Commissioner

Commissioner's Notes

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POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE

DYBA is partnering with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) to bring a series of workshops to DYBA leaders, coaches and parents. PCA focuses on keeping the game fun and rewarding for our kids. It is mandatory that all individuals interested in coaching or managing in our Pinto or Mustang leagues or in our travel program attend one of the coaches workshops scheduled for January 23^rd and January 31^st. These workshops will not only lead to a more rewarding experience for our kids, but will also make coaching more enjoyable. Non-coaching parents will have the opportunity to attend a workshop specifically for parent sin early April. DYBA board and committee members will be attending a leadership workshop on January 15^th. PCA teaches double goal coaching – they don’t deny that sports involve achievement and winning, but those goals can never overshadow the more important goals of building character and having fun. See www.positivecoach.org for more information on PCA programs.

NEW COLT LEAGUE IN 2007!

We are in the process of developing a Colt League for baseball players in freshman through junior years of high school. Stay tuned for more info.

NEW PONY LEAGUE BAT RULES

We have new bat rules for Pony baseball. See a description of the new rules and the reasons for the changes at Baseball

FIELD UPGRADES AND DYBA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH DEERFIELD PARK DISTRICT

In order to allow more flexibility in our Pony baseball scheduling and to give Pony players the opportunity to play more games; DYBA in conjunction with the Deerfield Park District will be making major changes to the backstop, fencing and infield at Shepard 2. Additionally, we will be enlarging the infield at Clavey 1 to make that field available for Colt League play.

The costs of major improvements such as those described above are shared 50/50 by DYBA and the Park District. Other DYBA projects supported heavily by funds from the Park District in the past few years include dugout covers at Jewett Park, grass infields installed at Woodland Park and skinning of the softball field at Maplewood Park as well as new backstops at other fields. The Deerfield Park District also has completed major improvements such as the building of the new pavilion and playground areas at Jewett Park that improve the experience for all DYBA families. The Park District does general maintenance and improvements to our fields that are not paid for by DYBA. DYBA pays for direct costs of field maintenance – labor and materials preparing our fields for play (including the dri-dust available at all fields throughout the season).

We continue to work with the Deerfield Park District to help fund improvements to our fields for our players and families. Included in our planning for future years are expected major changes to Woodland Park which will most likely include the building of a new shed facility, improvement to the batting cage, major improvements to the existing fields and perhaps the addition of a new field. We are investigating skinning additional softball fields at Maplewood Park . The cost of all of these improvements would be shared by DYBA and the Park District – the Park District of course receives the bulk of its revenue from taxes paid by Deerfield Park District residents. Deerfield Park District residents with DYBA players have historically paid for these improvements twice – once with DYBA fees, once with taxes paid to the Park District. Therefore, the DYBA board decided to charge an additional fee to all non-Park District residents.

Last update: 01/07/07