Dear Shoreline Little League Families and Players,
Let me begin by giving you a lay of the land of where we are and the decisions that have been made by your Board of Directors. Since the last email, Little League International has canceled the Regional and World Series All Stars tournaments. They have also put forth recommendations about how to restart leagues when the time comes. The State of Washington has adopted a “Safe Start” four phase approach on how to slowly move out of the pause and into the new normality of life. The phases are separated by a minimum of 3 weeks and we have just begun phase 1. Recreational sports is listed under phase 3, when groups of 50 can be together. This phase cannot start until mid June at the earliest. To complicate this, Shoreline Parks has told us that we cannot have groups of larger then 5 at the fields until July 1st.
Because of the “Safe Start” plan and the lack of fields, the Shoreline Little League Board of Directors has determined that the Spring season should be cancelled. Trying to have a Spring season with the time lines and all of the unknowns would leave a situation where many changes would have to be made and the final product would not be close to what you expected when you signed your child up to play.
With the Spring season cancelled, the Board has decided to offer everyone a refund of their registration fee with a few options to choose from. I have included a link to a survey in which you may choose how to get your refund. The choices are:
- A credit for a future season
- A refund back to the same payment method used to pay for the registration.
- A donation to the league
You will have until May 31st to fill out the survey. If you do not complete the survey by May 31st your Shoreline Little League website account will be credited allowing you to use those funds for a future season.
For many of us, a year without baseball or softball is unbearable. Because of this the Board is going to change it’s focus to a Summer ball season this year. The last question of the survey is whether or not you would be interested in a program that begins in July and runs through August. The intent of the program would be to keep kids interested in baseball and softball, and getting them out to have some fun. As these are uncertain times, we don’t have a full idea of how the program will work, but we are considering different ideas. The Summer program will also be dependent upon any decisions made by the State, County and City regarding recreational sports and field availability. The Board will be working on the potential plans over this next month. Gauging the potential interest in a Summer season will be helpful in our planning.
As a last note, I am sorry to have to tell you this disappointing news. I was so looking forward to having a great year. Especially this weekend when we were to have our Jamboree, and it looks like the weather would have been an 80 degree day. Shoreline Little League will be back next Spring and stronger for it.
Three items for you to complete:
- Fill out the survey for how you would like a refund:
- Return any unsold Brown Bear car wash tickets you may have, or money you received for selling tickets, to your coach. Your coach will be reaching out to determine the best way to return those tickets and/or money.
- Like our Facebook page to stay up to date on tips from PCA, Little League International and news from SLL.
Thank you for your support. Stay healthy and stay safe.
John lynch
President
Shoreline Little League
Resources:
King County Public Health COVID Blog https://publichealthinsider.com/
Healthy-Children American Academy of Pediatrics https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/chest-lungs/Pages/2019-Novel-Coronavirus.aspx
WA Department of Health COVID Information https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus
KC Department of Health COVID Information https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/disease-control/novel-coronavirus.aspx