I would like to Introduce myself. My name is Aaron Stanford and I have been on the Board of Directors of NKLL as the Softball Vice President and Coaching Coordinator for the last seven years. I was voted on as the new President for the remainder of the 2022 Little League Baseball, Softball and Challenger Division season as of Wednesday night (the 23rd of March). Our board had a major restructuring Wednesday night lasting the better part of three hours. Our new board met again Thursday evening for another three hours.
I would like to personally apologize for the late communication thus far regarding Opening Ceremonies, uniforms, lower level team formations and schedules. I would like to address the topic of AAA and Major Baseball games scheduled for this Sunday. In all transparency, we were trying to accommodate for the NK Flag Football Championships happening on Saturday and Sunday as we have quite a few of our athletes playing both sports. I would like to ease all minds that Majors and below (both Softball and Baseball) will never be scheduled a Sunday game after this weekend unless we need to make up rainouts, and those games will be scheduled in the afternoon.
Opening Ceremonies for the AAA, Majors and Senior divisions of both Baseball and Softball are this Saturday, March 26th at 9am. We please ask all players, coaches and managers to arrive no later than 830am. The players, coaches and managers of both baseball and softball divisions will please gather on B field inside the fences. Parents and spectators - please find a spot on the bleachers at field A, line up along the fences, and get some snacks at concessions. The Opening Ceremony will be held on Field A so be sure to get a good spot. Our concession stand will be open at 8am so come get some donuts, coffee, or candy that early if you'd like
Regarding uniforms: I am picking up the uniforms tomorrow from the print shop, the baseball hats from another vendor are also slated to be done tomorrow. Myself (with help from the board) will be reaching out to managers tomorrow for uniform pickups. We have had teams choose to pick up Saturday morning before Opening Ceremonies in the past; however, I will make myself available tomorrow evening for uniform pickup in the clubhouse from 7:00-9:00pm. It would be ideal for one person to pick up all uniforms for the team so please coordinate with your manager on this.
Lower Level AA, A and T-ball teams will be formed this coming week and you will be hearing from your coaches likely the first week of April. The lower level Opening Ceremonies, along with the Intermediate Baseball Opening Ceremonies, will be Saturday, April 16th. If you have athletes enrolled in either Softball or Baseball for the Tball, AA or A divisions, you have not missed anything
The Challengers Division is coming a long very nicely, and we may have some guest leagues joining us this season. Stay tuned for more info on Challengers!
Regular Season schedules will be out very soon - we have upper division games scheduled starting Saturday going through next Thursday and then we take a break the Friday, April 1st - Monday April 11th, reconvening after NKSD's spring break. We will work with the coaches directly on the scheduling.
I look forward to a fantastic season of Baseball and Softball, and I cannot wait to see you all in the stands for the two opening ceremonies. As it's my first 24 hours in this position, and just getting email access, I will respond as quickly as possible and apologize if any emails were left unanswered while our email was down. Our Facebook and webpage will be updated tomorrow and a newsletter going out to everyone.
I appreciate all of you, your dedication, and continued support of NKLL. Your kids are my first priority and I look forward to seeing all their smiling faces on the fields.
Sincerely,
Aaron Stanford
President- NKLL