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Thursday, March 19, 2020
From the Commissioner's Desk... Vol 2 Issue 2 (A COVID-19 Update)
Saturday, March 7, 2020
From the Commissioner's Desk... Vol 2 Issue 1
Putting Rumors to rest - When registration numbers drop it becomes impossible to offer a fair experience for the kids in a baseball league. The Board of Levittown Central made the difficult decision to dismantle Levittown Central Baseball because of low numbers. By doing this the hope is that the numbers in other leagues will increase. Levittown Youth Council’s hopes that McLaren Stadium will still have Levittown Baseball on the fields. Island Trees Baseball applied for the field permits and has agreed to work with North and West when fields are needed. No youth organizations board ever wants to have to do this but especially since so many put so much effort into making the league viable for so many years. (I personally played t-ball for Central in 1978)
Strong Registration Numbers - Through board members reaching out via phone calls, through Mike Pisciotti and Ed Michalowski copying, approving and placing fliers, through Maryann Brown and Anthony LoPinto’s updating of Facebook, the North family sharing a couple of gentle reminder memes, and our postcards, we have amazing news to report! Our registration numbers are up 25% from the same time last year. Our last registration date will be March 20th, with evaluations 21st and 22nd, drafts for teams on the 23rd and 24th and uniforms ordered immediately after the draft.
Levittown Uniting - Kids have a lot to do. There are so many choices. Most sports offer year round activities. Baseball is no different. Gone are the days where every kid in Levittown plays baseball. This is most evident in the lack of registration numbers in the 11/12yr old groups. West North and Island Trees will together pool players in this division, draft combined teams and don Lev-IT uniforms. Coach Mike Adams (2019 Coach of the Year) and Mike Sica will take on the responsibility of managing one of these teams.
Wednesday Winter Workouts - This winter our “open to all and free” Weekly Wednesday Winter Workouts Were Wonderful. Every week we focused on different skills such as: hitting with Hank Chase, fielding and core strength with Demetrios Zirogiannis and his dad Peter, pitching with Scott Hetzel and his dad, former commissioner, Walter Hetzel, MacArthur Varsity Baseball Coach Steve Costello joined us for two amazing sessions, and this year we hosted special guest Mariel Checko from the Ducks with trainers Roberto Cabrera and Jose Ramos. This extended family, along with North regulars like Dave Miller, Scott Butler, Billy Mugno, Ed Michalowski, Will Rumaldo, Joey Vargas, Carlos Bonilla, Tom McKeever , Mike Pisciotti, and Matt Hartman made Wednesdays Great Again. Our last session was this past Wednesday.
Our sponsors - Rosemary Hunter has taken on the role of organizing sponsorship of our league. Besides the incredible $500 sponsorship from Vincenzo’s Pizzeria, she has also secured a $500 sponsorship from The Karate Academy of Bethpage. Without her relentless pursuit of connecting community members to Levittown North Baseball, we would not be able to create such an attractive on-the-field experience for our kids. If you own a business or know someone who does, consider sponsoring a team! $250 gets the sponsor’s name printed on a team’s jersey. Click Here and make this happen!
Parent Night - What day will my kid play? Where are the fields? Can he pitch? How can I get involved? Can we bring snacks? Should my daughter be in t-ball or lower farms? Where do I get an iconic sweatshirt? Do you have a FACEBOOK page? Board Members and families will be on hand to share all the information we currently have available and attempt to answer everyone’s questions on Wednesday Night at Memorial High School Auditorium at 7:30pm.
Field Upgrades - Rosenberg Field has had extensive work done in the off season, trimming trees, and attempting to level the infield to lessen puddling after rain storms. The outfield fence cover will need to be repaired or fixed before opening day.
The bushes along the southern edge of Whelan Feld that attracted garbage and beer cans, as well oftentimes being overgrown, have been removed and grass is growing along the fences! Families will enjoy the more space and aesthetically pleasing environment.
Moundless Munson - For anyone who ever played at Munson you’ll agree that the pitching mound was never taken care of. It was at the wrong distance for our 7/8s and it was never aligned correctly with home plate. The town removed the mound and North will have a portable mound there for league teams to use during the season.
Kenneys are out? - Anthony and Sarah, who spent years maintaining the concession stand, have started a new life in North Carolina. North will miss their behind the scenes work that brought pretzels and slushies to hundreds of kids.
North’s Artist Mike Scully has big plans for Whelan Field once again. It will for sure shine a light on the North family. More to come about this in an upcoming edition of Levittown North News.
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