SFYAL will be hosting the Cal Ripken 12-year-old 50/70 PA State Tournament from July 18^th to the 21^st. This is a great honor for our league and a perfect opportunity to show off our facilities and our great community. An event like this requires a lot of volunteers, especially for field work and snack bar. Please try to make time to come out and lend a hand; even an hour at some point would be very helpful. We’d really like to make sure we have snack bar coverage while Spring-Ford is playing so the parents of those players can cheer on the team. The times we most need help are 9:30 – 12:00 and 1:30 – 4:00 on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully our guys will advance to the semi’s on Monday and the championship on Tuesday, so we could use help those nights as well. Please contact Shirleen Smiley at smiley794@msn.com for more details. 

Helpers for field work are most in need at 7:00am to get ready for the day, and then in between games to drag and line. The game schedule will posted on the web site once all the teams are set. 

We’re also putting together a program for the tournament that will go to all tournament participants and guests. Advertisements can be placed in the book for $50 a page, or $25 for a half page. These ads need to be in by Friday, 7/10. Please contact Scott Smiley (SmileyS@PASD.K12.PA.US) for more information.

Pennsylvania Baseball Academy in conjunction with Springford Youth Athletic League would like to announce it will be running top quality training camps during the summer for children ages 7-12. Come get quality instruction from former top players and coaches. Campers will also have the opportunity to win cool prices at the end of the week wrap up.  Our goal is not only to help children develop their skills on the baseball field but also to help motivate them to be successful in all areas of life.

The Academy has also announced a dramatic price reduction to $100. Camps will run from 9am to 1pm each day. Due to attendance, camps may be combined and held at one location, either Palmer Park or SFYAL in Spring City.

Please complete registration forms immediately and/or call in order to get a proper count of who will be attending each camp. Forms must be in by July 10th for the early camp, or July 17th for the later camp.

Dates         

Camp # 1 - July 13^th-17^th   Camp # 2 - July 20^th-24^th     

^{There is also a camp for players aged 13 - 15 looking for some summer baseball instruction.} 

Pennsylvania Baseball Academy
610-489-1707
46 E. Third Avenue
Collegeville, PA 19426
www.pennsylvaniabaseballacademy.com

^{Download the Registration forms and player waiver here.}

To SFYAL Parents:

Now with the 2009 Summer Slam event over, yet another highly successful event, I wanted to take a moment to recognize our parents efforts.  With so many parents and coaches coming up to me to express their appreciation for how much they enjoyed themselves and the kids had fun playing baseball, it was a very impressive thing to hear.  I gladly accepted their praise, but my response was always the same: I asked them to seek out a volunteer and thank them because it was all the volunteers who gave so much of their time that made their experience enjoyable.  IF they didn't, allow me to be their messenger.  I say this because it is not the type of event that can be done half-hearted. It takes a massive effort to make sure that a family from outside our organization that comes into our community can be witness to what a group of people can do when they take pride in their organization and community.

Let me thank all the team moms for organizing each team's parents in helping others.  Chrissy Pergine, Diane Lachenmayer, Deb Skrocki, and Shirleen Smiley.  Thanks to Mary Shields for the tournament T-shirt sales; wonderful as always.  To all the dads (and mom's too) who grabbed a rake, a shovel, hose, bag of field dry, tarps, and any other piece of equipment to make the complex look awesome and in great playing condition.  Who can forget Norm Coyne's deforesting of the driveway, thankfully no poison ivy for him!  But so many parents helped in ways that I'm sure I even didn't get a chance to see and did it without publicity. I thank each and every one of you for making this event worth being a part of.  Thanks to people like Frank Pastella, Jamie Stento, and Dwight White for coming out when they weren't involved other than being a valued member of the organization to lend a hand. We are only as strong as the effort we put in and I can't think of a stronger organization than SFYAL.

Coaches, I know there are people that I missed, but please pass on to each of your parents individually my gratitude for their efforts.  Thank you for preparing your teams to be so strongly represented and a great group of kids who displayed their own desire to volunteer and also play with unquestionable sportsmanship.  A true mark of the impact you have on those kids.

It truly is remarkable to see what a strong group of people can do to make an impact on nearly 400 baseball players and countless families who got to witness what a great organization SFYAL is and what it provides for the youth of our community.

Thank you all again for a great and phenomenal effort during the 2009 Summer Slam event!

Kevin Messerle

SFYAL Tournament Director

The list below shows the winners from our Fundraiser Raffle. Congratulations!!

The SFYAL Night at the Reading Phillies on May 16, 2009 was another great success this year.  Check out the pictures that captured all the fun that night.

Did the R-Phils take your picture at the outing on May 16th? 
Click Here to see...

Even more fun from the outing can be found on Snap Fish: Click Here to see...

(Note: SnapFish requires you to create a snapfish account inorder to view the photos)

William Ronald Nettles

July 25, 1928 – April 15, 2009

Ron Nettles of Royersford, PA, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. He was 80 years of age. Ron was born and lived in Royersford his entire life.

An active member of the community, Ron was the Mayor of Royersford for 14 years. Among various posts and activities, he was the Treasurer of the Royersford Area Community Chest and Royersford Free Public Library, and Chairman of the Royersford Park and Recreation Commission.

Ron was a founder of Royersford Area Youth Athletic League – now SFYAL – and served as Commissioner for 33 years. He also was the Founder and Commissioner of the Royersford (now Spring-Ford) Babe Ruth League. The ball field at Victory Park was named “Ron Nettles Field” several years ago in his honor.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, the family requests memorial donations to the Royersford Free Public Library, the Spring-Ford Youth Athletic League, or the Royersford Area Community Chest.

It's the shoulders of people like Ron Nettles upon which we all stand today - and hold our children.

Complete obituary: http://www.campbellennisklotzbachfuneralhome.com/obituary.php
Article in Pottstown Mercury: http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2009/04/24/news/srv0000005175621.txt

• Please be respectful of our neighbors when arriving and leaving the SFYAL Complex. 
  

• Please obey the 5 MPH speed limit.

• Smoking is NOT permitted at the SFYAL Complex.

• Please leave pets at home.  Many of us love animals however, they don’t always feel the same way about us or each other.

• Please do not stand or sit on the counters around the snack bar area. These are designed for resting food on. They are not built to hold people.

• Please do not park on the basketball courts (black top area) directly behind the school at the SFYAL Complex. This is school property and not to be used as a parking lot.

• Please do not throw balls against the pump house (near the snack bar). There are a lot of people walking around and trying to watch the games.