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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.

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.

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.