MLL Families,

As many of you may know, Little League International has provided guidance to local little leagues that if our league can adhere to guidelines set forth by Virginia in terms of public gatherings and youth sports, we are free to resume baseball activities.  While that may sound exciting, we are still waiting for Virginia to provide specific guidance that may impact play resumption.  Therefore, the MLL Board has made the following decisions about the Spring 2020 season.

Single A, Transition (Baseball and Softball), Rookie, and Tee-Ball

It is with heavy hearts, but given safety and field access concerns, that we are canceling the Spring 2020 season for Single A, Transition (Baseball and Softball), Rookie, and Tee-Ball.  We had nearly 500 players sign up to play at these levels, and over 50 dedicated managers and coaches who were anxious to get on the field.  We hope you received and watched the weekly developmental videos, and have been able to catch and throw with your kids outside on those sunny days.  Depending on Virginia’s guidance and available field space, we are hoping to have some level-specific clinics, as well as a couple of sandlot games, which will be free of charge to MLL families this summer.  In addition, we’ll start registration for Fall Ball soon, so we hope to see everyone back this Fall.

For Spring 2020 registration fees, families have the following options:

1. MLL will automatically credit each player’s MLL account with the amount of fees paid.  That credit can be applied to Fall 2020 and/or Spring 2021.  After Spring 2021, the credit will expire.

2. For those families that would like a refund via check, please e-mail Wayne Loving at [email protected] and request the refund form.  That form must be filled out and returned to Wayne.  Refunds will be assessed $40 admin fee to cover a portion of ongoing MLL expenses, and processed as quickly as possible. 

3. Families can also choose to donate their registration fees as a tax-deductible gift towards MLL operating expenses.  Please contact Bryan Orme at [email protected] if you’d like to make a donation.

 

Again, we appreciate your interest and commitment to MLL, as well as your patience as we tried to find the best way to offer your kids an opportunity to play baseball this spring.  While we won’t be able to have the season we planned, we hope to see you and your kids at MLL soon at a clinic or sandlot game and be back with us in the Fall.

 AA, AAA, Majors and Seniors (Baseball and Softball)

For these levels, we would like to play a modified Summer Season.  Again, depending on Virginia restrictions, the season would be from early June to the end of July, with hopefully several games a week for each team.  With guidance from Little League International, we are developing MLL safety and game protocols, that will be reviewed along with Virginia public gathering restrictions.  Some of these measures may include: (1) steps to limit 50 people per field for each game; (2) a limit of two fields operating at any time; (3) no snack bar; (4) managers wearing masks; and (5) expansion of dugouts to include pitching warm-up space.  We will publish these measures in the near future.

The first step in this process is determining who would like to play.  We plan to ask each manager to let us know their availability and interest, as well as the availability and interest of the players on their respective teams.  Once we have this information, we will be able to provide more details on what our summer season will look like. 

For those families that choose not to participate in the Summer season, they will have the same credit applied as described above, but if they’d rather donate the registration dues or request a refund, they can do so as well.  Obviously, if Virginia restrictions do not permit any summer season to occur, we will discontinue these plans and focus on Fall Ball. 

In sum, it is our goal to provide a safe baseball or softball experience for those AA, AAA, Majors and Seniors boys and girls that would like to play this summer.  We recognize there are many unknowns at this point and different points of view, but we will do our best to provide an experience that follows available medical and Little League International guidance.    

And finally, as a reminder, ALL team activities remain SUSPENDED until further guidance is provided by McLean Little League. All fields remain closed at this time. McLean Little League leadership is working with local, county, and state officials and we will make everyone aware of when team gatherings, of any number of participants, may begin.   

Please feel free to contact any member of the MLL Board with questions.

 

Thanks,

Matt Tallent

President