NORTHAMPTON BASEBALL
January 2010
As we move toward the 2010 baseball season I am looking forward with the confidence that it is our past that guides our future. I had the pleasure of serving with Chaly Fean, John Hillock, Bob Hart, Joe Ierubino and most recently Bill Gannon, all past Presidents and keepers of our most important single goal; to provide the best community based baseball program possible.
In order to achieve this goal it is vital that we never lose sight of the fact that our most important asset is “every child that plays in our program”. In 2009 we served 800 players in our spring program and another 500 in the fall. We are the largest baseball organization in the area and that is not a result of population (we are not nearly the most populous) but because of the quality of the program that we have built over the years.
We are an “in-house” program. This means that our intramural schedule is our main focus. This doesn’t mean that we don’t want to compete on a competitive basis against our outside peers, because we do. It simply means that by we don’t risk the integrity of our in-house program in order to win at the Travel level.
We have found by focusing on all of our children, we retain their loyalty and participation through their teen years. We now have two teams playing in the Penndel league where the roster ages are 19 and older.
We have also found that often those who excel at 8, 9 and 10 are not those that stand out when they reach high school. We did not win a Little League championship this year at the younger ages but our American Legion teams at 13 and 14/15 won State Championships! The rule of thumb, keep them ALL playing and enjoying the game when they are young and your talent pool is that much better when they reach their teen years.
As you are probably aware, we continue to update and improve our facilities and fields. In 2009 we installed sprinkler systems on both Welsh Infields, completed our installation of break-away bases on our Richboro Middle School Fields and we rebuilt several of our pitching mounds. In 2010 we hope to build scorekeeping booths at our Civic Center 2-60 and 2-90 fields, completely rebuild field 1 at Richboro Middle School (with a 50’mound and 70’ bases) and purchase portable PA systems so that we can announce games at any or all of our Civic Center fields.
Through the generosity of Jeff, Amy and Adam Wolf we are fortunate to be able to add a scoreboard at our 2-90 field. This scoreboard is being donated in the memory of Adams grandfather, Gene Penfil. Thank you very much to the Wolf family.
We held a General Membership Meeting at Richboro Middle School this past month and although we had good attendance, I would like to see you all at our next General Meeting. We will let you know both by email and on our website when our spring meeting is scheduled.
Other changes taking place this coming spring will be:
· Participation of our 12 year old travel teams on our new 50/70 field in Suburban Travel
· Continental and National League teams will rotate between Welsh and the Civic Center so that both leagues will have an equal number of games scheduled at both locations.
· Updating our website (www.crnorthampton.com) and updating our email contact lists.
· We are planning an organization wide fundraising event for June where every player in Northampton Baseball will have the opportunity to compete with his/her team. We will provide more information on this new event as we finalize the details.
We are making another big change this year regarding operation of our Civic Center Refreshment Shack.
· Beginning with the 2010 spring season, the parents of the children playing at the Civic Center will be asked to volunteer their time to staff the shack. One parent from each team playing on the 1-60 field will staff the shack for the early games and travel games. The same will be true for the parents of the kids playing the late game on the 1-90 field.
This should not result in any family having to donate their time more than twice during the season in-house season.
I am very proud of the support that our families have given to the Miracle League in their drive to meet their goal of building a multi-purpose athletic field complex with the Northampton Municipal Park. These fields will be available for special needs, physically handicapped and senior members of our community. We will be partnering with the Miracle League by selling tickets to the Reading Phillies-Trenton Thunder game on Sunday July 18, 2010. Each ticket that we at Northampton Baseball sell for this game will generate $4 back to Northampton Baseball. The Miracle League will be also selling tickets to the same game with the proceeds for their sales going to them. This should make for a big Northampton crowd at the Thunder on July 18th.
Many of the capital improvements we undertake are lessened in cost by volunteer generosity. If you have a trade or can make products or services available to us at a discount, we would appreciate your letting us know. We are also in great need for volunteers to staff the shack at the Civic Center. Please contact me if you would like to help in any of these areas.
In closing, members of your Board of Directors will be at fields through the season. They will be introducing themselves to you and seeking feedback from you, both positive and negative. Please feel free to share your comments and suggestions with them and me. Your comments to me will be kept in the strictest of confidence. When you email crnorthampton@comcast.net , that message comes to me and me alone.
We are excited about the future of Northampton Baseball and with your help we will make sure that 2010 is our most successful year.
Steve Bryer, President
Northampton Baseball