournament at Alcyon Park was in essence a home run.
On April 26, baseball and softball players from the Pitman Little League – ages 6 to 8 – swung their bats, hit baseballs, and ran bases – all for a great collaborative environmental endeavor.
As community outreach commissioner for the Pitman Environmental Commission (PEC), Mundrick continually thinks of ways on how to engage an audience with environmental initiatives.
Walking around Alcyon Park, there are a number of sport fields – a senior baseball field, a little league field, a softball field, soccer/football fields and disc golf.
In 2024, wheels started churning on how to engage the youth that fill those fields any given weekend. With a $1,500 ANJEC (Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions) grant, Mundrick created Hitting4Habitat Baseball/Softball Tournament as part of her service in the Emerging Leaders Committee in partnership with Pitman Environmental Commission, ANJEC, Pitman Little League and Pitman Parks and Recreation.
The Hitting4Habitat Tournament is a sports for nature concept where participating baseball and softball teams play to boost biodiversity in their local communities, said Mundrick.
Baseball and softball players from the Pitman Little League – ages 6 to 8 – swung their bats, hit baseballs, and ran bases – all for a great collaborative environmental endeavor – Hitting4Habitat Baseball/Softball Tournament – on April 26.
H4H Tournament works in two ways: One, to install an ongoing biodiverse community garden space at recreational ball fields in local municipalities, and two, to encourage participating players to be environmental stewards by planting native plants at their homes.
The objective of the H4H Tournament is to connect the positive associations of sporting events – a form of popular cultural activity and recreational land use – with environmental initiatives and pro-environmental behaviors.
On the big day, Mundrick welcomed the teams and shared information on biodiversity. Each player received a packet of native seeds provided by the Pinelands Nursery and Pinelands Direct, literature on biodiversity and a T-shirt.
In the latter portion of the initiative, players are asked to plant the seeds to make a biodiverse garden at home. (More on that later).
“Biodiversity is the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and more that make up our living world,” according to the literature provided by Mundrick. “Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance, support life and provide ecosystem services.”
Biodiversity is a key indicator of environmental health and is essential for the functioning of natural systems and the well-being of humans.
Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans receive from nature such as food resources, energy resources, medicine, air, water, and recreation and connection.
Also included in the literature for the players are tips to support biodiversity at home:
- Reduce traditional lawn coverage by switching to native plants and trees – providing food and shelter for local wildlife and insects.
- Minimize or diminish the use of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers on your property.
- Leave some leaf cover on parts of your property after fall.
Since she came onto the PEC in January 2023, Mundrick has hit the ground running applying and receiving ANJEC grants for the community. ANJEC is the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, which is a non-profit organization that helps New Jersey environmental commissions, individuals, local and state agencies preserve natural resources and promote healthy communities.
In 2023, the Environmental Commission was awarded a $1,500 ANJEC grant titled Empowering Community Stewardship through Local Habitat Restoration, which included three parts.
Part one involved the professional invasive removal from the Alcyon Meadow Space-Enviroscapes; part two involved going into the schools, working with teachers and staff to create a Pitman High School lesson plan and PEC assembly presentations; and part three included an Alcyon Community Planting Day of planting native trees with Pitman High School students.
Biodiverse Garden at Home
Now that the inaugural H4H Tournament has concluded with The Bombers coming out on top, all the tournament players can compete on an environmental level with the H4H Grow Competition, which encourages players to participate in environmental stewardship by promoting biodiversity.
In this competition, players are asked to plant the seeds they received at the tournament to make a biodiverse garden at home.
Players will plant their garden either on their property at home or in a local place – (library, community garden, etc.) and then care for their garden over the summer and enter to win a $500 Dick’s Sporting Goods Gift Card.
The winner will be the player who has shown the greatest care and stewardship for their native plant garden. A winner will be announced on Aug. 25.
Mundrick said she is excited to see the outcome of the gardens. She has provided players with rules and resources for the players to plant their gardens. The seeds provided will create a large sized native plant garden.
Sponsors for the H4H Tournament include Corner Press (Pitman), Salmon Signs (Pitman), Pinelands Nursery and Pinelands Direct, Premier Accounting Services, Impact Landscaping, and Rotary Club of Pitman.
As Mundrick looks on to next year, she hopes to expand the tournament to surrounding communities. And when at Alcyon Park next, check out the H4H Community Garden behind the baseball fields.
