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Dear Weston Little League Families,

We recently held our annual meeting where I provided an update on the status of the league.  We also held our elections where we welcomed six new board members.  You can find the presentation on our website here: Annual Meeting 2020

Here are some highlights from the meeting:

COVID 2020

Due to Covid, we were forced to cancel our Spring season.  Since we were in the middle of preparing for the Spring season, we had already committed to several expenses.  We had to offer refunds to all the registered families, which would have put our bank account in the red.  Fortunately, thanks to our community's generosity, a good number of our families donated at least a portion of their registration fees to the league, which allowed us to pay our outstanding bills and start to build up our account again.

When things began to open up in the summer, we offered a stripped down season for baseball and softball at no cost to our families.  We didn’t have uniforms, Pro D coaches, third party field maintenance, or our regular patched umpires.  We had coaches and parents lining the fields and youth umpires officiating the games.  We didn't use the dugouts and the fans were spread out along the fences instead of crowded on the bleachers.  We only lost about 30% of registrants from last spring, which was a nice surprise since we didn’t know how many families were ready to get back on the field.

It was different from other seasons, but hey, at least we got out on the fields and helped bring back a little bit of normalcy for a little while.  And we did it safely as we did not report any Covid cases during our seasons.

One of the great highlights from the summer was that for the first time ever in our league's history, our girls in softball competed in the district tournament.  Since we were just one of two towns to field a team, we went right to the best of 3 championship games.  Even though we ended up losing to Wilton, it was still a great experience and these girls can say they've done something that has never been done in Weston!  Thanks to Coach Ray Banks and Tim Lawler who have coached this team for several years.

FINANCIALS

2020 really could have been a dagger to WLL's heart, but again, thanks to you, we were able to stay afloat.  We also made adjustments throughout the year to help keep the league financially solvent and we're in a pretty good position heading into 2021.

Overall, our revenue dropped a whopping 44% from our previous fiscal year due mainly to the loss of registration money.  Correspondingly, our expenses dropped 41% as we got creative in how we operated the league.  This resulted in a 25% drop in our available cash on hand, but it's better than 100% drop.

2021 OUTLOOK

As of now, we're planning for a full 2021 schedule.  This includes winter workouts starting in January and a full spring regular season.  We've also got contingencies in place so in case there's another lockdown, we won't be caught off guard financially.

Assuming we do have a normal year, we have a ton of ideas that we are looking to implement next year to enhance our children's baseball and softball experience in town.  I'll be excited to share them with you as we get closer to the season.

ELECTIONS AND NEW BOARD MEMBERS

At the meeting, we said goodbye to a number of board members, some of whom started at the same time I did, so it was definitely a sad moment.  But we thank Dave Wallace, Tim Lawler, Jeremy Masters, Ray Banks, Howard Schragin, and Paul Wolt for their time on the board.

Fortunately, we are excited to welcome six new board members to replace them.  These new members were elected via our election process:  Seelan Pather, Kate Worrell, Darrel Grigerick, Chris Cotronei, Brandon Gutman, and Geoffrey Topalian.  Thank you all for stepping up and committing to helping our boys and girls have great experiences on the field!

Here is the current board and roles:

Roneil Icatar - President

Mark Carioto - VP Baseball/Player Development

Dennis Jung - VP Softball

Dedi Merced - Secretary/Player Development

Pat Murphy - Treasurer

Jake Makmale - Coaches Development

Erin Flink - Webmaster/Communications

Kevin Bailey - Scheduler

James Scribner - Equipment Manager

Seelan Pather - Player Agent

Kate Worrell - Softball

Darrel Grigerick - Fields Manager

Chris Cotronei - Scheduler

Brandon Gutman - League Development

Geoffrey Topalian - Safety and Rules

As we head into the end of the year, I'd like to again extend our gratitude to you, our Weston families.  It's only with your support that we're able to provide what I feel is the top program in our area.  Please stay safe throughout the holidays and we hope to see everyone back on the fields when the weather warms back up.

Best regards,

Roneil

Dear Weston Little League Families,

We recently held our annual meeting where I provided an update on the status of the league.  We also held our elections where we welcomed six new board members.  You can find the presentation on our website here: Annual Meeting 2020

Here are some highlights from the meeting:

COVID 2020

Due to Covid, we were forced to cancel our Spring season.  Since we were in the middle of preparing for the Spring season, we had already committed to several expenses.  We had to offer refunds to all the registered families, which would have put our bank account in the red.  Fortunately, thanks to our community's generosity, a good number of our families donated at least a portion of their registration fees to the league, which allowed us to pay our outstanding bills and start to build up our account again.

When things began to open up in the summer, we offered a stripped down season for baseball and softball at no cost to our families.  We didn’t have uniforms, Pro D coaches, third party field maintenance, or our regular patched umpires.  We had coaches and parents lining the fields and youth umpires officiating the games.  We didn't use the dugouts and the fans were spread out along the fences instead of crowded on the bleachers.  We only lost about 30% of registrants from last spring, which was a nice surprise since we didn’t know how many families were ready to get back on the field.

It was different from other seasons, but hey, at least we got out on the fields and helped bring back a little bit of normalcy for a little while.  And we did it safely as we did not report any Covid cases during our seasons.

One of the great highlights from the summer was that for the first time ever in our league's history, our girls in softball competed in the district tournament.  Since we were just one of two towns to field a team, we went right to the best of 3 championship games.  Even though we ended up losing to Wilton, it was still a great experience and these girls can say they've done something that has never been done in Weston!  Thanks to Coach Ray Banks and Tim Lawler who have coached this team for several years.

FINANCIALS

2020 really could have been a dagger to WLL's heart, but again, thanks to you, we were able to stay afloat.  We also made adjustments throughout the year to help keep the league financially solvent and we're in a pretty good position heading into 2021.

Overall, our revenue dropped a whopping 44% from our previous fiscal year due mainly to the loss of registration money.  Correspondingly, our expenses dropped 41% as we got creative in how we operated the league.  This resulted in a 25% drop in our available cash on hand, but it's better than 100% drop.

2021 OUTLOOK

As of now, we're planning for a full 2021 schedule.  This includes winter workouts starting in January and a full spring regular season.  We've also got contingencies in place so in case there's another lockdown, we won't be caught off guard financially.

Assuming we do have a normal year, we have a ton of ideas that we are looking to implement next year to enhance our children's baseball and softball experience in town.  I'll be excited to share them with you as we get closer to the season.

ELECTIONS AND NEW BOARD MEMBERS

At the meeting, we said goodbye to a number of board members, some of whom started at the same time I did, so it was definitely a sad moment.  But we thank Dave Wallace, Tim Lawler, Jeremy Masters, Ray Banks, Howard Schragin, and Paul Wolt for their time on the board.

Fortunately, we are excited to welcome six new board members to replace them.  These new members were elected via our election process:  Seelan Pather, Kate Worrell, Darrel Grigerick, Chris Cotronei, Brandon Gutman, and Geoffrey Topalian.  Thank you all for stepping up and committing to helping our boys and girls have great experiences on the field!

Here is the current board and roles:

Roneil Icatar - President

Mark Carioto - VP Baseball/Player Development

Dennis Jung - VP Softball

Dedi Merced - Secretary/Player Development

Pat Murphy - Treasurer

Jake Makmale - Coaches Development

Erin Flink - Webmaster/Communications

Kevin Bailey - Scheduler

James Scribner - Equipment Manager

Seelan Pather - Player Agent

Kate Worrell - Softball

Darrel Grigerick - Fields Manager

Chris Cotronei - Scheduler

Brandon Gutman - League Development

Geoffrey Topalian - Safety and Rules

As we head into the end of the year, I'd like to again extend our gratitude to you, our Weston families.  It's only with your support that we're able to provide what I feel is the top program in our area.  Please stay safe throughout the holidays and we hope to see everyone back on the fields when the weather warms back up.

Best regards,

Roneil

Please take a moment to read the following note from League Athletics, our website host:

Recently, major carriers like Verizon have begun throttling text message reminders to their customers, delaying or deleting texts sent from LeagueAthletics.com. Verizon in particular has asked us to drastically reduce the number of texts we send going forward. In addition, we've received complaints from parents, coaches and administrators about the volume of text messages being sent to them for events in their websites.

To increase sending efficiency for urgent and serious messaging, we will discontinue sending text reminders for Practices only, and change notifications for Practices sent via text message will only be sent if the change is made within 48 hours of the event’s start time. Below is a table that outlines the changes.

Practice Communications

Game Communications (No changes)

*Reminders are messages that are automatically triggered by the system and sent without any user actions.  Notifications are messages sent when an event is added or changed.

PARKING AT BISCEGLIE​

With pre-season practice underway and the season officially opening this weekend, we'd like to remind you of the parking and drop-off procedures at Bisceglie. 

There is no drop-off, pick-up or parking of cars anywhere along the upper roadway of Bisceglie Park at any time (games or practices).  

The entrance in and out of the park needs to remain clear of stopped or parked cars at all times.  It’s a safety issue for the players crossing the road and we need to keep cars moving in the upper roadway. 

Player drop-off and pick-up should take place in the lower parking area; please do not stop along the roadway, by the handicap spaces or the portables to let players in/out of your car.

All cars must be parked in the parking lot.  There are several handicap parking spaces available for those cars with a valid/current handicap parking permit - no exceptions!

We appreciate your support in adhering to these rules for the safety of all our players, pedestrians and motorists.

Thank you,
Weston Little League Board of Directors

Dear Parents of Weston Little League Players,
 
I'd like to alert you to potential products that may aid in the safety of our children.  These products are not mandated by Little League National of Williamsport, so Weston Little League is not mandating them, but our  board thinks that you should at least know about them so you can make your own informed decision whether or not to purchase them for your children.
 
First, there are batting helmets that come with a facemask.   When worn properly, these facemasks prevent the batter from taking a hit to the eyes, nose or mouth from a batted or thrown baseball.  
 
The second is a simple mouth guard.  Again not mandated by Williamsport, but some leagues are suggesting them.
 
The last is a "heart guard".  These are often T shirts that have a protective plastic shield which prevents a child from taking a direct hit to the heart from a batted or thrown ball.
 
All of these items may be purchased online or at local stores. Please consider this email in the spirit that it was sent.  All sports have the potential for injury of one type or other.  The safety of your children is our number one priority,  the play is secondary.  Your little league board has developed many practices over the years that try to ensure safety.  You may elect for your child to use one or more of the items listed above to prevent an injury.  That said, it's going to be a wonderful season.  
 
Thank you, Weston Little League

For those of you that need some help navigating our website, here is a step-by-step guide to accessing your team information and receiving email and/or text event reminders:
 
HOW CAN I GET EMAIL AND TEXT EVENT REMINDERS?
 

• From the main page of our website, www.westonll.com, scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on the left-hand menu item Edit My Account,
• Log in using your email address and password,
• When you log in, your family profile will appear.  You will see all family members and the programs each member has been registered in.
• Click on a Family Member name,
• Scroll down until you see Remind,

• Check the box for Games and Practices,
• If you want text messages make sure your cell phone number is listed and you select the carrier,
• Make sure the check box No Email box is NOT checked.  (If this box is checked your email address will not be included in ANY email sent from this site which includes reminders, game change notifications and other important messages),
• Be sure to click the Submit button when you are done,
• You will now get an email and/or text messages to remind you of games and practices for your team.

 
HOW DO I ACCESS MY TEAM ROSTER AND SCHEDULE ONLINE?:
 
To view your team page:
·         At the top of the homepage of the WLL website, www.westonll.com, click on the menu Teams,
·         Select the Season (Fall 2014),
·         Select your League (T-Ball, A, AA, AAA, American or National),
·         Select then select your Team,

You are now on your TEAM page!

To view your team roster:
·         Select the tab ROSTER to see coach and players
To view your team schedule:
·         Select SCHEDULE to see your team schedule.

Hope this help!