As Chesterfield Little League enters its 20th year of serving the youth of Chesterfield County, the Board of Directors is proud to unveil a new program that aims to improve CLL’s overall quality of play and post-season competitiveness over the coming years. The Board has named the initiative “Working Towards Williamsport…It’s The Journey That Counts” (WTW).

What is the WTW? Plain and simple, it is a structured player and coach development program with a goal of teaching managers and coaches which fundamental skills to teach and how to teach them and to provide solid and consistent fundamental skills to our players. The concept begin forming this past summer at the 13 Year Old Invitational Tournament when John Duncan mentioned a similar “battle cry” that he thought would be good for the 2008 season.

At the first meeting of the new 2007-2008 Board, John was given the responsibility to form a committee, which was to include the Division Directors and the Player Development Director, and prepare and present a player development program to Board. After several meetings the Committee now called the WTW Committee, presented their plan, “Working Towards Williamsport… It’s The Journey That Counts”, to the Board. The Committees plan was enthusiastically and unanimously approved by the Board. Not only does the initiative provide a solid basis for providing direction to both coaches and players, but it also focuses on continuing to teach a love of the game to the players of Chesterfield Little League; thus the “….It’s The Journey That Counts”.

The Board is extremely excited about the WTW initiative and feel that both players and coaches in 2008 and years to come will benefit from this program!

Why do we need a program to improve our competitiveness?
It is clear that CLL has all of the fundamentals required to run a growing League. From volunteerism to funding, to equipment/ field/facilities, to community partnerships, CLL is well positioned to continue to serve 1100+ players in 2008 and beyond, just as we did in 2007. Despite these positives however, CLL struggles to consistently field competitive All-Star and Invitational teams.

You may say, ‘This isn’t a concern of mine...the kids should just have fun.’ Fun is a primary goal and a critical component, but the Little League Pledge clearly states the kids must play fair, do their best and strive to win. CLL is successful in emphasizing fairness and effort, but we are not giving the kids the consistent coaching, skills and techniques they need to strive to win. ‘Competitive’ does not have to be a dirty word, or be pursued ‘at all costs’. In fact, if a competitiveness improvement plan is executed properly, every player’s CLL experience will be enhanced, not just our All-Stars.

As a result, the Board formed the Working Towards Williamsport (WTW) Committee during the 2007 off-season to solve the competitiveness issue, but without sacrificing its core principles of promoting fairness, fun and sportsmanship. The WTW Committee consists of the Division Directors, the Director of Player/Coach Development and the Vice President.

What has the WTW Committee done so far and how will this program help our kids, coaches, parents and volunteers?
The WTW Committee has met on several occasions during October to create a League tagline, define a League philosophy statement, establish audacious goals for the next 6 years, and develop a 2008 Competitiveness Improvement Plan.

Tagline - ‘Working Towards Williamsport – It’s the Journey That Counts’

Philosophy - ‘Chesterfield Little League strives to develop the baseball knowledge, abilities and sportsmanship of Chesterfield County youth, and instill in them a love for the game of baseball that lasts a lifetime. And although each new season the ‘Journey’ must begin again, as an organization we will strive to build upon the foundations of baseball fundamentals and new friendships that Little League Baseball develops year by year.’

Goals – these goals are not ‘pass or fail’ but should help inspire the entire League to work towards a common good:

• 2008 – CLL All-Star & Invitational teams are more competitive in the District 5 All-Star Tournaments
• 2009 – One or more CLL All-Star or Invitational teams reach the finals of the District 5 All-Star Tournament
• 2010 – One or more CLL All-Star or Invitational teams win a District 5 Tournament
• 2011 – A CLL All-Star team reaches a semi-final round, or better, at the State All-Star Tournament
• 2012 – A CLL All-Star team qualifies for the Regional All-Star Tournament
• 2013 – A CLL All-Star team qualifies for the Little League World Series (Williamsport)

Competitiveness Improvement Plan – The plan outlines nearly 20 initiatives for 2008 that focus on the following:

• Standardizing what skills the kids must learn per Division (see CLL Skills Map below)
• Standardizing how our coaches instruct the kids and what they are expected to teach
• Improve the coach feedback and assessment process
• Increase parent and volunteer baseball knowledge and overall participation
• Improve the partnerships with the other non-Little League baseball organizations in Chesterfield County
• Maintain a balance between competition and fun, fairness and sportsmanship

The entire WTW overview can be found in the WTW Overview document.

What are the next steps for the WTW Committee, the Board and the rest of the League?
WTW Committee and Board – We are driving against the items in our plan. We have already created a Skills Mapping Chart by Division, working on coach and parent materials, and developing a new player and coach clinic strategy.