Katy National Little League: My Site News
Tuesday, December 9President's Letter
December 29, 2008
Dear Players, Parents and Friends,
Little League baseball in Katy is back for a 30th consecutive year. Even though the first pitch is 3 months away your Board of Directors is already hard at work preparing for the upcoming spring season.
Do to Hurricane Ike and the uncertain economic times, these past six months have been a challenge for everyone. We recognize this and have implemented some things for this spring that we hope will alleviate some of the financial worries that folks may have.
· We have reduced the base registration fees to $75 and $90 per player.
· We are bringing back candy sales as a way to help offset some of the cost.
· We have increased the number of volunteer umpires.
· We now have a Board member dedicated solely to fundraising.
These are some of the most visible things we are doing to help ensure kids don’t miss out on playing baseball due to family financial concerns.
In an environment where the costs of maintaining our facility, equipment, uniforms and insurance are increasing, we are committed to holding the line on registration fees and maintaining the high quality of our fields. For that we need your help. Umpire expenses are one of the top expenses our League faces. KNLL has about 8 active volunteer umpires who give their time and expertise to our children. This past fall, through a concerted effort by our Umpire-in-Chief, we have increased the volunteer umpire ranks to 12. It’s not nearly enough. We offer as many training sessions as required and we also offer an equipment purchase program for volunteer umpires as well as free registration with Little League International.
We are also committed to maintaining clinics for our players. Last year’s Player Clinic was a tremendous success. So much so that we are bringing it back again this year with the goal of reducing the instructor to player ratio in order to provide more detailed instruction. Also, new for this season, we will be holding a clinic for coaches that will focus on how to teach players to pitch and play the catcher position. The instructors are from the college and semi-pro ranks and have extensive experience teaching baseball skills. The cost of these clinics is included in the registration fee. We look forward to seeing the players and coaches at these clinics.
A calendar for the upcoming season is attached. Opening Day is scheduled for March 28th. Opening day is a great event that you don’t want to miss. In addition to some great baseball; we have our annual silent auction, pictures and great food and drink.
Opening Day is a fundraising event and we ask that you bid generously on the silent auction items and participate in some of the other fundraising opportunities.
Please make use of our website, WWW.KATYNATIONAL.ORG, for the latest information. The site will include up to date standings, schedules and game results. It will also include information for parents in the form of handouts and notices as well as a listing of our 2009 Sponsors. These businesses have given generously to support our League and I encourage you to visit them for your shopping needs.
I would like to thank everyone: Board members, parents, players, etc without whose dedication to our children, Little league baseball would not be possible – Thank You. I look forward to seeing everyone at the fields. As always, feel free to contact any member of the Board with your questions, concerns or comments.
Regards,
Ed Piper
President