Oakville Little League 2016 Season Update

Transcription

1 Oakville Little League 2016 Season Update Welcome back for another great season of Oakville Little League baseball! While it may seem like the start of the 2016 season is still months away, we are actually less than 2 weeks away from our next scheduled player evaluation event, 3 weeks away from Major League baseball s pitchers and catchers reporting and 4 weeks away from the first Spring Training games. So as we did last year we wanted to provide you with an update on several key dates and changes for the 2016 season. Please read this in its entirety and we recommend you retain a copy of it for reference throughout the season. In addition to new information on the 2016 Season there is some information that has been previously ed to you. 1. Little League Age Change (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY) Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot of discussion about the Little League Baseball Age Determination Date. This is an important topic to everyone involved in Little League, and Little League has sought input from volunteers, parents, and coaches that has helped guide District Administrators and the Little League International Board of Directors to ultimately change the Age Determination Date for all divisions of Little League Baseball and the Little League Challenger Division to August 31. So what impact will this have on your children playing Oakville Little League in 2016; For players born on or after September 1, 2005: The August 31 age determination date will be effective immediately, starting with the 2016 season. For players born between May 1, 2005 and August 31, 2005: The new age determination date of August 31 will be effective starting with the 2019 Little League Baseball Season. For the 2016, 2017, 2018 season, these players will use the April 30 age determination date. For players born on or before April 30, 2005: The new age determination date of August 31 will be effective starting with the 2018 Little League Baseball Season. For the 2016 and 2017 seasons, these players will use the April 30 age determination date. Please consult the table below to confirm the age determination date for your children. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC AGE

2 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC AGE Equipment Required Oakville Little League supplies all players with a uniform (jersey, pants, socks, and cap). The League also provides bats, balls and catcher s equipment. All Players are required to supply their own gloves and players from T-ball (age 5) to Big League (age 20) are also required to have their own batting helmet. Batting helmets can be purchased at any major sporting goods store including National Sport and Corbett s Source for Sports, both of whom have a wide selection of helmets to choose from. Baseball cleats are optional but highly recommended. 3. Player Evaluations Player evaluations for all ages will be conducted this year at the Oakville Soccer Club s Fieldhouse at 1520 Pine Glen Road (Third Line and Dundas). The table below lists the dates and times for evaluations later this month and in March and April. The League will be sending s to all players shortly confirming their evaluation date and time. Please do your best to attend the evaluation session you are invited to as they are very important in assisting the League in setting up and balancing the House League teams and divisions. Monday, February 15, :00 PM 8:00 PM Saturday, March 26, :00 PM 4:00 PM *Sunday, April 17, :15 PM 4:15 PM *Sunday, April 24, :15 PM 4:15 PM * The April dates are currently tentative and will either be used as dates to evaluate late registrants or for preseason player clinics. 4. Oakville Little League Partners with Dynamic Health and Performance In preparation for the 2016 Season Oakville Little League has partnered with Dynamic Health and Performance to develop a program that will assess and determine the specific fitness needs, general athleticism and ability of players to perform baseball specific movements. After a baseline is established, Dynamic Health and Performance will develop programming to teach the fundamentals of proper exercise technique. As the players progress, the program will build from the fundamentals and incorporate some more advanced techniques that are age appropriate. Each session will include performance based training and injury preventing techniques. Emphasis will be placed on proper shoulder mechanics and strength as well as training to use the body to generate power needed for throwing, running, and batting.

3 The program will run every Monday and Wednesday night for 6-weeks starting on March 21, 2016 and concluding on April 27, The sessions for players ages 9-12 will run from 7:15 8:15 PM and for players ages 13 and up will run from 8:15 9:15 PM. The cost for the six week program will be $ per player. Please call or Dynamic Health & Performance to register at or (905) Please indicate it is for the Little League Spring Fitness Program. This is a perfect way of getting all players ready for the season! 5. Coaches Meetings The 2016 Coaches meetings will be held on the following dates and times; Minor, Major, Junior and Senior coaches on Wednesday, April 13 from 7:00 9:00 PM at the Holiday Inn, 2525 Wyecroft Road (Wyecroft & Bronte) T-ball coaches on Thursday, April 14 from 7:00 9:00 PM also at the Holiday Inn, 2525 Wyecroft Road Blastball coaches on Thursday, April 21 from 7:00 9:00 PM at the Oakville Little League Fieldhouse on Cornwall Road Coaches wanted! The League is always looking for people who enjoy working with kids and teaching them the game of baseball, and imparting the life skills of the game to our players. Perhaps you have been out of the game for a while and want to get back into it, or you are someone who has just finished playing baseball and you want to give back to baseball. Let us know if you want to be a part of Oakville Little League as a Coach, please send an to administration@ollb.org or call Players Contacted by Coach Players will be contacted by their coaches starting the week of April 18 by phone and/or . If your child has not heard from their coach by Monday, April 25, please contact OLL (administration@ollb.org). 7. First Practices The first practices for all divisions will start on the weekend of April 29 - May 1. You will be informed by your coach as to the date, time and location of you first practice when they contact you in April. 8. Opening Games/Start of the Season The 2016 Oakville Little League Season will start the weekend of May 6-8 with games being played in the Minor, Major, Intermediate, Junior and Senior divisions highlighted by the Annual Mother s Day Classic on Sunday, May 8 at Cornwall featuring teams from the Major division. The T-ball season will begin the week of May 9, while the Blastball division will start on May Playoffs & Season Ending Galas Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from players, coaches and parents, once again in the 2016 season playoffs for the Minor, Major, Intermediate and Junior divisions will be held in early September while Senior, T-ball and Blastball playoffs and galas will happen in August and July as per the dates listed below. Please note that the dates listed below are tentative and will be confirmed once final registration is closed in April:

4 Minor playoffs will start on Tuesday, September 6 with the Championship game on Sunday, September 11 at Cornwall. Major playoffs will start on Tuesday, September 6 with the Championship game on Tuesday, September 13 at Cornwall. Intermediate playoffs will start on Wednesday, August 24 with the Championship game on Monday, September 12 at Glen Abbey. Junior playoffs will start on Thursday, August 25 with the Championship game on Monday, September 12 at Glen Abbey. Senior playoffs will be held in August again this year starting on Friday, August 12 with the Championship game on Monday, August 22 at Glen Abbey. The Major T-ball playoffs and gala will be held the weekend of August 5 7. The Instructional/Minor T-ball and Blastball gala will be held the weekend of July Picture Day Picture Day will take place on Saturday, May 14 (Rain Date: Sunday, May 15) at Cornwall. 11. Blue Jays Day Sunday, June 12 vs. Baltimore Orioles The annual Oakville Little League Blue Jays Day will take place on Sunday, June 1:00 PM with the Blue Jays taking on the Baltimore Orioles. Tickets are $35. For information and order form, click on the link below: Oakville Little League Summer Camp (conducted by Pro-Teach Baseball) Oakville Little League will be running our annual Summer Baseball Camps the weeks of July 4-8 and July For information and registration form, please click on the link below: Whitecaps All-Star/Select Coaches for the 2016 Season Oakville Little League is pleased to announce the appointment of the following Whitecaps Managers for the 2016 baseball season; 7U T-ball Minor: TBD 8U T-ball Major: Mark Manocchio 9U Minor: Derek O Reilley 10U Minor: John Mooney 11U Major: Denis Boivin 12U Major: Rocky Iori 13U Intermediate: Nick Rigato 14U Junior: TBD 16U Senior: TBD The League would like to thank all of the candidates who put their names forward for these three positions. Once again this year the quality and character of the applicants was exemplary. As a League we are very fortunate to have such strong candidates who are willing to volunteer their time and effort.

5 These appointments continue the Leagues efforts to select Managers who will reinforce the principles of the Whitecaps program; instilling in their teams the attitudes of team work, positive experiences, and respect of coaches, umpires, peers and players. Their selection followed the process outlined in the Oakville Little League All- Star Selection Process document which is accessible on the website under Whitecaps Information, including the League s stated goal to adopt a Non-Parent All-Star/Select Manager policy for all age groups. If you have any questions regarding this please contact me at whitecaps@ollb.org. 14. Whitecaps All-Star/Select Information Session Oakville Little League will be holding a Whitecaps All-Star/Select information session on Sunday, February 21, 2016 from 1:30 4:30 PM at the Holiday Inn, 2525 Wyecroft Road (Wyecroft & Bronte). All parents and players interested in learning more about the Whitecaps program, its philosophy as well as player and parent commitments are encouraged to attend. The Whitecaps coaches will also be in attendance and will be available to answer any of your questions. 15. Whitecaps All-Star/Select Team Workouts Workouts for Oakville Little League s Whitecaps All-Star/Select teams will take place on the following dates weather permitting. Please note that times and locations for the workouts have not as yet been finalized. As soon as they are confirmed the League will send an to all players and parents. Intermediate, Junior and Senior divisions: Workouts will be held between Sunday, May 8 and Sunday, May 15 U6, U7, U8, U9, U10, U11 and U12 teams: Workouts will be held between Sunday, May 15 and Sunday, May 22 (Please note that these tryouts will continue into the May long weekend. Please keep this in mind as you make any plans) If your child makes a Whitecaps All-Star/Select team, Monday, May 23 will be the Uniform Fitting and Order day. Age determination for the Whitecaps teams will be based on the new age determination guidelines as set out in the first item in this . The age determination chart can also be viewed by clicking on the following link: Whitecaps All-Star/Select Under Age Player Eligibility This past Fall, the League announced a change in the practice of selecting under age players for Whitecaps teams. The announcement indicated that starting with the upcoming 2016 season, underage players would no longer be eligible for selection to play up. The intent of this change is to re-enforce the Whitecaps program s core objective of player development. Subsequent to announcing this change a number of families requested reconsideration or exceptions be given. Based on these requests the League s Board of Directors reviewed the decision in early January and upon the recommendation of the Director of the Whitecaps All-Star/Select Program agreed to delay the implementation of the announced change until the 2017 season. As a result the following rule will be in place for the 2016 season; Players younger than the base age for each division (base age is defined as: Majors = 12, Minors = 10) may be selected to play on the All-Star/Select team if they are truly deemed by the selection committee to be better than base age alternatives (within the top 3 of base age players). These players should be considered by the selection committee to be one of the best overall players in the selection pool and will be a primary player on the team. If these conditions cannot be met, then a base age player must be selected.

6 17. Whitecaps All-Star/Select Documentation We encourage all parents to read the information on All-Star Selection Process, Parent Communication, and Player Commitment to the Whitecaps Program contained in the link below. This document will outline what the philosophy of the Whitecaps Program is, and the commitment level required from families. Please read the document carefully. Everyone is encouraged to be familiar with the process before the tryouts start. Link to Whitecaps Selection Process: