La Grange Little League Baseball

25

May, 2020

Update on LGLL Spring Season

After much discussion at our meeting this week, the LGLL board is committed to a little league season this year. Taking into account the Governor's Restore Illinois plan and your own survey responses (see below for survey results), we are prepared to host a modified version of our typical baseball and softball season this summer. The details are as follows:

Please note: The season hinges on certain assumptions, which include the following: 1) We have reached Phase 4 of Restore Illinois (which allows, among other things, a gathering of 50 or fewer people); 2) approval of our plan by the La Grange Park District and the Village of La Grange; and 3) our final judgment as a board that we still are able to offer a safe baseball and softball program to our kids.

Assuming the above, we are prepared to begin tightly-controlled practices in early- to mid-July, with games starting on August 1 or shortly thereafter. The season will run no later than September 30. We anticipate holding our usual playoffs the final week of September.

We will consider pushing the season back during August in the event we have not moved to Phase 4 under Restore Illinois. This would result in the season being pushed back week-to-week so we could provide a full season. However, if we cannot start games by September 1, we will cancel the entire 2020 season.

By late June 2020, we will provide parents detailed protocol as to how we will run practices, games and control spectators to ensure the safety of our players, coaches and families.  Although we plan to offer a program for t-ball and coach pitch, it likely will involve highly controlled baseball drills run by several coaches and with heavy parental involvement to ensure safety. In the interests of full disclosure, we likely will not offer actual games at these levels.  We anticipate that we will have to re-balance teams, and in some instances, we may have to re-draft teams due to players who will seek refunds at this time. Please be patient with us as we work our way through this process.

It is our hope that you will stick with us for this season. If you do, you need not do anything right now. However, we also recognize that things have changed. The timing of our season is different than we had hoped, and some parents are not comfortable playing under the current circumstances of an existing pandemic. We get that, and we respect your decision. If you find yourself in this group, please complete the form below and we will issue your refund.

Refund: If you are seeking a refund, we will return your registration fee and volunteer fee -- no questions asked. Before doing so, though, you do have the option to donate your refund to the league, primarily for two reasons:LGLL is obligated to many of its yearly expenses (utilities, insurance, charter, field care, repairs, etc.) whether we play or not. Some of these expenses already have been paid.

We have had initial discussions with the Park District about our desire to build a third ball field at Sedgwick, which would allow us to play softball every day at Sedgwick, provide more space for practices, and to make other much-needed upgrades at Sedgwick. If you donate your registration fee, we will earmark your donation specifically toward these upgrades if they are approved.  If you would like a refund now or wish to donate your registration fee, please complete this form by May 29, 2020. We anticipate providing refunds by June 1.

Please note that this will not be the only time to seek a refund. Before we set teams (likely in late June), we will again give you an opportunity to seek a refund.Parent survey: It's worth noting that your opinions weighed heavily on our decision to keep a season alive. Over 200 families completed the recent survey -- thank you! In short, nearly 70% of families told us that you believe it would be safe to play by this summer or fall, and over 60% would be willing to allow your kids to play on a team this year. With 5 months of warm weather to still play ball, we simply could not ignore this sentiment.

We still face uncertainty! The board is prepared to put a plan in place for us to safely play ball this summer. At a minimum, we will have very stringent safety measures in place that comport with the latest guidance from our state and local authorities and Little League International. Despite these measures, we still may decide it is not safe to play. Please know we will be making these decisions with safety as our priority.

Weekly drill: In the meantime, we'll keep sending our weekly player development emails with several drills you can work on with your kids throughout the week. Thanks to Tom Ratcliffe for leading this player development initiative!

Questions? Please don't hesitate to reach out to me or any LGLL board member.

Stay safe!
Jeff Nowak
President, La Grange Little League

Website Manager

La Grange Little League

News Detail

25

May, 2020

Update on LGLL Spring Season

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