Tigers

An Open Letter to All North Miami Beach Optimist Little League Players, Parents, Volunteers, and Friends

Welcome to the North Miami Beach Optimist Little League, 2005 Edition!

Last year was full of excitement and growth for your kids and League, thanks in large part to your involvement and support. The Board and I are very optimistic that this season will be even better, and hope you will be a part of it again.

We have made some significant changes this year, all of which I am confident will make your League better than ever.

First, we have added girls’ softball for ages 9-12!! Girls are still, of course, welcome to play baseball at all age levels, but we think this will greatly increase the opportunity for girls’ participation, and will help them in trying out for (and making!) the girls softball team when they go to high school.

Second, we have modified the organizational structure of the league. Each division (Little League (which includes kids 5-12), Juniors (13 and up), and Softball has its own Vice President, who will administer that division. Our three Vice Presidents—Stephanie Kienzle (Little League Baseball), Greg Thomas (Juniors & Seniors Baseball), and Dona Elliott(Softball)—are all great baseball people and will do a fantastic job. Of course, we continue to harvest the fruit of Administrative Vice President Loretta Mufson’s labors, as she continues to oversee the significant non-baseball aspects of our program: Opening Day and Closing Party, to name just two.

Working hand-in-hand with the division Vice Presidents will be the division Player Agents: Kevin Rafferty (Little League Baseball), Ellie Bates (Baseball Juniors & Seniors) and Jacob Cerny (Softball). For those of you new to the league, the Player Agent is, in effect, the spokesman for the players. The Player Agent acts as intermediaries when trades are undertaken, monitors the managers and coaches in the handling of the players, and coordinates any replacements to rosters throughout the season. Little wonder, then, that Little League concludes, "The rule of the Player Agent is second only to the Presidency of the local league."

Third, we will now ask each family to donate time to the league. This is, after all, YOUR league—not a league that’s privately contracted out, not a government program. To make it work, we need YOU! The volunteer selection sheet (part of the registration Handout on this site) shows that there are plenty of things for you to choose, and there’s an added bonus: For every parent who volunteers his or her time in the manner requested, we will reduce registration fee $25 per family!!

Speaking of registration fees, we have had to increase them this year. We never want to do that, but the cost of equipment, uniforms, and insurance continues to increase, so we have no choice. (We also had to increase our sponsor fees.) The new registration fee schedule, ranging from $105 to 125 per child for the entire season, is still one of the best bargains around.

Finally, we now offer online registration as a convenient option to sign up. You can, of course, still register by mail (note that we now have a PO Box!) until November 28, or in person at our Registration Days on November 20 and 21 at Mishcon Field between 10 and 4.

Whether you register online, by mail, or in person, PLEASE REGISTER EARLY!! As you know, we grew a lot last year. In fact, we may have grown a little too much—some teams were too big, and it was really difficult to find enough field times for all of our teams to have practices. While our overriding goal continues to be to serve as many of our youth as humanly and physically possible, we are nevertheless going to make sure this year that we do not overextend ourselves. In short, the sooner you sign up, the better chance you have of being placed on a team, and not on a waiting list.

Of course, we still need to have a copy of your child’s birth certificate, which unfortunately we can’t accomplish with the online registration (yet, anyway!) You have several options:

·         If you gave us a copy of your child’s birth certificate last year, you’re in good shape.

·         If this is your first year, or we didn’t get a copy for any reason last year (even if we saw the original), you will need to get us a copy. You can:

o        Snail mail it to us.

o        Bring it to Registration Days at Mishcon Field November 20 and 21 between 10 and 4. We will have a special express line set up to receive your certificate copies.

o        Scan it and email it to us.

Finally, our season starts and ends a little earlier than last year to keep pace with the school year. Check out the Calendar for all the important dates coming up for the 2005 season (check back frequently for updates). We can’t wait to get started!!

Jim Allen
President