COVID-19 IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Glen Allen families,
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, and in our own State and community, we hope this email finds all of you safe and healthy, and want to offer our thoughts and prayers to anyone that has been seriously impacted by these events. As we continue to navigate this new landscape, we are all looking forward to getting back to what we all love. For most of us on this email distribution, that involves baseball and/or softball in some for or fashion! As a follow up to our email last week, we wanted to offer an update on the recent Babe Ruth League meetings over the weekend, and provide an update on our plans for the league.
Over the weekend, Babe Ruth League officials met at both the state and national levels. Ultimately, the league continues to take a wait and see approach, offering guidance to the local leagues to align their plans with recommendation of local and state agencies. With this in mind, we wanted to offer you an update on the status for league play at Glen Allen. As we have stated, it remains our priority to ensure our kids get a chance to get out on the fields as soon as possible and return to some level of normalcy as soon as we are able. At the moment, Gov. Northam has suspended all groupings of people of 10 or more until at least June 10, and as a result, local athletic complexes such as RF&P are closed and unavailable until after that date. Therefore, as a result, we will be moving our spring season into the summer months, in anticipation that there will be no further changes from Babe Ruth League with respect to the regular season, and that local, state and federal guidelines will allow us to get back on the field. Baseball and softball leadership teams are working closely with the county on field schedules and other neighboring associations to finalize game and practice schedules.
We realize this is a change from our normal spring dates and you may have some questions. We have tried to anticipate some of those questions below:
Question: What are the dates of the revised summer season?
Answer: Specific team schedules are being finalized but anticipation is to begin team activities June 11 and we will work to provide ample opportunities for practice and instruction, while completing a schedule of at least 10 regular season games per team, and a post season tournament for each division. Cross-organization games against some of our friends in neighboring associations may also be included in the game schedule!
Question: Do we need to re-register?
Answer: No. We are merely restarting a suspended season and our plan is for all team/division assignments to remain unchanged from when we suspended activities in mid-March.
Question: My player will miss time during the revised season due to planned vacations/trips. Is that OK?
Answer: Yes, we understand folks schedules may be different during the summer. As always, we ask that you communicate any dates when your player will be absent with your manager.
Question: Will I need anything different or additional regarding equipment of uniforms?
Answer: No, you can use all the same equipment you planned to use in the spring. Most players have already received their hats and jerseys and purchased pants, socks and belts in most cases. These are all still good for the summer season.
Question: Will our Night at the Diamond fund raiser be moved to the summer as well?
Answer: While we know that the Squirrels will not be playing on our original May 15 date, we do not know any other specifics at the moment. Minor League baseball (as well as MLB) have yet to issue revised schedules for their seasons, however we are working with the Squirrels to determine the best scenario. We would love to choose a different night for all of our GA community to go to the game, but in the event we can’t make that work, we are confident that any tickets purchased thus far will be honored for an alternate date of your convenience. As more information becomes available on this, we’ll communicate through team parents.
Questions: Will the summer season interfere with the All-Star season that typically occurs in the summer?
Answer: At the moment, Babe Ruth has not offered any guidance on the summer All-Star schedule. We thought that maybe we’d get some guidance coming out of Sunday’s meetings, but they have elected to continue to monitor the environment, as opposed to making any premature decisions. We will communicate any plans GAYAA has with respect to All-Stars, including the several tournaments we are scheduled to host, once we get more clarity from Babe Ruth League.
Question: The new schedule doesn’t work for our family. What can I do?
Answer: We certainly hope you will stick with us and participate in the league, as we think we will be able to have a lot of fun this summer. However, we understand if you need to withdraw. Please note that we are a non-profit organization and rely completely on the registrations, concessions, sponsors and volunteers to operate, and the expense for baseball and softball season is heavily front –end loaded with uniforms, hats, field maintenance, insurance, etc. that we have already paid for. With that said, we will be amending our refund policy to include three options in the event you are unable to participate in our summer season:
As we work through more of the specifics or as we get any additional information, we will keep you updated. Thank you for your continued patience as we work to ensure our kids have a chance to get out on the fields and play this season. As always, please let us know of any questions.
Sean P. Connor
President
Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association
Mark Pierce
Director of Baseball
Dana Tharp
Director of Softball
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, and in our own State and community, we hope this email finds all of you safe and healthy, and want to offer our thoughts and prayers to anyone that has been seriously impacted by these events. As we continue to navigate this new landscape, we are all looking forward to getting back to what we all love. For most of us on this email distribution, that involves baseball and/or softball in some for or fashion! As a follow up to our email last week, we wanted to offer an update on the recent Babe Ruth League meetings over the weekend, and provide an update on our plans for the league.
Over the weekend, Babe Ruth League officials met at both the state and national levels. Ultimately, the league continues to take a wait and see approach, offering guidance to the local leagues to align their plans with recommendation of local and state agencies. With this in mind, we wanted to offer you an update on the status for league play at Glen Allen. As we have stated, it remains our priority to ensure our kids get a chance to get out on the fields as soon as possible and return to some level of normalcy as soon as we are able. At the moment, Gov. Northam has suspended all groupings of people of 10 or more until at least June 10, and as a result, local athletic complexes such as RF&P are closed and unavailable until after that date. Therefore, as a result, we will be moving our spring season into the summer months, in anticipation that there will be no further changes from Babe Ruth League with respect to the regular season, and that local, state and federal guidelines will allow us to get back on the field. Baseball and softball leadership teams are working closely with the county on field schedules and other neighboring associations to finalize game and practice schedules.
We realize this is a change from our normal spring dates and you may have some questions. We have tried to anticipate some of those questions below:
Question: What are the dates of the revised summer season?
Answer: Specific team schedules are being finalized but anticipation is to begin team activities June 11 and we will work to provide ample opportunities for practice and instruction, while completing a schedule of at least 10 regular season games per team, and a post season tournament for each division. Cross-organization games against some of our friends in neighboring associations may also be included in the game schedule!
Question: Do we need to re-register?
Answer: No. We are merely restarting a suspended season and our plan is for all team/division assignments to remain unchanged from when we suspended activities in mid-March.
Question: My player will miss time during the revised season due to planned vacations/trips. Is that OK?
Answer: Yes, we understand folks schedules may be different during the summer. As always, we ask that you communicate any dates when your player will be absent with your manager.
Question: Will I need anything different or additional regarding equipment of uniforms?
Answer: No, you can use all the same equipment you planned to use in the spring. Most players have already received their hats and jerseys and purchased pants, socks and belts in most cases. These are all still good for the summer season.
Question: Will our Night at the Diamond fund raiser be moved to the summer as well?
Answer: While we know that the Squirrels will not be playing on our original May 15 date, we do not know any other specifics at the moment. Minor League baseball (as well as MLB) have yet to issue revised schedules for their seasons, however we are working with the Squirrels to determine the best scenario. We would love to choose a different night for all of our GA community to go to the game, but in the event we can’t make that work, we are confident that any tickets purchased thus far will be honored for an alternate date of your convenience. As more information becomes available on this, we’ll communicate through team parents.
Questions: Will the summer season interfere with the All-Star season that typically occurs in the summer?
Answer: At the moment, Babe Ruth has not offered any guidance on the summer All-Star schedule. We thought that maybe we’d get some guidance coming out of Sunday’s meetings, but they have elected to continue to monitor the environment, as opposed to making any premature decisions. We will communicate any plans GAYAA has with respect to All-Stars, including the several tournaments we are scheduled to host, once we get more clarity from Babe Ruth League.
Question: The new schedule doesn’t work for our family. What can I do?
Answer: We certainly hope you will stick with us and participate in the league, as we think we will be able to have a lot of fun this summer. However, we understand if you need to withdraw. Please note that we are a non-profit organization and rely completely on the registrations, concessions, sponsors and volunteers to operate, and the expense for baseball and softball season is heavily front –end loaded with uniforms, hats, field maintenance, insurance, etc. that we have already paid for. With that said, we will be amending our refund policy to include three options in the event you are unable to participate in our summer season:
- You will be able to offer your registration fee as a donation to the Association. As a non-profit organization, we can offer you a receipt that can be used as a deduction when you file taxes.
- We can roll your registration fees over by crediting your account, which can then be applied to a future season such as fall ball, basketball in the winter, or next spring.
- We can issue you a refund minus expenses already paid for this season.
As we work through more of the specifics or as we get any additional information, we will keep you updated. Thank you for your continued patience as we work to ensure our kids have a chance to get out on the fields and play this season. As always, please let us know of any questions.
Sean P. Connor
President
Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association
Mark Pierce
Director of Baseball
Dana Tharp
Director of Softball