​Residents, coaches, and young athletes in Hillsborough Township are pushing for the creation of a boys’ middle school baseball team, arguing that local players lack a school-sponsored option to compete before reaching high school. But district officials say starting a program in time for the upcoming spring season may not be possible.The debate has reached a fever pitch, with advocates fearing the lack of a baseball team could deter young people from playing the sport in the future, while others argue ongoing statewide budget issues have hamstrung the township.Hillsborough Middle School currently fields seven interscholastic sports, including soccer, cross-country, softball, and basketball, but does not offer boys’ baseball. Young athletes can play through Hillsborough Youth Baseball, an independent nonprofit organization that has served the community for more than 70 years. Yet, the district provides no formal school-based baseball program for seventh- and eighth-graders.Township Committee member and former Hillsborough Mayor Robert J. Britting Jr. submitted a 16-section formal proposal to the board of education in August that projected a first-year startup cost of $19,000 to $21,000 based on similar figures from neighboring towns. “Everybody wants it to happen,” Britting Jr. told NJ.com. “It is something that I believe can easily be done.”“It’s not about thinking these kids could go to the pros,” Britting Jr. added. “It’s about giving them the ability to build relationships, build leadership skills, learn how to be good athletes, and how to have a healthy mindset.” Duncan Campbell, a Hillsborough Baseball League board member and coach, echoed Britting Jr.’s sentiments, stressing that the lack of a middle school team disrupts team chemistry built across the younger age groups. Campbell’s son has been playing baseball in Hillsborough since he was 4. Now 12, he and others echo the same message: playing together in middle school matters more to them than signing up for a private travel team. “I always ask him, ‘Do you want to play on a club team?’” Campbell said. “He doesn’t even think about it. He wants to play with his friends” Historically, the Hillsborough Baseball League has produced strong teams, most recently the 2024 8U Raiders, who won the Babe Ruth District 10 Championship and scored 79 runs in six games. Campbell said it will hurt young players’ development if they can’t play at the middle school; he also noted some kids have stopped playing altogether. “Our town teams win tournaments against these clubs,” said Campbell. “They compete against these other club operations, and they win. To break that up, it sucks. It just sucks.”Campbell also worried that the lack of a middle school baseball team is siphoning revenue from Hillsborough as kids sign up for nearby club teams that cost anywhere from $4,600 to $6,000. Currently, the average U.S. family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary spo