Greetings Baseball Families and Friends, and welcome to Trenholm Little League.

On behalf of the Trenholm Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you our league and to set the stage for a healthy and productive youth baseball experience this season. Our goal at Trenholm Little League is that every child will have an opportunity to learn baseball in an environment where success and failure are accepted with grace, where appropriate authority is respected, where discipline and team play are valued, and where, in a competitive environment, hard work and effort are rewarded by success.

In short, our aim is that the boys and girls in our league will become acquainted with the skills that, in adulthood, become the fabric of good citizenship. An important aspect of Trenholm is that it is an affiliate of the national Little League organization. This means that our league is part of the largest youth sports organization in the world, and the only American sports organization to have been granted a Congressional Charter of Federal Incorporation, approved unanimously by both houses of Congress, and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in July 1964. This all sounds lofty and important, but what it really means is that Trenholm is part of a larger organization, and as such, it conforms to standards that apply to all member leagues.

These standards are the rules and regulations that govern how the league is organized and run. By adhering to these standards, Trenholm enjoys the privileges afforded by membership. The most visible of these is the Little League Baseball Tournament, the finals of which have become an annual late-summer staple on ESPN and ABC.

Every year, at the end of our spring season, our league selects an all-star team of 11 and 12 year-olds who participate in a district tournament. The district winners then compete in a state tournament.

The state winner competes in the southeastern regional tournament, and the winner of regional play advances to the televised Little League World Series. This means that every year, our all-star team is three tournament victories away from World Series Play to a national audience. Traditionally, Trenholm junior and senior-level all-star teams (ages 13-16) have won district and state tournaments and gone on to compete at the state and regional levels.

It is more difficult to win these tournaments in the 11 and 12 year-old division, but that is our goal every year. Another important aspect of Trenholm Little League is that it is operated entirely by volunteers. The playing fields, electricity and water are provided by the Richland County Recreation Commission; everything else is provided by volunteers who give their time to help the league. We solicit both your contribution as a volunteer, and your respect for those who, every spring and fall, roll up their sleeves to make the league work.

Finally, we also ask that you help us to accomplish our goals by remembering that our games are played by children, and although competitive by definition, they are only children’s games and not matters of life and death. Players, coaches, and umpires make mistakes. When mistakes are made, we ask that you please take them in stride and with good will and sportsmanship. If you are troubled by events, please talk privately to your coach or to the League Vice President for your age division. The league has a Code of Conduct and formal grievance procedure. We ask that you make every effort to adhere to them.

Most of all, please never rebuke others or create a confrontation in public. No good can come from insults or loud criticism at a youth sporting event. In short, we ask that you help us make every season a positive experience – win or lose - for all involved. Thank you again for your interest in our league. We look forward to seeing you out at the ballpark this season.

Sincerely,