California District 18: 2007-2008 Season District Minutes

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL, DISTRICT 18 MINUTES BOARD MEETING - November 21, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Milan Mrakich, District Administrator, Diane Bowen, Tom Chavez, Dennis Williams, Lisa Salazar, ADAs, Mike Goodrich, Phil DiPrima, Umpire Coordinators. Pilar Galvan, Mona Miller, Alhambra American, Joe Martinez, Bruce Richetts, East Alhambra National, Teri Farfan, Bob Butler, James Juarez, Albert Juarez, El Monte American, Manuel Hernandez, El Monte National, Diane Schob, Sunnyslope, Sergio Villasenor, Juan Castaneda, Northeast Los Angeles, Sam Hernandez, Randall Nishinaka, South Pasadena, Henry Rodriguez, Temple City American, David Estrada, Temple City National, Miguel Ruelas, Cheech De La Guerra, Los Angeles, Debbie Garcia, El Monte Eastern.

ABSENT: South El Monte.

At 7:00 p.m. Milan called the meeting to order.

INTRODUCTIONS/STAFF LIAISONS: Milan called the roll, introduced all new president and District staff.

VENDOR PRESENTATION: Mike McMinn from MacGregor Sports made a presentation. He can be reached at 909-941-9889 for information. He also handed out catalogs and price sheets, with discount pricing available through January 5, 2007.

NEW DISTRICT 18 WEBSITE: Milan handed out information on the new website he has established, District18littleleague.com. He will be posting contact information on presidents and leagues, and asked presidents to fill out and turn back in a Website Information Form for each league. The website will also contain staff contact information, boundary and location maps for leagues, links to individual league websites or other district websites, and all current information will be posted on the website. Calendar, District Dinner, Dodger Day, Minutes, tournament information and brackets, etc. He will post information from Little League headquarters and Western Region, including seminars and clinics, Little League forms, age charts, etc. There is also a “Find-It-Now” page giving information on a variety of LL issues. Milan feels this will be a very useful tool for everyone and Presidents are encouraged to use this site.

REQUIRED SUBMITTALS: Milan handed out the 2006 season year-end report, and a budget for 2007. Some leagues are still delinquent on tournament fees to District and Headquarters. Headquarters will hold Charters for leagues who owe them money. Milan explained the purpose of the Required Submittal List, which gives a due date for each item. The first item due is the President’s Information Form, which includes confidential contact information for the president. Presidents are advised they should attempt to meet the deadlines.

CHARTER APPLICATIONS: Charter applications were handed out by Milan to all leagues. Headquarters is holding Charters for East Alhambra National, Sunnyslope, Los Angeles and El Monte Eastern pending payments due to headquarters from last season, OR failure to certify that background checks were done last season. Leagues are to make arrangements with Williamsport on this. Insurance from last season lapses on 12/31 and leagues may not hold any activities after 12/31 until 2007 insurance takes effect. Charter applications will indicate what teams were chartered last season. If leagues over-pay or under-pay, headquarters will credit the league or bill the leagues for any differences this season. Leagues will receive rule books and operating manuals for the 2007 season when the Charter application is received 2 by headquarters. Leagues will also receive a 20% credit on their insurance fees for submitting an approved ASAP (Safety) Program last season.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS: This year Little League will require leagues to do the background check by Rapsheet.com or Choicepoint. The cost is $1.50 per volunteer and searches a national data base. Lifescan through the DOJ is also acceptable. Leagues are to run the background checks and then give Milan a list of the names of those who have been checked. This should include board members, umpires, coaches, managers and anyone who will work with the children.

IId/IVh SPECIAL WAIVERS: IId waivers are for players who played one year or more in the league, in any division, who have moved out of the league boundaries. Such player may continue to play in the original league, and so may siblings of the player. The waiver form requires the new address outside the league and the old address which was inside the league’s boundaries. The forms must be signed by the league applying for the waiver, and by the league president where the player resides now. Forms are on the website. IVh waivers are for players whose parents were dedicated volunteers to the league while living within the league’s boundaries and then they moved out of the boundaries. If the parent continued to volunteer with no break in service their children are eligible to play in that league, provided the service has been continuous. The Required Submittal list indicates how many waivers were approved for leagues last season. NO waivers were approved by headquarters to allow waivered players to play on all-star teams after playing during the regular season. Special Waivers are for players who reside in an area not covered by Little League, or special circumstances. Such waivers are often NOT approved by headquarters, but may be submitted by leagues for consideration. Last season leagues were encouraged to give parents a copy of the approved waiver. Once waivers are approved they do not need to be resubmitted, and are in effect the entirety of the player’s career in the league, as long as there is no break in playing each season. This year players on waivers need to be approved prior to being placed on a regular season team.

2007 RULE CHANGES: Milan called president’s attention to the following changes: Regulation VI: LL has approved a “pitch count program” which will be the new pitching rules in the baseball division, 10 and under will be allowed 75 pitches in a game, 11-12 85 pitches, 13-16 95 pitches and 17-18 105 pitches, there are also mandatory rest periods. Rule 4.07: Ejection from a game will require the person ejected to leave the game site for the remainder of the game. Rule 1.06: Beginning with the 2008 season, it will become mandatory that all leagues utilize bases that disengage their anchor [break-away]. Most leagues are using the bases already. Rule 1.09: Softball ball specifications. Rule 1.10: Hardball bat specifications.

DISTRICT DINNER: The Dinner will be Friday, February 23, 2006. This year it will be held at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium, leagues will be able to reserve tables of ten. Leagues should email Tom 3 Chavez with reservations as soon as they have a count. There may be a limit on how many can attend, perhaps 300. It will be first come, first serve. At this point we believe the price will stay the same at $25 per person, $250 for a table of 10. Last year all leagues attended and we had one of the largest dinners ever.

STATE TOURNAMENT AT TCA: Milan complimented TCA and all the other leagues who helped with the State Tournament last year. The teams raved about the facility, the City was great to work with. Milan would like to do it again. If any leagues are interested in hosting an upper level state championship tournaments please inform Milan ASAP. The tournaments will be held in the last part of July and first part of August, and could be a big money-maker for the league. The games are well attended by people from all over the region. Milan would like to host the 11-12 state tournament.

OPEN DISCUSSION: Milan noted he has changed the start time of the President’s meeting to 7:00 and hopes to conduct the meetings for just one hour and then he and the staff will be available to answer individual questions presidents may have. Sergio handed out flyers announcing a Baseball Clinic on December 2nd at NELA fields with Bobby Castillo and Ken Landreaux, focusing on hitting and pitching. Admission is $10 per child. Milan announced the new section proposal is still on the table and District 18 could still break off from Section 2 and join leagues from West Covina, Glendora and Buena Park in the future. There was further discussion about the pitch count rule and how it will be implemented. It will be protestable just as the innings-pitched rule was. Leagues will need to establish a record keeping procedure. If leagues do not use official scorekeepers at regular season games they may want to designate an official scorekeeper from the home team to count pitches. Milan will bring samples of new scorebooks which have pitch counting columns to the January meeting.

REGISTRATION: Most leagues will register each Saturday in January. In addition, Alhambra American will register the first two Saturdays in December, El Monte American will register the first Saturday in December, and El Monte National will register the first three Saturdays in December. El Monte Eastern will hold a registration on December 16th. South Pasadena has completed their registration. There will be no meeting in December, the next President’s Meeting will be January 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. Diane Bowen, District 18 Secretary

ATTENDANCE: Diane Bowen, Tom Chavez, Dennis Williams, Lisa Salazar, Kristen Dearth, Claudia Barron, ADAs, Ralph Mengel, Mike Goodrich, Phil DiPrima, Umpire Coordinators. Pilar Galvan, Glenn Lugo, Alhambra American, Joe Martinez, Al Valenzuela, East Alhambra National, Robert Butler, Boris Gutierrez, El Monte American, Art Moreno, Jr., South El Monte, KerryAnn Campbell, Sunnyslope, Mike Hughes, Lester Alvarez, Northeast Los Angeles, Sam Hernandez, Joe Payne, South Pasadena, Nick Stratis, Temple City American, Dawn Duhamel, Tracy Duhamel, Temple City National, Miguel Ruelas, Lionel Escajeda, Los Angeles.

ABSENT: El Monte National, El Monte Eastern.

At 7:05 p.m. Diane called the meeting to order, and announced Milan was sick and she would chair the meeting.

INTRODUCTIONS/STAFF LIAISONS: Diane called the roll, introduced returning presidents and Nick Stratis who is the new TCA president, and District staff.

VENDOR PRESENTATION: Steve Hoag from World’s Finest made a presentation. He can be reached at 909-981-5779 for information. He also handed out samples, catalogs and price sheets.

CHARTER APPLICATIONS: Charter applications were handed out to all leagues present. Headquarters will hold Charters for leagues with pending payments due to headquarters from last season, as indicated on the applications. Insurance from last season lapses on 12/31 and leagues may not hold any activities after 12/31 until 2008 insurance takes effect. Charter applications will indicate what teams were chartered last season. If leagues over-pay or under-pay, headquarters will credit the league or bill the leagues for any differences this season. Leagues will receive rule books and operating manuals for the 2008 season when the Charter application is received by headquarters. Leagues will also receive a 20% credit on their insurance fees for submitting an approved ASAP (Safety) Program last season.

TOURNAMENTS LAST SEASON: Staff reviewed the tournament season and thanked all the presidents and league staff who hosted and worked the tournaments. The regional tournaments held at Almansor and hosted by Joe Martinez and his staff were very well attended, and the District thanked all those who made it so successful, including staff from other leagues within the District.

UMPIRES: Ralph again complimented Joe Martinez on the tournament at Almansor and talked about participation by parents. Mike noted the tournaments were very successful at his venues. Phil announced he will be putting together a 5-6 week Rules Clinic for umpires, coaches and managers. It will be held at Almansor Park in the meeting room by the gym. As soon as he secures the room, he will send out a global email to all the leagues announcing when it starts. It will be provided free and all presidents, league staff, etc. are encouraged to attend. He will hold it in the same format as the Western Region Rules seminars, going through the Rule book and mechanics. Everyone can benefit from this type of information, it will help presidents in dealing with protests and other problems with playing rules. He would like to start on January 16th on Wednesday nights and then finish with a Saturday for field mechanics. He is also recruiting high school players to participate and has made contact with the baseball coaches at Alhambra, San Gabriel and Monrovia. He would like to build our District’s umpires groups. If anyone has any questions, contact Phil.

NEW DISTRICT 18 WEBSITE: Diane reminded presidents about the website. Milan will be posting current information. The website will contain staff contact information, boundary and location maps for leagues, links to individual league websites or other district websites, and all current information will be posted on the website. Calendar, District Dinner, Dodger Day, Minutes, tournament information and brackets, etc. He will post information from Little League headquarters and Western Region, including seminars and clinics, Little League forms, age charts, etc.

REQUIRED SUBMITTALS: Diane reminded presidents Milan will be sending an updated Required Submittal List, which gives a due date for each item. The first item due is the President’s Information Form, which includes confidential contact information for the president. Presidents are advised they should attempt to meet the deadlines.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS: Leagues should make every effort to meet deadlines for background investigations. Headquarters has advised that they will enforce submission deadlines this season.

IId/IVh SPECIAL GAMES WAIVERS: IId waivers are for players who played one year or more in the league, in any division, who have moved out of the league boundaries. Such player may continue to play in the original league, and so may siblings of the player. The waiver form requires the new address outside the league and the old address which was inside the league’s boundaries. The forms must be signed by the league applying for the waiver, and by the league president where the player resides now. Forms are on the website.

IVh waivers are for players whose parents were dedicated volunteers to the league while living within the league’s boundaries and then they moved out of the boundaries. If the parent continued to volunteer with no break in service their children are eligible to play in that league, provided the service has been continuous.

The Required Submittal list will indicate how many waivers were approved for leagues last season. NO special waivers were approved by headquarters to allow waivered players to play on all-star teams after playing during the regular season.

Special Waivers are for players who reside in an area not covered by Little League, or special circumstances. Such waivers are often NOT approved by headquarters, but may be submitted by leagues for consideration.

Last season leagues were encouraged to give parents a copy of the approved waiver so that it will be the parent’s responsibility to keep the waiver in their files. Once waivers are approved they do not need to be resubmitted, and are in effect the entirety of the player’s career in the league, as long as there is no break in playing each season. The approved waiver will need to be produced if the child is placed on an all-star team.

DISTRICT DINNER: The Dinner will again be held at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium, leagues will be able to reserve tables of ten. Tom will announce the date soon via email.

OPEN DISCUSSION: Flyers were passed out announcing a new pitching Academy established by Ryan Tucker and Sean O’Leary, both TCA players who have gone on to successful baseball careers.

REGISTRATION: Most leagues will register each Saturday in January. In addition, Alhambra American will register the first two Saturdays in December, El Monte American will register the first three Saturdays in December, South El Monte and Northeast L.A. will register the first and third Saturdays in December, South Pasadena will register November 28, December 6 and 8, Temple City American will register December 8 and 15, Temple City National will register December 1, and 15.

There will be no meeting in December, the next President’s Meeting will be January 15, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Diane Bowen, District 18 Secretary

 MINUTES

BOARD MEETING - January 15, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Milan Mrakich, DA, Jim Seitz, Diane Bowen, Tom Chavez, Lisa Salazar, Claudia Barron, ADAs, Ralph Mengel, Mike Goodrich, Phil DiPrima, Umpire Coordinators. Pilar Galvan, Glenn Lugo, Alhambra American, Joe Martinez, East Alhambra National, Robert Butler, Hector Farfan, Boris Gutierrez, El Monte American, David Baca, El Monte National, Miguel Valdivia, Art Moreno, Jr., South El Monte, KerryAnn Campbell, Sunnyslope, Fernando Guzman, Lester Alvarez, Northeast Los Angeles, Sam Hernandez, Joe Payne, South Pasadena, Nick Stratis, Temple City American, David Estrada, Temple City National, Miguel Ruelas, Los Angeles, Debbi Garcia, Audra Montoya, El Monte Eastern.

ABSENT: None.

At 7:10 p.m. Milan called the meeting to order.

INTRODUCTIONS/STAFF LIAISONS: Milan called the roll.

VENDOR PRESENTATIONS: Presentations were made on equipment by Luke Burke, Riddell Youth Sports (626-826-5518), Randy Haro, Haro Sportswear (626-625-6249), and Victor Rivera from Sports Chalet (818-781-4000). Erica Cortinas made a presentation for For Your School Fundraising (877-callFYS), her company has cookie dough and various other food items, Alvin Yamashiro (909-625-2887) from Gateway Fundraising made a presentation of selections of candy bars, and has donated cases of candy to be used at the District Dinner.

REQUIRED SUBMITTALS: Website Information Forms and President Information Forms have been received from all leagues except El Monte Eastern. Charters have been submitted and approved by headquarters for all leagues except Northeast Los Angeles and Sunnyslope. Leagues not having Charters and Insurance may not hold try-outs or practice of any kind on their fields until they have confirmation from headquarters they are covered by insurance. Important deadlines coming up: District Dinner - checks due February 1, All Waivers due at February 19 President’s Meeting.

REGISTRATION: During registration leagues should verify proof of age documents, proof of residency documents, proof that players are covered under a combined play agreement or IId or IVh waivers. Detailed Waiver information is posted on the District 18 website. Milan also handed out IId and IVh forms at the meeting. Special Waivers can be requested for anything not covered under IId or IVh, i.e. players living outside a league’s boundaries but asking to play in another league. Each request will be considered individually by Milan and he will make a recommendation to headquarters. Last year all special waiver players were allowed to play the regular season but not post season. This season all players on NEW waivers need to be approved prior to being placed on a regular season team. All Waiver requests are due at the February 19th President’s Meeting.

DRAFT: All leagues must use an approved draft method as outlined in the Operating Manual. If leagues want to deviate from the approved methods they must submit a letter to headquarters requesting approval for the system they want to use. Also handed out was Little League Tip of the Month concerning releasing major league property players who do not register. Leagues need to write a letter releasing the player so that if the player comes back after draft they don’t have rights to return to the same team.

ASAP PROGRAM: ASAP plans are due at the March 19th meeting. Leagues may use the same plans that were submitted last season. They will need to be updated for the 2008 season with current board member names and telephone numbers, and may be resubmitted. Leagues that do not submit the ASAP program and have it approved by headquarters will NOT be able to participate in tournaments. Last year District had 100% participation.

INTERLOCK AND COMBINED PLAY REQUESTS: Milan explained interlocking requests for teams playing in the same division with other leagues. Milan explained Leagues A, B and C can all interlock together and play each other, however, A cannot interlock with B and C and then D interlock ONLY with A. Interlocks can consist of up to 10 teams. In an interlock, all teams should play the same number of games against each team in the interlock. The home and away games should be equal, and every game counts equally in standings. Any cancelled games should be made up, the sooner the better, and Milan recommends within two weeks. In other words, it is recommended that leagues do NOT wait until the half or end of the season to see if games need to be made up to determine standings, this will only cause a lot of problems.

Combined play is when leagues combine players to form teams, i.e., softball in Temple City. All requests have to be in prior to the start of the season or the Region will not approve them. Teams can be combined to form all-star teams, this has to be declared on the combined play form. Milan encouraged leagues who only have one team in a division to consider combining with their interlock teams/leagues for all-stars, as frequently when a league only has one team it ends up dropping out of tournaments because it cannot field the team if players go on vacation or for some reason are not available for post-season games.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS: Milan handed out the Volunteer Application - 2008. This year LL has made arrangements for ChoicePoint to provide 80 free background checks to each league, in addition the US Dept. of Justice National Sex Offender Public Registry is free and available at www.nsopr.gov. A list of the persons the leagues performed a background check on should be submitted to Milan at the March 18th meeting. Background checks should be done on anyone who comes in contact with the players. Ralph and Phil will do background checks on the D-18 umpires.

DODGER GAME DAY: Dodger Day will be Sunday, April 27th versus Colorado Rockies, time TBA. Milan will mail out a letter and ticket order form to presidents. There will be a parade of players before the game for all players and coaches in uniform. Ticket orders with payment are due by April 8th, and tickets will be distributed at the April 15th President’s meeting. It is traditionally the president’s child who is introduced on the field; Milan will need the player’s name who is being introduced. DODGER CLINIC: January 17th the Dodgers have invited 50-70 kids to a AAA player hands-on clinic. Milan will send details to those interested.

DISTRICT DINNER: The Dinner will again be held at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, February 23, 6:30 cocktails, 7:30 buffet dinner. Leagues will be able to reserve tables of ten. The price has been increased to $30 per person, table orders and payment are due by February 1st.

2008 RULES CHANGES: Milan handed out rule changes in hardball and softball, and printouts from the LL website regarding New Regulations. He specifically called to the President’s attention that all league age 12-year-olds be placed onto a major team (Reg. V), Continuous batting order is mandatory for tee ball and minor league divisions (Rule 4.04), Leagues are required to use break-away bases (Rule 1.06).

In addition, Milan called attention to new hardball rules: Minor league (defined as any division below majors, i.e. farm, instructional, etc.) will play a five-run limit, which will complete the half inning (Rule 2.00), a pitcher who delivers one or more pitches in a game cannot play the position of catcher for the remainder of that day (Reg. VI (c) NOTE), the "automatic" intentional walk was removed (Former Reg. VI (c) Note 1) and as such, the pitcher must pitch to each batter and the pitches recorded in the pitcher’s pitch count.

Milan advises presidents to go on-line and read the rule changes from the LL website as all changes will be reflected in red and easier to read.

OPENING DAYS:

Alhambra American - March 8 - 10:00 a.m.

East Alhambra National - March 15 - TBA

El Monte American - TBA

El Monte National - March 8 - TBA

South El Monte - March 15 - 8:00 a.m.

Sunnyslope - March 8 - TBA

Northeast LA - In March

South Pasadena - March 8 - 9:00 a.m.

Temple City American - March 1 - 9:00 a.m.

Temple City National - March 1 - 5:00 p.m.

El Monte Eastern - TBA

Los Angeles - TBA

The next President’s Meeting will be February 19, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Diane Bowen, District 18 Secretary

At 7:10 p.m. Milan called the meeting to order.

Alhambra American - March 8 - 10:00 a.m.

East Alhambra National - March 15 - 10:00 a.m.

El Monte American - March 29 - 10:00 a.m.

El Monte National - March 8 - 10:00 a.m.

South El Monte - March 15 - 9:00 a.m.

Sunnyslope - March 8 - 10:00 a.m.

Northeast LA - March 29 - 10:00 a.m.

South Pasadena - March 8 - 9:00 a.m.

Temple City American - March 1 - 11:00 a.m.

Temple City National - March 1 - 4:00 p.m.

El Monte Eastern - March 21 - 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles - March 15 - 11:00 a.m.

Milan advised leagues not to turn players away because a league does not offer a particular division of play, those players can be released to other neighboring leagues under combined play.

Milan is developing current maps for each league which will be sent to presidents and posted on the District 18 website. Presidents will sign off on the maps at the March 18th meeting.

Milan discussed special consideration waivers for special games. Our neighboring districts have expressed interest in interlocking or just having special games. Leagues may consider this and work with their staff liaison to make sure the correct paperwork is filled out and turned in. Leagues may also have special games with other programs such as ASA softball, Pony or Babe Ruth baseball. If leagues hold the games at their park there is a form to fill out and the team coming in can pay $40 and be covered under LL insurance. If leagues have an approved request for the special game the LL insurance will cover all LL players at other venues. It would be up to the league if these games count in standings. This type of special game request and approval should allow our district teams to play special games if they wish without having to develop a full interlock with other district’s teams, as was required in the past. Staff liaisons can provide further information if requested.

Milan told about the death of LL supporter and former ADA Dave Nelson, father of Rob Nelson, and Tom Boyle, former Western Region Director. Mr. Boyle joined LL in 1939 and never missed a LL World Series. He was instrumental in developing NELA and LA parks, and many other parks in the inter-city.

There are NO waivers for 13 year olds to play in major divisions in SB and HB. However, if a letter is submitted from a doctor describing a physical or mental condition that would prohibit a player from advancing, a special consideration waiver may be submitted to headquarters through district. 12 year olds may play on junior teams, however, if they play one or more junior games, they will not be eligible to play on a major all-star team. 15 year olds may NOT play on junior teams.

TOCs will begin on June 16th, All-Stars will begin on July 1st, and hopefully we will be able to break July 4, 5, 6, depending on how many teams are entered in tournaments. In order to qualify for tournaments, players must have played 60% of games (s)he was qualified to play in. See Tournament Rules, Player Eligibility, Condition 2. Special games will count toward eligibility. The minimum is 12 players on a roster, 15 maximum. All-stars cannot be announced until June 15, 2008.

The next President’s Meeting will be March 18, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Diane Bowen, District 18 Secretary