The Riverchase Middle School softball team is looking for help.

The team isn’t looking for help in the traditional sense of more pitching or better hitters, but instead the team is in need of equipment and more access to practice facilities.

Several coaches, parents and members of the team attended the Feb. 15 Pelham City Council meeting to ask the governing body for help.

RMS head coach Sarah Poorian, who teaches at Helena Elementary School, said the team is in desperate need of equipment, having only a few tees, bats and softballs to practice with.

“And we had to buy those before the season started,” Poorian said.

In fact, the team doesn’t even have catcher’s equipment, but the Panthers’ catcher helped solve that problem.

“Thank God she had her own,” Poorian said.

In a letter to Mayor Don Murphy and the council, the team is asking for help in purchasing catcher’s gear, a batting practice pitcher’s net, a set of throw down bases, a pitching machine, a batting cage and softballs.

“We have a really good team, but I feel like if we could have just some of the things that other teams we play have, it would put us on an even playing field,” Poorian said.

The team’s pleas to the council did not fall on deaf ears, as Poorian said council members Bill Meadows and Karyl Rice met with her to discuss how they could help.

“Mr. Meadows even wrote us a check for $100,” Poorian said.

The team has also had trouble finding a place to practice, as inclement weather and scheduling has limited the amount of practice time at Fun Go Holler and Pelham City Park.

“One of our biggest issues is everyday we don’t know where we are going to be,” Poorian said.

To help offset both equipment and field issues, the team has been participating in several fundraisers and is planning more in the coming weeks.

Anyone interested in donating money, equipment or practice space should contact Poorian at HES at 682-5540.