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Late Registration and New Player Evaluations

Posted by Dennis Kane at Dec 19, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Late Registration - January 10, 2004, from 9 a.m. to Noon at Premier Field snack stand. Forms will be provided. If you have questions about registration on Jan. 10, see the officials at the Player Evaluations at the adjacent fields at MBMS or Begg North (just up the hill west of the snack stand). If you want to register by mail now, take a look at this. New Player Evaluations - Jan. 10, 2004, for all new MBLL baseball and softball players ages 9 -15. - Baseball - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at Begg North Field. - Softball - 10:00 a.m. - Noon at MBMS. New players should bring a glove and be prepared to hit, field and throw. Questions about late registration or player evaluations can be emailed to the following Board Members: Registration: Bonnie Harkenrider - jmhark@msn.com Baseball Evaluations: Bob Collins - jacandbret@aol.com Softball Evaluations: Bill von Behren - bvbatbeach@aol.com Or call MBLL at 546-1449 to leave a voicemail message. (Note that participation in the league is limited to Manhattan Beach residents or students currently enrolled in a Manhattan Beach public or private school.)

Little League Volunteers Needed!

Posted by Dennis Kane at Nov 19, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Dear Little League Parent, MBLL needs volunteers to help with our fundraising efforts, scoreboard projects and snack stand health compliance this season. Please consider volunteering to help with one of these projects. We can really use it! Please also pass this message along to other Little League parents so we can get the word out to as many parents as possible. Here is what is needed (in addition to the other needs listed in our registration packet): 1. We need one or more volunteers to be our snack stand Health Compliance Officer(s). This is an important job. In order to keep our snack stands open, we need someone to take a class (a few hours one day), become certified, and be responsible for making sure we comply with the Health Code. In addition to the class, these volunteers will have to inspect the snack stands once a week or so during the season, and certify that we are in compliance. If there are compliance issues during the season we will have people available to do what is necessary to become compliant. In other words, this volunteer does not have to do the work to fix the problem, just supervise health compliance. We hope to get two or three people to take the class and share this duty. Please consider it. 2. We are embarking on a campaign to raise more money from corporations and local businesses this season. We have a Fund Raiser Chairperson, but she needs help in approaching businesses and seeking their assistance. I am hoping that many of you will volunteer to contact just three or four businesses and follow up with them to try to raise funds for our kids. Please let me know if you can give just a few hours of your time between now and the end of the year to help make this project a success. 3. We are also setting up a scoreboard committee to get new scoreboards where needed, fix the existing scoreboards and use them this season at all games in which we keep score. The kids will really appreciate this effort. If you would like to see the score of your kids game in lights, this is your chance to pitch in. Please let us know if you can help with any of these projects. We have Board Members who are willing to lead these efforts, but we need more parents in our Little League to apply their talents and a few hours of their time and to make this season another successful one for our community. Please help us out. There are many other projects that require volunteers. These are just the most acute needs at the moment. We have many dedicated members of our community who donate substantial time to our League as Board Members, Auxiliary Board Members, managers, coaches, field workers, and snack stand managers, to name just a few, but we are an organization built on volunteerism that can always use more help. If you are one of the many parents who has already volunteered to assist the League in one of the many important projects we undertake every season, we thank you! But if you are among the many parents who would like to do more for our League but simply do not have the time right now in your life to dedicate substantial hours, this may be a good opportunity to give a few hours to help make a difference. If you think you can lend assistance to any of these projects or the many other volunteer positions listed in the registration materials, please let us know. Either send me an email or leave a message on the MBLL main number listed below if you are interested in volunteering for one of these projects. I will then put you in touch with the Board Member in charge of these projects. And if none of these projects work for you, please review the purple 2004 League Volunteer Positions form in your registration material and find something that might be a fit and send the completed form to MBLL with your registration form. Thanks for your help! Don't forget to Register by December 14, 2004, and forward this message to a friend who has kids in our League. Regards, Bill von Behren President, MBLL bvbatbeach@aol.com MBLL - 546-1449

Welcome to the 2004 Spring Season!

Posted by Dennis Kane at Nov 13, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

(The 2004 welcome from this year's MBLL president - a must-read, if you are a Little League fan...) Dear Manhattan Little League Families, How awesome would it be for an 11 or 12 year old Little Leaguer to play in the Little League World Series? How cool would it be to play a team from Russia? And is there anything better than telling your grandparents and friends that they can tune in ESPN2 to watch you play ball? Well for thirteen Manhattan Beach Little Leaguers these dreams became a reality in August, 2003. The Manhattan Little League 11 and 12 year old Softball All-Star team not only won the District Tournament, Sectional Tournament and Divisional Tournament, but was also one of the 10 teams from around the world that earned the right to participate in the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Oregon in 2003. These girls, who are All-Stars in every sense, captured the Western Regional Championship and finished in fourth place in the world! As the new President of Manhattan Little League, I want to congratulate our World Series Stars, and all of our Little Leaguers who enjoyed another great year of baseball and softball. And before talking about next season, I want to acknowledge the tremendous accomplishments of all of our 2003 All-Star Teams. MLL’s 13 and 14 year old Baseball All-Stars were crowned District Tournament Champions. Our 11 and 12 year old Baseball All-Stars won the District Tournament, and were only a few outs away from winning the Sectionals - a tremendous showing in a very competitive All-Star Tournament. Similarly, the MLL 9 and 10 year old Softball All-Stars won the District Tournament, and lost in the finals of the Sectional Tournament in extra innings, in a game that was called for darkness, and resumed the next day. And our 9 and 10 year old Baseball All-Stars put together a very impressive string of victories in tournament play, and would have been District Champions if it wasn’t for a few crazy bounces of the ball. All of our 2003 All-Stars are winners, and their parents, the league and our community are extremely proud of their accomplishments. Congratulations! While the 2003 Manhattan Little League season was highlighted by these All-Star successes, it is important to recognize that this was all accomplished while continuing the tradition of emphasizing recreation and fundamental play for our kids. Manhattan Little League is dedicated to developing not just baseball and softball players, but solid citizens who understand that winning and losing a game is just part of life. Although the coaches and teams play to win (except in T-ball where the teams always end up in a tie), we will continue to remind our players that it is the way you play the game and good sportsmanship that will be remembered long after the wins and losses are forgotten. During the 2004 season, my fellow members of the Manhattan Little League Board of Directors and I will strive to continue the tradition of insuring that every Manhattan Beach boy or girl between the ages of 5 to 15 who is interested in playing baseball or softball will have the chance to enjoy these great sports, in a fun and safe learning environment. We will continue our training efforts, focusing on fundamentals. We will continue to emphasize the point that this is about the kids, not the parents or coaches. And we will continue to focus on the simple fact that Little League is about having fun. And if our All-Star Teams continue to win a few championships along the way – well, we will just have to celebrate all over again! So join us once again for another fun filled season of softball and baseball. Your 2004 registration materials and volunteer forms are enclosed with this letter. Because the upper league drafts are conducted in mid-January and the other teams are formed during this same time frame, the league officials and managers need to have the players registered by December 14. There is a lot of time and work required in forming these teams, and this registration deadline is established for these reasons. If you submit your completed registration materials by December 14, 2003, the registration fee will be $80.00 per child. The registration fee for those who register after December 14, 2003 is $95.00 per child. Please complete and return these forms early to ensure your son or daughter will be placed on a team. See you at the ballpark! Regards, Bill von Behren, President