CA DISTRICT 14 LITTLE LEAGUE: Welcome

Welcome to Little League Baseball's California District 14 Web Site. California District 14 covers the Southern Alameda County cities of Fremont, which has six Little Leagues and Newark, which has two Little Leagues.

This year, California District 14 will host the California Section 3 Junior All Star Tournament. 

All the minutes from the District 14 Meetings can be found under the Handouts section on the side bar.

We are here to help, if you have any questions, please contact one of the District 14 Staff members, listed under the District Board on the sidebar.

District Administrator, Reggie Torres and his staff; Tom Curtis: Assistant District Administrator, Rob McCarthy: District Umpire Coordinator, Frank Bontempo: District Information Officer and Big League Coordinator, Sharon Kaufman: Junior and Senior Coordinator, Greg Kaufman: District Major Coordinator, and Sue Roman: District Minor and Tee Ball Coordinator will be attending the 2012 West Region Round Table Seminar in San Bernardino January 26-January 29. This seminar was formally called the DA/ADA Seminar.

Steve Keener, President and CEO of Little League, Pat Wilson the Senior VP of Operations, Lance Van Auken the VP of Communications, Nick Caringi, Senior Director of Operations, Dan Kirby the VP of Risk Management (Safety) and Sara Thompson, Director of Softball, plus the Regional Director, Jim Gerstenslager will present seminars on concussions and background checks, district communications, league development, training initiatives, regional hot buttions, and rules and regulation changes.

"This is the first time I am able to invite my entire staff to attend this type of a meeting" said Reggie, "this will give the staff a chance to meet the officers from Williamsport and get answers right from the top." "This will also give them a chance to meet DAs and their staff from around the region to exchange ideas and see how they run their Districts."

There will also be round tables discussions where the DA and staff will sit with others from around the region to discuss the new proposed rule and regulation changes.

"I think this will be a great learning experience for my staff" commented Reggie. "I hope this will help us run our district better."

Little League Baseball's California District 14 (Fremont-Newark) is proud to announce that John Chivers has been selected to umpire at Little League Baseball’s 2012 Big League (15-18 year old) Western Region Baseball Tournament in Silverdale, Washington.

John is the ninth umpire with District 14 roots to be selected to umpire at a Little League Baseball Western Region or World Series Baseball Tournament, joining Randy Morris (1999-Little League), Bruce Marcellus (2002-Little League and 2008-Seniors), Mike Martinez (2004-Little League, 2006-Big League and 2007-Big League WS), Tom Curtis (2008-Juniors), Rob McCarthy (2009-Juniors) and Vic Langford (2009 European Regional Little League Tournament in Poland) and Pat Mulhern (2011-Little League). Former District 14 umpire, Bob Slyter (2009-Little League), who represented Idaho District 2, is also counted among this group.

John first became involved in Little League in 1990, when he signed up his 6-year-old son Nick to play tee-ball at Centerville American Little League (Fremont).  John was asked if he wouldn't mind "helping to coach" Nick's team -- "helping" immediately became "managing", and John managed or coached CALL teams for the next 9 years. Like all CALL managers John was required to umpire, and there he found his true calling.  In addition to coaching and umpiring, John was on the CALL Board of Directors for several years, serving as Player Agent and Umpire in Chief.

In 1998 John moved to Niles-Centerville Little League (Fremont), where he continues to umpire to this day (often with Nick as his favorite partner).

John attended the San Bernardino Weekend Umpire Mechanics clinic in 1992, and joined the District 14 umpire staff in 1995, where he has officiated District and Sectional All-Star tournaments at all levels, and Divisional All-Star tournaments for 9-10, Majors and Big League. 

John was honored with California District 14’s Jay Horry Memorial Award in 1995 as a distinguished umpire upholding the ideals of Little League Baseball and California District 14.

The selection to umpire at the Western Region Big League Baseball Tournament is recognition not only for John’s umpire skills, but also for his years of dedicated volunteer service to Little League Baseball and its ideals. This selection also qualifies John to umpire at the Big League World Series, held in Easly, South Carolina.

The Western Region Big League Baseball Tournament is played in Silverdale, Washington and is scheduled to start in August, 2012. Winners advance to the Big League World Series.

Fremont-Newark, California – Little League Baseball’s California District 14 has announced a new format for the Senior Division (players 13 to 16 years old) Baseball program for the 2012 season.

In an effort to encourage maximum participation from eligible Senior aged players, Little League Baseball has granted D14 a waiver to operate the program similar to how the D14 Big League program is run. Players will continue to sign up through their local league, however if a local league does not have enough players to field a stand-alone team, the players will be pooled together and distributed via a draft after a common District run tryout. This program will be administered by Sharon Kaufman, the District 14 Senior Coordinator.

California District 14 Administrator, Reggie Torres commented that, “We believe this new program will allow for more Senior players to participate in the Senior program and give better balance to the overall division.”

Local leagues must have a minimum of 12 Senior aged players to field a stand-alone team. If they are under this minimum, players will then participate in a District tryout and be drafted to a District-run team. D14 will assign managers and coaches to the D14 Senior teams after an application and interview process has been completed.

As a District run program, these teams will have more opportunities to travel to other Little League Districts to play games, as well as meet D14 Senior teams in regular season contests. This format was developed as a way to create a full 10 week regular season followed by a post-season Tournament of Champions – for non-high school players and high school players who have completed their season.

All-Stars for this Senior format also brings a new look. Stand-alone leagues will be able to enter their own Senior All-Star team as they always have. However, local leagues with less than the minimum will be grouped as pairs by the District, with each of the two leagues contributing players to an All-Star team. Once again the District will assign managers and coaches to the D14 Senior All-Star teams after an application and interview process has been completed.

For more information on the 2012 Senior Baseball Division or to apply as a manager, please contact Sharon Kaufman at kauf9er@yahoo.com.

Little League Baseball's California District 14 (Fremont-Newark) has announced changes to the Challenger Program meetings scheduled in January 2012.

The Challenger Coordinators Meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2012 has been moved to Wednesday, January 18, 2012. The Challengers Parents Meeting, originally scheduled for Friday, Jaunuary 27, 2012 has been moved to Thursday, January 26, 2012.

Both meetings continue to be scheduled for 7 pm at Centerville Round Table Pizza in Fremont. For more information on the District 14 Challenger Program, contact District 14 Challenger Coordinator, Rick Carrabello at 510-381-2949 or E-mail him at r8durz@pacbell.net

Little League Baseball has issued a Bulletin outlining Rule Changes for the 2012 Little League season. Below is the message from Little League International:

Nov. 23, 2011
 
Bulletin: Significant Policy, Rule, and Regulation Changes for 2012
 
Little League International today announced the full list of significant changes that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, to the policies, rules and regulations of the program.
 
In order to give timely information to parents and leagues, some of the changes were announced several weeks ago. One change, in the bat regulations, has been further updated since the first announcement. The update clarifies the penalty for using an illegal bat.
 
As always, thank you for your service to the children and families of your community, and please accept our best wishes for a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

Sincerely,
Little League International

For a list of all the significant changes, along with a summary and explanation of the changes, a PDF of the Rule Changes is available in the Handouts Section of the D14 site. Look in the "Rule Changes 2012" Section.

Highlights of the Rule Changes include:

Clarification of the composite bat rule and expansion of player ages in the Senior and Big League Divisions of play.

However, the biggest change to Little League Baseball rules may be that Little League has now allowed batters to advance to first on a dropped third strike in the MAJOR (Little League) Division - similar to the Junior, Senior and Big League Divisions. This will be implemented fully in the International (All-Star) Tournament, but can be an option for local leagues during the regular season. It will also be implemented in the 10-11 All-Star Tournament.

This is a big change in the style of Little League Baseball and how the game will be coached, played and umpired.

Little League has posted an announcement regarding upcoming changes to the bat rules and specifications for the 2012 season.

To see that announcement, visit this page (for a short-cut, click on the article headline):   

http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2011/Sep-Dec/LLAnnouncesBatRuleChangesfor2012Season.htm

Little League is taking this step, before the rule books are actually published in December, to give parents and leagues a timely "heads up."

As always, thank you for your support of Little League Baseball and Softball.

Sincerely,

Little League Baseball and Softball

Little League International today announced a change to the regulations for 2012 that will allow more options in the teenage divisions of baseball.

Effective Jan. 1, 2012:

The Senior League Baseball Division (previously limited to players league age 14-16) may now include players league age 13-16.

The Big League Baseball Division (previously limited to players league age 16-18) may now include players league age 15-18.

For Tournament Play, the age divisions will be: Junior League 13-14; Senior League 13-16; and Big League 15-18.

The Junior League Baseball Division remains for players league age 13-14 during the regular season. (Note: As before, 12-year-olds also are eligible for Junior League Baseball regular season play, under certain criteria.)

This gives local leagues wide latitude in tailoring their regular season teenage baseball divisions based on the available talent pool and age breakdown.

"All of the changes in the rules and regulations for 2012 will be announced in the next few days," Patrick W. Wilson, Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Development, said. "We wanted to get this change out to our leagues and districts sooner, however, for planning purposes."

The change also will affect pitch-count limits in Tournament Play, so the days of rest guide will apply to 13-18 year olds participating in the Senior and Big League divisions. Pitch count limits for the regular season remain the same as in 2011, based on the age of the pitcher.

The Challenger Division was established in 1989 as a separate division of Little League to enable boys and girls with special needs, ages 4-18, or up to age 22 if still enrolled in high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide. Today more than 30,000 children participate in more than 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide.The Challenger Division was established in 1989 as a separate division of Little League to enable boys and girls with special needs, ages 4-18, or up to age 22 if still enrolled in high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide. Today more than 30,000 children participate in more than 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide.The Challenger Division was established in 1989 as a separate division of Little League to enable boys and girls with special needs, ages 4-18, or up to age 22 if still enrolled in high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide. Today more than 30,000 children participate in more than 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide.

More than the skills of baseball learned through the experience, the value of the Little League Challenger Division is found in the proven therapeutic and socialization benefits of participating in sports, the strengthening of participants’ self-esteem, the opportunities to mainstream into other divisions of play, and the disciplines of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play, which are hallmarks of the Little League program.

The Little League Challenger Division provides the framework so Little League programs may offer a structured, athletic activity for all youth in their communities. Playing with the same equipment on the same fields, Challenger Division participants have the opportunity to experience the joys of pulling together as a team, being cheered, and earning awards for their achievements.

In a Challenger game, each player gets a chance at bat. The side is retired when the offense has batted through the roster, or when a pre-determined number of runs have been scored, or when three outs are recorded. Little League recommends that no score be kept during Challenger games. The Challenger players wear the same uniforms, shoulder patches and safety equipment as other Little League players.

Teams are set up according to abilities, rather than age, and can include as many as 15-20 players. Challenger games can be played as t-ball games, coach pitch, player pitch, or a combination of the three.

One of the benefits of having a Challenger Division is that it encourages the use of "buddies" for the Challenger players. The buddies assist the Challenger players on the field but whenever possible, encourage the players to bat and make plays themselves. However, the buddy is always nearby to help when needed.

District 14 has teams in Centerville National, Fremont American, Mission San Jose, Newark American, Newark National and Niles-Centerville.

Our goal is have at least one team in each of our eight leagues so we can bring baseball to the entire Fremont and Newark communities so please come see us play and spread the word about Challenger Baseball.

For more information please contact:
Rick Carrabello, District 14 Challenger Coordinator @ 510-381-2949
E-mail:  r8durz@pacbell.net

ANNOUNCING THE EIGHTH ANNUAL DISTRICT 57-WESTERN REGION CHALLENGER JAMBOREE
Memorial Day Weekend - May 25 - 27, 2012
Dublin Sports Park, Dublin, CA
In order to ensure your team's place, please register early - egistration deadline: TBD
We all look forward to having another fun-filled event for all participants!

Challenger Jamboree Registration Package - Coming Soon!

Join Little League Baseball's California District 14 on Facebook. Updates, scores and quick notes are posted for your information. Take a look and let us know if you "LIKE" us.

Find California District 14 on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-League-California-District-14/107626795999661 or click this articles headline for a direct link.