Cubs

THE OFFICIAL TRYOUT SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2006 PLAYERS AS FOLLOWS:

LEAGUE TRYOUTS ARE HELD IN THE NEWTON NORTH SOA 4th floor, Hull Street Entrance

SUNDAY MARCH 12 League Age Last Name beginning with: Tryout Time 8 (open to any child who has played 2 years in the farm league) A - Z 3:15 PM 9 A - J 3:45 PM K - R 4:15 PM S - Z 4:45 PM 10 A - J 5:15 PM K - R 5:45 PM S - Z 6:15 PM FRIDAY MARCH 17 League Age Last Name beginning with: Tryout Time 11 A - J 6:00 PM K - R 6:15 PM S - Z 6:30 PM 12 A - Z 6:45 PM Please report at time listed for age and last name. If you cannot attend during assigned time slot, please come at 6:30 on March 12 (league age 8-10) or 7:00 on March 17 (league age 11-12 ). If you cannot attend on your assigned day, please come on the other date at the end of the session. For other scheduling problems, contact Mitch Klein by email at NewtonCentral@comcast.net.

IMPORTANT LEAGUE DATES:

Spring season begins: APRIL 23rd

Note: not all teams will start that day. Watch for your team schedule.

Opening Day: APRIL 30th

Ceremonies begin for all players and teams at 12 PM at Cabot Field. Parade to begin earlier; team coaches will provide details.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

The League is open to all children who live in the Cabot, Peirce or Ward Elementary School districts and are age-eligible (born after April 30, 1993 and before May 1, 1999).

INTERESTED IN PLAYING SPRING 2006 FOR THE NCLL? REGISTER NOW!

We had a record number of registrations last year with over 300 children playing Spring Little League baseball in the Newton Central Little League. Online registration for the Spring 2006 season is available by clicking on the registration icons on this website, www.eteamz.com/newtoncentralll. We encourage you to register online.

Paper registration forms are now available for download from this website. There will be a $10.00 additional charge for using paper registrations. Click HERE to download the paper registration form.

REGISTERING YOUR CHILD - WHAT LEAGUE WILL YOUR CHILD PLAY IN?

There are several different leagues within the Newton Central Little League: Farm, AA Minor, AAA Minor and Majors. The League that your child will play in is determined by their age as well as, for children in some age groups, the results of a tryout. Tryouts are intended to ensure that children play at the level that is most suitable for their skill level, as well as to attempt to balance teams.

Newton Central Little League is affiliated with Little League Baseball (www.littleleague.org).
Little League Baseball recently changed the birthdate guidelines that determine eligibility to play Little League. "Age" in Little League is referred to as "League Age" which is the age which a child is on April 30th of the Spring season that they play in Little League. The following guidelines for determining League Age are:

Birthdate (5/1/98-4/30/99): League age 7*
Birthdate (5/1/97-4/30/98): League age 8
Birthdate (5/1/96-4/30/97): League age 9
Birthdate (5/1/95-4/30/96): League age 10
Birthdate (5/1/94-4/30/95): League age 11
Birthdate (5/1/93-4/30/94): League age 12

*NCLL has decided to allow ANY CHILD IN THE FIRST GRADE that lives in our district to play in the Newton Central Little League, even if that child was born on or after May 1, 1999. This may mean that at some later point their LL career, he / she may be required to play in one of our divisions for an extra year. The change in birthdates mandated by the Little League on an international level has, and will continue to, impact a number of children because the May 1 to April 30 birth dates used for age determination differs so greatly from the Newton Public School eligibility date of August 31.

Newton Central does not offer T-ball for younger children. We suggest the West Suburban Y program; Newton East Little league; or Newton West Little League.

All players who are League ages 7 and 8 will play in the Farm League, a coach-pitch introductory league.

Players who are League age 9 can elect to play in the Farm League (see above), or can try out to determine eligibilty for placement on the AA Minor League, the league in which players begin to pitch. Any League age 9 player not placed on a AA Minor League team will be placed on a Farm League team.

Players who are League age 10 must tryout to determine placement on either a AA Minor or AAA Minor League team. AAA Minor League is a more advanced league with rules similar to the Little League Majors.

Players who are League age 11 and 12 must tryout to determine placement on either a AAA Minor or Major League team. The Major Leagues are the most advanced league in Little League. No tryout is necessary for a league age 12 year old who played on a Major League team the prior Spring (playing on a Major league team in the Fall League does not qualify).



WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!

The success of the Newton Central Little League depends upon its volunteers. The Board of the Little League is eager to enlist new members to take on the many tasks of organizing our program. Please consider donating some of your time to help us. Anyone interested should contact Roger Lehrberg, President of the Newton Central Little League, at rlehrberg@hotmail.com, or Alan Schlesinger, Vice-President of the Newton Central Little League, at schlesinger117@comcast.netor 617-969-8521. Thank you.

RED SOX ARE FOR SALE! (PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION TO NCLL)

The Newton Central Little League teams are always loooking for sponsors! If your business or family would like to sponsor a team, be recognized in our program book and have the thrill of “ownership” of a baseball team, we have a great offer for you.

The costs of sponsorships are as follows:

AAA Teams $225.00
AA Teams $200.00
Farm / Rookie Teams $150

To keep registration fees from increasing significantly, Newton Central depends on the generosity of our parent and business community. Our Little League is responsible for maintaining the Cabot, Ward and Peirce fields, which has become increasingly costly over the years. For safety reasons, we also need to replace equipment and supplies on a regular basis. Last year we ran a deficit, and we request your help to keep us in the black in 2005.

We very much appreciate the generous donations many of you have already made this year. If you are interested in sponsoring a team for 2006, please contact us at newtoncentralLL@comcast.net. For those who aren’t quite ready to “own” a team, but are interested in making a donation of any amount, please send a check to Newton Central Little League c/o Brian Badrigian, Treasurer, 11 Loring Street, Newton, MA 02459.

LITTLE LEAGUE NEWS UPDATES:
Check out the "My Site News" tab for information about the Little League organization and other Little League opportunities.

NEW VOLUNTEER INFORMATION:
The National Little League in Williamsport, PA is requiring all Little Leagues to perform criminal offender record information(CORI)back ground checks on Managers, Coaches, Board of Directors members and any other persons, volunteers or hired workers, who provide regular service to the league and/or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players or teams. To learn more about this new policy, please click (on left) on Links, Little League Baseball and follow the links to the Little League Child Protection Program.

Please download two documents (click on handouts tab on left or at bottom of this page): Please fill out Volunteer Application in its entirety, paying special attention to the authorization on the right-hand side of the form to conduct a background check on you. In addition, complete the lower half of the Request for Sex Offender Registry. Please return both documents to Craig Gilmartin; Gilmartin, Magence and Ross, PC; 376 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. The original background check document will be sent to the Sex Offender Registry Board to conduct the background check. We will keep the Application and copy of the Request for Sex Offender Registry Information on file for the duration of your service to the league for this year. If you have any questions regarding this policy please contact Craig Gilmartin (cgilmartin@gilfitz.com). Thank you.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you have any questions regarding Newton Central Little League, please feel free to contact Roger Lehrberg, President, at 617-332-4200, rlehrberg@hotmail.com or Newton Central Little League at newtoncentral@comcast.net.

Little Leagues in Newton
Newton also has four other Little League programs for specific school districs; each league maintains their own website.
Newton East LL for players residing in Bowen, Mason-Rice, Memorial-Spaulding Elementary school districts.
Newton North LL for players residing in Lincoln Elliot, Horace Mann, and Underwood school districts.
Newton South LL for players residing in Angier, Zervas, and Countryside school districts.
Newton West LL for players in Burr, Franklin, or Williams school districts.

Dear Little League Friends: The following is a message from the Public Broadcasting System. While Little League International does not specifically endorse this program, nor did it receive any compensation from PBS, Little League was aware of the PBS crews that were working on the project, which was filmed during the 2002 season. We are passing along this information for your information. ------------------------------------------------- PBS TRAVELS TO THE LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH SMALL BALL: A LITTLE LEAGUE STORY IN APRIL Documentary Goes Behind the Scenes for the Start of Little League Season Just in time for the start of Little League season, PBS will broadcast its first documentary featuring Little League Baseball. Small Ball: A Little League Story, will be broadcast nationwide on PBS at 8:00 p.m. on April 14, with carriage expected on over 300 PBS stations. (check local station listings) The 90-minute documentary captures the hope, thrills and excitement of players, parents and coaches as a team of 11- and 12-year-old Little Leaguers goes from their small town all the way to the Little League Baseball World Series Championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Small Ball: A Little League Story takes viewers along for a six-week nail-biting road trip with the Aptos, California All-Stars, their manager and coaches (including retired major league pitcher Mark Eichhorn), and parents as they survive four tournaments to be one of eight U.S. teams who make it to the apex of youth sports. The Aptos All Stars' quest becomes a metaphor for this American institution and springtime ritual in which 2.7 million youngsters and their families in scores of countries and 50 U.S. states participate. Begun in 1939, Little League includes some 172,000 chartered teams organized by geography and community. It's unique in pre-teen sports because of its yearly end-of-season pageant, the fabled Little League Baseball World Series. Millions of adults fondly remember their Little League experiences as players or parents. Volunteers in local Little Leagues might want to contact their local PBS station and call the program to their attention, as well as let others in your local community know about the program. There is more information at http://www.pspb.org/smallballpressroom/ -- including media releases, bios, photos and ideas for outreach in your local community. Here's more information about the program and comments by its producers: Small Ball: A Little League Story, is produced by award-winning filmmakers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker, and presented by Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB) The documentary is a production of the Center for New American Media and Penn State Public Broadcasting in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Executive producer is PSPB Station Manager Tracy Vosburgh. "What struck us during the filming is how important Little League is in many people's lives," said Alvarez. "People we never suspected would talk to us about how they had been players, coaches or supporters. This American institution is like a club that exists in every community, and, if you are in it, you can relate to it anywhere." Kolker noted that the majority of Little League parents and coaches are really involved in the game for the youngsters as well as for themselves. "Maybe they didn't play when they were young. Some parents are definitely living vicariously and are over-involved with their kids. It's something about the intensity of sports which brings that out, and that's certainly true of Little League." Small Ball: A Little League Story traces the Aptos team's quest, including the different worlds of the players and their coaches--some of whom have children on the team--and that of the enthusiastic and dedicated parents. "Imagine the odds of choosing a team that would go all the way to the Little League World Series Championship," said Alvarez. "Out of some 6,400 U.S. teams that begin tournament play, only eight survive their local and regional playoffs to go to the Championship." "We wanted to find an all-star team and follow it, get to know the players, parents and coaches and see how far they would go," said Kolker. "We heard the team in Aptos was pretty good. The kids had been playing together (in the same league) since they were five years old and this seemed to be their year. For most teams heading into the tournaments, the competition is so intense, it's just a matter of time until they lose. But Aptos didn't lose. They just refused to lose." "One of the things that became part of the story is the non-stop travel," said Alvarez. "When you are winning a lot, you don't know when it will end and when you can go home. If you win one round, you immediately go to the next round and then the next. It was a wild six-week road trip." Filmmakers Alvarez and Kolker bring the same insight and humor to Small Ball: A Little League Story that they have to their other award winning PBS telecasts, including Vote for Me-Politics in America, which won a George Foster Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Journalism Award and National Emmy Award 1997, and People Like Us: Social Class in America which was a finalist for the 2003 duPont Award. They also won a duPont Columbia Journalism Award for Louisiana Boys-Raised on Politics in 1993 and a Peabody Award for American Tongues in 1988, which launched the PBS series P.O.V. Other productions include MOMS in 1999 and Sex: female in 2003 for the Oxygen network. "We love to hold up a mirror to America," said Alvarez. "All our films take a subject that is fun and interesting as a jumping off point to look at something larger about American culture and how Americans live." Partial funding for Small Ball: A Little League Story has been provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, ITVS and the Williamsport-Lycoming Foundation. Small Ball: A Little League Story will be available on home video shortly after the broadcast from PBS Video at 1-800-PLAY PBS. Penn State Public Broadcasting, WPSX-TV and WPSU-FM, serves 29 counties in central Pennsylvania, including Williamsport, with programming and educational services. Licensed to The Pennsylvania State University, PSPB is part of Penn State Outreach. Other nationally distributed PSPB productions include Legendary Lighthouses and the instructional series What's In The News.

We must recognize that most of our umpires are young and, often, recent "graduates" of Newton Central Little League. Although they receive umpire training and are expected to know the Little League as well as Newton Central rules, they will make mistakes. Anyone participating in Newton Central Little League activities (Administrators, Managers, Coaches, Players, Parents) are expected to support the umpire without qualification. Failure to do so will undermine the umpire’s authority and has the potential of creating a difficult environment for players, the umpire and all of the other participants and spectators. Participants are prohibited from arguing judgment calls with the umpires, verbal insults (even if not heard by the umpire) or other types of adverse comments which range from direct confrontation to more subtle activities such as yelling out the calls before the umpire has made a determination. Managers are responsible for enforcing these rules on their benches and on their fans.

Check out this thought-provoking article about our roles as parents in supporting our children participating in Little League. Just type http://www.littleleague.org/media/pitfalls.asp in your web browser or click on the headline above.