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| Amid downturn, a rally to save youth sports 07/01/09
On a recent Saturday morning at the Baugo Township Little
League Complex just west of the Elkhart, Ind., city limits, nothing is going to
stop the fields from being full of children playing baseball and softball. Not
the unseasonably cool 50-degree temperatures. Not the muddy fields, soaked from
hard-raining thunderstorms that slowly churned through overnight.
Boarded-up homes Source:
MSNBC Girls Softball Brawl Sends Two to Hospital in Colorado06/30/09 A brawl at a club softball game sent two people to the
hospital and has authorities trying to determine what happened. Source: CBS4
Softball Coach's Firing Irks Students 06/29/09 Parents and players angered by the Ramapo Central school board's decision not to renew a popular softball coach's contract are planning to protest the ruling at Wednesday's board meeting. The seven-member board's June 16 vote concerning Jim Lloyd's future came in executive session, which is not open to the public. The decision riled most of Lloyd's returning players at Suffern High School. "It's not fair," said Olivia Limbrick, a pitcher heading into her senior season. "Right now, I don't even want to think about playing for another coach. There's rumors that some people might not even play next year. The people on the board just don't realize how great a guy this is." One player thought the board's decision hurt the prospects of a collegiate softball career. "This jeopardizes our future," said returning senior third baseman Makenzi Cella. "A lot of coaches don't know how to talk to college coaches, but Coach Lloyd does. He's been doing it for years. It's ridiculous." The story of Lloyd's ouster after just two years at Suffern is a convoluted one that involves not only the high school team, on which a board member's daughter played, but also the competing interests of two summer Amateur Softball Association of America travel teams. One is the Stix team, which fields the daughters of two other board members. The other is Lloyd's Rage team, which has angered some Stix parents by luring away some of that squad's higher-quality talent. That, the 58-year-old Lloyd and his supporters said, amounts to a conflict of interest. They say the board members who had daughters playing softball locally - William Gonzalez, Pamela Frederick and Teresa Monahan - should have recused themselves from any discussion on Lloyd's high school future.
Suffern athletic director Bob Buono declined to comment because district policy prohibits him from talking about personnel issues. Robert MacNaughton, the schools superintendent, was unavailable for comment. Gonzalez, whose daughter Allie was a lightly used senior on the Suffern team this year, said he is "not at liberty" to discuss the matter. "It's a personnel matter. The decision was made to not renew his contract," Monahan said, adding that she had no further comment. Some parents and players maintain that Gonzalez was actually the one who started the controversy by repeatedly complaining about his daughter's lack of playing time during the school's 4-16 season. Gonzalez did openly criticize Lloyd's style at a school board meeting.
"I know they've been attacking, but I respect the process," Gonzalez said. Lloyd, a 17-year coaching veteran, said two other parents had complained about playing time. Underlying that was an issue involving the summer travel teams. John Macchia, father of junior utility player Kelly Macchia, said the Stix team had lost several players to the Rage, a squad that plays more tournaments and gets more college exposure. Macchia said Stix parents feared Lloyd would favor his Rage players over Stix players on the high school team. "Of course he would," Macchia said. "(The Rage players) were the better players." Gonzalez said that never came into the decision. "That doesn't affect what happens with varsity sports," Gonzalez said. The bottom line is the loss of a popular, upbeat coach. "It all came as a shock to me," Lloyd said. "I don't think the agenda was really about my coaching ability." The coach said he has spent more than 700 hours giving clinics, running practices and simply helping young softball players in Rockland County since he got the Suffern job last season. "He's done nothing but always be there for us," Limbrick said. David Cohen, father of returning starter Lindsay Cohen, said the team gave Lloyd rave reviews in an end-of-season meeting with Buono and MacNaughton. Nine of the 10 returning seniors showed up at the June 16 meeting in support of Lloyd. And the team wrote a joint letter to the school board asking for an explanation and a reversal of its decision. "We are simply asking you to put an end to this mess and give us the opportunity to finish our high school careers under the guidance of the coach we love," it ended. "The path toward returning to a team of high standing starts now, but we can't do it without him." They plan to say more Wednesday. "That's their privilege," Gonzalez said. "We'll certainly respect their opinions and concerns." Source: Lower Hudson Valley
Todd Park in Austin Resumes Play after Tornado Damage 06/28/09 A little more than a week ago a tornado ripped through Austin devastating Todd Park. At that time city officials weren't sure when the baseball diamonds were going to be able to see their next game. But the city was able to clean up the park in time to host one of the largest baseball tournaments. After last week's tornado devastated Todd Park, many people thought it could be months before the sound of a bat would be heard again on these diamonds. "When we first heard the news we heard the north diamonds had been destroyed and thanks to the Park and Rec they managed to fix up the south diamonds for us," says Martin. It took clean up crews only one week to prepare the south diamonds for the 12 and under international baseball tournament, one of the largest tournaments in the city. "The Todd Park North complex was beautiful but this is nice too, it's nice to see that they were able to come together and do it so quickly," says Martin. "Getting 20 teams or so here in the community for a baseball tournament a week or so after a major event is pretty extraordinary," says Dankert. If the diamonds weren't available officials would have canceled the tournament, and with twenty teams coming to Austin from all over the state and Canada. "It brings great revenue to the town, so when we heard it might not happen we were a little concerned," says Martin. Electricity was restored to the diamonds early Friday morning. The Park and Rec Department is already planning to hold a softball tournament next week on the north complex, the hardest hit area. "It's not going to look the same but when you're looking at trying to hold a game, we can probably get that done," says Kim Underwood. And the community is grateful that clean up crews are making these possible. "It's good to see the families, out there, the parents and the kids, watching baseball and enjoying themselves," says Dankert. It is estimated that the tornado caused more than four million dollars in damage to the city of Austin. Source: KAALtv.com
Albert Lea Building a Summer Softball Program 06/28/09 For the last five years Albert Lea has been the only Big Nine school without a viable summer softball program and the ramifications are apparent as the Tigers have not won more than five games in a season during the past six years. There are perhaps a myriad of reasons why there has been a lack of success at the varsity level, but the most glaring might be a lack of a feeder program. Summer softball, which was nearly nonexistent in years past, appears on the rise in Albert Lea with the recent additions of the Alden-Albert Lea Blackhawks, a U-16 traveling softball team, and an Albert Lea U-12 traveling softball team. Most often the first introduction to the game for girls came at a 12-and-under in-house softball league. After girls reached junior high they were left with a short season and no summer ball to improve, which ultimately led to coaches still implementing the fundamentals at even the varsity level. “It’s been really quite frustrating,” said Dan Harms, who coached the junior varsity team last season. “We’re still working on catching and throwing properly at the high school level. We’re trying to develop skills that should have been developed very, very soon in their playing career.” Prior to 2008 there wasn’t traveling softball in Albert Lea, instead just in-house softball through the Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Department. In the past there have been traveling fastpitch softball teams, but those teams faded away after 2003. At one point there were three different teams, a U-18, a U-14 and a U-12. “We’ve struggled to compete in the Big Nine and that’s why we’re really trying to change that,” Harms said. Gary Chicos is one of the coaches of this year’s U-12 team and has focused on teaching the team the fundamentals. “It’s been real positive and they’re having fun,” Chicos said. “I think it’s going to help.” Harms has helped coach the team as well this summer. Teaching the players earlier will help bridge the gap to the varsity level and will allow the high school coaches to implement what they want to teach. “We’re trying to coordinate what they want to do with the varsity down to when they start here so they learn the same stuff,” Chicos said. The softball team has never won a Big Nine championship and has relied on the athleticism of its players in the past to be competitive. The disparity between teams that have summer programs and those that don’t is often great. Take for example this past high school season where Mankato West, where the youth program is one of the biggest in the area, dominated Albert Lea in a 23-0 win and an 11-0 win. “We haven’t been very successful because we haven’t had a feeder program,” Harms said. The key to any successful high school program relies on the strength of its youth program, which coaches like Chicos hope to build. The U-12 team has 21 players and plays in the South Central League against teams like Blooming Prairie, Hayfield, Austin, Stewartville and Triton. The team plays twice a week and practices twice a week teaching the players the fundamentals of the game at a younger age than in the past.
“We feel if we do it younger it’s going to help when they are juniors and seniors,” Chicos said. Prior to last summer Alden had never had a summer fastpitch softball team. Lori Nelson’s daughter Krystle and Nikki Schultz played for a fall team two years ago and that gave Nelson the idea to start a team. The Alden-Albert Lea Blackhawks are off to a 7-6-1 start in the second season in the Southern Minny League. “I think the girls that are interested know that they need to improve their skills and this is an opportunity,” Nelson said. “I think they saw that it was well worth the time.” This spring it was clear with many of the players who played last summer with the Blackhawks had improved. “The girls from last year could definitely see the difference,” Nelson said. Others took notice after last season and the team had a waitlist this spring because of the rise in interest, Nelson said. Nelson said the team has gotten good support from the Albert Lea softball boosters because it sees the team as a feeder program for the varsity level. Source: Albert Lea Tribune Tri-County Complies with ASA of Minnesota Membership Requirements 06/24/09
Tornado Damage at Austin's North Todd Park 06/18/09 Austin, MN was hit by a tornado on the evening of June 17th. Some damage occurred at the North Todd Park ball fields. Rebecca Macken provided the photos shown below.
Record Number of Gopher Softball Players Named to All-Academic Team 06/16/09 The University of Minnesota softball team had a record number of athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, when it was announced this spring. Ten total players represented the Golden Gophers among the softball honorees on the spring Academic All-Big Ten team. The 10 members set a new Minnesota softball record, surpassing the mark of nine, set just last season. Before the last two seasons, the previous best was eight, achieved in both the 1997 and 1999 seasons. The 10 honorees also makes Minnesota the team with the most members, bettering Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue who each garnered nine All-Academic laurels. The 10 Golden Gopher softball players were among the 131 Minnesota student-athletes honored in the spring, second only to Ohio State. Minnesota’s honorees included: Source: Gopher Sports Determining goals for our kids in sports 06/15/09 Each week ResponsibleSports.comoffers the Responsible Sports community a weekly Parent and Coach Tip. This week’s Parent Tip focuses on communication between you and your child: “Before enrolling your child in any respective season, always ask them if they want to play. If he/she says “Yes,” remind them they are committing to the team for the entire season, including games AND practices.” The "life lessons" portion of Responsible Sport Parenting starts with getting on the same page with our kids. Determining goals for our kids in sports is an important subject to start with when our kids begin a new season. Why do your children want to play youth sports? Why do they want to participate? Once you consider those answers and recognize where you and your child agree and differ, you can establish common ground for conversations that will help you and your child get what you want from youth sports. To start, talk about possible goals that you might have for your child:
Now, consider asking this same question of your kids about the goals they have for themselves during the season. You might be surprised to see what they are thinking. Getting "level set" through this conversation helps both of you get on the same page. And in the end, that helps both of you get the most out of the youth sports experience. Getting answers to your questions can:
Visit the page determining goals for our kids in sports on ResponsibleSports.com to get tools you can use to help talk with your athlete. Want to sign up to receive these weekly Parent or Coach tips in your inbox? Visit our Responsible Sports Dialog section and sign up for these tips. And while you’re there, sign up to receive Fundamentals, our monthly e-Newsletter. Let's Play Catch 06/15/09 Earlier this month, my 10-year-old daughter expressed frustration at the abrupt end to her softball season. Her final scheduled game was rained out ... having already been postponed by Mother Nature a few weeks earlier. “You know,” I told her, “softball season can be whenever we choose, as long as we have a ball, a bat, and our gloves.” “But it can’t be softball season,” she replied, “without playing catch with your dad.” This was probably the closest I’ll come to that final scene in Field of Dreams, the one celluloid moment when grown men are authorized to choke up. Heartfelt sentiment aside, though, the scene says a lot about the way sports connect dads (and moms) with their children. With Father’s Day this Sunday, what better time to let a ball — or a bike, racket, or jogging trail — help us parents play the most important game of life?
The best way for a dad to connect with his child (and this includes grown “children”) is to talk with them. Gifts, gestures, notes, sign language ... they all work to some degree, but not like the simple act of sitting down for a chat. Without an agenda. Without direction, even. Just a chat. But when the words are hard to come by, or when moods may be divergent, you’d be amazed what two mitts and a baseball can do. Playing catch forces two people to share focus (unless you want a black eye), to take turns, to pause, and to, yes, look at one another. Whether it’s from a distance of 20 feet or 100 feet, the tossing of a ball between two people is an intimate act, and in such a way only a parent (and later, a son or daughter) can fully appreciate. The very fact that playing catch requires two people lends itself to communication, to outreach. Go shoot baskets if you want an hour of solitude. You can even play 18 holes by yourself. Try playing catch with yourself, though, and you’ll look like a Labrador retriever. I played catch with my dad, but not enough. By the time I reached junior high school, I had teammates. And teammates interrupt the sports bond between father and son. It’s a welcome interruption for the son who is gradually approaching manhood, and for the father who wants nothing less from his progeny. But it’s an interruption nonetheless. It’s why Ray Kinsella yearns so to have one more catch with the ghost of his father. Ball to mitt is a beautiful sound, and a feeling unlike any other. But compared with father to son, parent to child? I play catch with Sofia as much as I can. She already has teammates, and I enjoy seeing my daughter — and her teammates — adjust to errant throws just as they’ll have to adjust to the vicissitudes of life (and without a glove to protect them). When we do play catch together, my throws get stronger each season, as Sofia’s skill with her mitt improves. Three years ago, I released each toss with a seized breath, hoping the ball didn’t strike the face I’d battle armies to protect. Today, I more casually and confidently hurl the ball her way. And I pay closer attention when she throws it back, needing to protect my own mug, lines and all. Sofia’s little sister is 6 years old, and a lefty. The last time we played catch, I had to remind her to put her mitt on her right hand. Once it was on, though, she smiled at me with the comfortable recognition of a glove fitting the way it should. She’s got a good arm, and soon enough she’ll be tossing with her big sister, and then her own teammates. And, I’m convinced, Elena will make the connections so many kids have made, over so many generations. I’ve got a lot of lessons left to teach my children, but I hope they’ll remember this one for every Father’s Day to come. It’s always baseball season when you play catch with Dad. Source: Memphis Flyer
Minnesota State High School League: Travel Restricted 06/08/09 The Minnesota High School League board approved changes in
scrimmaging and travel. In other board moves:
Source: Twin Cities Update on Fundraiser for Minnesota Umpire, Ken Vierling 06/06/09 On 5/13/09 there was an article posted here about the Ken
Vierling's Benefit Fundraiser at the Farmington American Legion on August 29.
Please contact Paul Harrington 612-940-6363 (Cell) 612-204-5299 (Work) Metro Teams: ASA of Minnesota State Tournaments 05/13/09 Teams in the Metro Elite, Suburban and TriCounty Leagues that wish to play in the ASA of Minnesota State Tournament (with berths to ASA Nationals) need to complete and mail in a State Tournament Entry Form (link) to the Minnesota Sports Federation. All other leagues do not need to do this. The teams are awarded berths through the league by the league directors. Questions should be directed to Anne at ASA * USA-MSF offices at (763) 488-9995 x 10.
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