Dear Five Town Little League Community:

After much deliberation, the Five Town Little League Board of Directors has voted to cancel the Spring 2020 Little League season.  The Board reviewed the guidance and checklists published by the public health community and determined that our league cannot provide enjoyable baseball and softball programs while also ensuring the health and safety of our volunteers, our players, and our community as a whole.

We are holding open the option of some kind of Little League events in late summer or fall.  Whatever form those might take, we are closing the book on the traditional spring Little League season in light of the current conditions.

Parents of 12-year-old veterans of our softball and baseball programs should watch for a separate message about plans to honor their children this summer.

Parents (or guardians) who registered their children for any of our 2020 programs may request a refund of their fees (less the 3% credit card processing fee and the $1 per registrant fee charged by SportsOffice) by emailing the Board at mainefivetownlittleleague <at> gmail.com.    Please include your mailing address in your email request. 

If registrants wish to donate some portion of their registration fees to the league, please email us at the same address so that we can credit that amount and provide you with a donation receipt for your tax records.  Your donation will allow us to cover fixed costs, like our league liability insurance premium for 2020, which we are required to carry even if we don't have a season.  Would you like to donate some portion of the registration fee you paid?  Either way, please let us know by July 1, 2020 to help us close out our fiscal year.

We did not easily reach this decision.  The Board considered all possible ways to construct baseball and softball training options that would be both fun and responsible to our community health.  Ultimately, we determined that we could not serve both interests under the current conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Five Town Little League will not sponsor any baseball or softball activities, we encourage you to responsibly use our public facilities at Marge Jones Park in Rockland, True Park in Hope, and the Lincolnville Town Sports Complex.  The State of Maine encourages families to follow the “Project Play: Return to Play” guidelines published by the Aspen Institute (viewable at: https://www.aspenprojectplay.org/return-to-play).  Consider playing baseball and softball among members of shared households using owned and sanitized equipment.  Play catch.  Take batting practice.  Play “pickle” and “pepper.”  Use our community facilities however you can to responsibly experience the fun of softball and baseball.

Thank you for your patience and support.  Let’s do our part in 2020 so that we can play ball in 2021.

RESOURCES:

Maine COVID-19 Prevention Checklist (Community Sports)  

Aspen Institute: Project Play “Return to Play”

US CDC Considerations for Community Sports: 

Last week, we announced our plan to open limited baseball, softball, and tee ball activities at some point after June 1 – the date the Governor believes some of the COVID-19 public health restrictions may be eased.  Here’s a quick update on our plans for Little League in 2020. 

We have requested approval from the State and asked for specific instructions as to how we can safely provide Little League programs for children in the Five Towns community.  The State has told us that it will soon publish a “checklist” that will spell-out everything community sports programs must do in order to receive permission to open-up after June 1.  We are hopeful that the State will soon authorize us to start baseball, softball, and tee ball activities and provide a clear list on requirements for our volunteers, children, and parents to follow.

We jumped the gun a bit in announcing specific dates.  But please know that we’re still using that “after June 1” as our movable target.  We will set firmer dates once we get the go-ahead from the State.  Please note that we will not do anything without express approval and endorsement from our state public health officials.

In the meantime, please get out and enjoy this fine spring weather.  Throw the ball around and get excited for what’s next.

Thank you for your patience and support. 

• Rick Thackeray
• Five Town Little League President

The Five Town Little League Board of Directors voted tonight to suspend all official, in-person pre-season baseball and softball events through Sunday, April 26, 2020 to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus within our communities.  The Board reached this difficult decision after reviewing the decisions made by both MSAD #28 (Camden and Rockport) and School Union #69 (Appleton, Hope, and Lincolnville) to close their schools until after April school vacation week.  Little League International has recommended that all local leagues immediately suspend all league activities until a date no earlier than April 6, but to “follow the guidance of their local authorities, evaluating school district closures, and local health department recommendations before resuming season play.”

The Board is tentatively re-scheduling Majors Baseball and Softball Tryouts for Saturday, May 2, 2020.  We hope to run pre-season clinics for all levels – Minors and Majors – of Baseball and Softball during the week of April 27 to May 1.  The weather will dictate whether these clinics take place indoors or out on the fields at Marge Jones Park, True Park, and Lincolnville Town fields. Thereafter, we plan to hold our Opening Day on Saturday, May 9, 2020, and proceed with our regular season with as little disruption as is possible. 

We also plan for the Tee Ball season to proceed as originally scheduled with our Opening Tee Ball Night taking place on Tuesday, May 5, 2020.

These plans may change as information about the severity of the outbreak and responsible community response becomes clearer, but this is our plan as of today.

For more information about Little League International’s recommendations to local league efforts to respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, please visit Little League’s FAQ page here:  https://www.littleleague.org/player-safety/coronavirus-update/

For more information about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for reducing introduction and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus throughout the country, please visit the US CDC’s page here:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our Five Town Little League community as we do our part to reduce the spread of the virus throughout our country, one community at a time.

Five Town Little League is in the process organizing a CHALLENGER division for children with physical and intellectual disabilities. We are excited about this opportunity and we want hear back from parents that are interested in signing their children up!

This program will not work without parents and friends willing to step forward and volunteer with coaching and team organization. Please contact program coordinator Dana Jackson at dana.jackson@charter.com or 207.458.2341 or Moriah Hersey Grant at moriahgrant@gmail.com  to learn more!

Please visit Little League International's Challenger page to learn more about this amazing program:

https://www.littleleague.org/play-little-league/challenger/

Follow Five Town Little League on Facebook for in-season updates and highlights.

https://www.facebook.com/fivetownlittleleague/

We have posted our Parental Code of Conduct in the right column and made it a part of our Consent/Waiver/Release during registration. Please read it carefully in order to understand our requirements.

Children from Appleton may be eligible to have their Little League registration fees covered through the generosity of the folks with the Jeff Landwehr Memorial Fund.   Priority for these scholarships is given for children who have a demonstrated need for assistance, but it is the goal of the Landwehr Fund to assist as many Appleton children as possible on a first come, first serve basis.  So, do not delay in registering.  Please contact Ken Butler at kpbutler@tidewater.net for more information or visit the Jeff Landwehr Memorial Fund's Facebook page