Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
What Has the Fuzzy Beagle’s Interest?
2009-07-03: INTERLOCK RULES: As a result of a disagreement in a recent game, and subsequent question to me,
the Interlock rules document has been updated to clarify Item 20 on Run Limits. We do have a 5-run per
inning limit in the National ("B") divisions at Major and Junior, and it was approved by the
Presidents (in 2008). Furthermore, I have discovered that Little League International updated rule
5.07 this year to remove the option of allowing the last inning to be unlimited runs (we didn't use
that anyway).
All Interlock Head Coaches should have a copy of this document with them at all Interlock games.
Is is available here in pdf format, perfect for printing out. The current version is now dated July 3, 2009.
see more here...
2009-07-03: ANOTHER SCHEDULE CHANGE? I received a phone call late last night, the gist of which
is that another team would like to join the Junior Nationals/B schedule. Although
this will mess up my beautiful schedule, I hope you will be patient and understand that
I am in the business of getting kids to play baseball, not stop them from playing baseball,
so I will try to fit them in.
I have asked them to confirm the team and provide a head coach contact before I even start.
If they can do that then I am going to try to add them to the schedule without changing
the Junior Canadian/A schedule, and with minimal impact to the Junior National/B schedule,
but no promises. Check back often.
2009-07-03: ROSTERS AND OTHER STUFF: The following teams must enter & lock their rosters:
CFR Rk,
CFR Mn A,
CFR Mj A,
CFR Mj B,
CFR Jr A,
East Nepean Mn B3,
East Nepean Jr B2,
Kanata Rk 1,
Kanata Rk 2,
Kanata Mj A,
Kanata Mj B,
Kanata Jr B,
Pinecrest Mj A,
WCA Mj A,
WCA/Pine Jr A,
Glebe Mn A,
Glebe Mj B,
Glebe/Gloucester Jr B,
Gloucester Mn A,
Orleans Mn B,
Orleans Jr A,
Orleans Jr B,
Orleans Sr,
South Ottawa Rk 1,
South Ottawa Rk 2,
South Ottawa Mn A,
South Ottawa Mj B2,
South Ottawa Jr B,
South Ottawa Sr,
Mississippi Sr
Locking the roster is an important step because until then you can't enter your game results.
GAME RESULTS: Please get in the habit of entering your game results (or have some one on your team
be responsible for doing it for you) as soon as possible after each game. This will help with things
like keeping the standings current and keeping the Ineligible Pitcher lists current. There are a
number of games that are half-filled out right now because one team entered its reults and the other
team has not.
("Rookie/Coach Pitch" coaches -- due to a flaw in our system, when it asks for your pitch counts,
just pick one player and give him/her 1 pitch. That will be enough to make the system happy.)
RAIN-OUTS: With regards to rain-outs, please mark them "Postponed" so that those involved are reminded
that they have to be re-scheduled. You can do that by going to the Master or Divisional schedule
and press the date/time button to change it, and select the "Postpone" check box. This will cause
the game to show up on a pink background in the schedule pages. I suspect we've had a number of
rain-outs this week that have not been marked yet.
RESCHEDULING: Please try to reschedule games ASAP, there will not be time at the end of the season
to make them up. At the moment I have not scheduled any games on Fri-Sat-Sun, so those days may be
available for your use. If I do not get cooperation on this I will ask the convenors to start putting
games on Friday nights where possible.
2009-07-02: NEWSLETTER: Little League Canada has a FREE newsletter,
called "The 7th Inning Stretch", excellently editted by Bob Taunton,
D.A. for Ontario District 7. The newsletter contains Coaching tips,
Umpire tips, quizzes, stories from across the country, and more!
Sign up by
sending this mail. You can also find the newsletter at the
Little League Canada website.
JUL 1, 2009: Volume 5, Issue 5 was released today. It has a lot of
good stuff, including more information on documentation required for
travel to the U.S. It is not up on the Little League Canada website
yet, but should be soon. Subscribe today!
see more here...
2009-07-01: HOW I SPENT MY CANADA DAY: Scheduling!
I have completed drafts of full schedules for all divisions: Rookie, Minor Candaian (A), Minor National (B), Major Canadian (A),
Major National (B), Junior Canadian (A), Junior National (B), and Senior. (That's a lot of games!)
UPDATE! Thu Jul 02 7:57 AM: Drafts of the full schedule for all levels including Rookie are now availble
on this web site. Thank you to the Convenors and other fine folks who reviewed them.
(Notice I have switched from A/B to Canadian/National. This terminology is what we use in District 2 in the Spring,
and I forgot we had used it in Summer Interlock in 2008. You'll still see A & B here and there, like in team names.
But when it comes to playoffs and trophies, it is way easier (or at least much less confusing) for me to talk about
things like "Major Canadian A-Side Playoffs" instead of "Major A A-Side".)
UPDATE! Wed Jul 01 6:55 PM: I had to move some of next week's Major games due to the fact I had inadvertantly
scheduled a team to play three nights in a row (they are playing a make-up on Sunday). This led to
changes in games MJA08, MJA13, MJB09, MJB11, and MJB15. So if you were counting on the Major schedule
that was put up a few hours ago, please continue checking here and adjusting your plans accordingly.
UPDATE! Thu Jul 02 9:25 AM: Major A - Due to a field availability issue, game MJA35 is moved from Wed Jul 29 to Tue Jul 28.
DISTRICTS: When you do see the complete schedule, you will notice that I just blasted through the schedule without
regard to when Districts are. I think D2 and D6 districts mostly overlap. I did not have all the
dates and fields for D6 districts, and I don't know who is going to be eliminated, when. So I
propose that we leave the schedule as-is and mark things "Postponed" only when we can confirm a
team is alive in Districts/Provincials or that a field is still in use for Districts/Provincials. And maybe
we'll adjust some games so that opponents of teams in the Provincials can instead play each other
instead of being idle.
BACK-TO-BACK NIGHTS: A complaint I have heard about schedules is "I don't like playing on back-to-back nights."
All I can say is that this is the result of certain teams/leagues insisting on a "home night" each week instead of
allowing me the flexibility to place games at their home field without worrying about which night. Although I
worked with it this year, I am so frustrated with the comments coming back to me (after a HUGE amount of work)
that next year I am going to push back on Leagues who come in with restrictive "home night" choices. A League which doesn't
like that is hereby offered the scheduling duties.
LENGTH OF REGULAR SEASON: At Senior and Canadian/A divisions, I will consider the regular season a success if each team is able to play 10 games
of the 12 game regular season schedule. They will have additional games to play in the Districts.
At Rookie and National/B divisions we should be able to get to the full 12 games (plus playoffs), though we may have to
step around field availability due to Districts and Provincials being played here.
AND FINALLY... Please stop making it rain!
2009-06-29: PITCH COUNT: Please note that for the 2009 season your presidents have selected
"Option 2" of the Pitch Count rule. See pages 35-36 of the 2009 rule book. This eliminates
the game of rest, but changes the required days of rest, as follows:
| Age | 1-20 Pitches | 21-40 Pitches | 41-60 Pitches | Over 60 Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 & Under | 0 days | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days |
| Age | 1-25 Pitches | 25-50 Pitches | 51-75 Pitches | Over 75 Pitches |
| 17 & 18 | 0 days | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days |
2009-06-29: DISTRICTS COACHES MEETINGS: Mandatory attendance for all Head Coaches of District Tournament teams.
Minors & Majors - Wed Jul 8 - 6:30 PM
Juniors & Seniors - Thu Jul 9 - 6:30 PM
If you can't attend on 'your' night, you must attend on the other night.
Your signed affidavits are due at Little League Canada on Friday July 10, so those nights will
represent your last chances to get my signature on your affidavits. I will be following up
with your Presidents on this.
You will receive an e-mail with the location and the directions. For those of you who have
participated in these meetings in previous years, it will be the same location.
2009-06-29: DISTRICT 2 DISTRICTS:
The District 2 District Tournament brackets are now available. Click the "2009 Districts" button above.
The Senior schedule days and times are not accurate, as I have to confirm the availability of Sportsplex on certain nights.
Your hosts are: Minor - Kanata, Major - Pinecrest, Junior - CFR, Senior - East Nepean
The slotting of teams into the brackets was done by random draw, by your league Presidents, back on March 25 before
any games had been played. It has nothing to do with seeding the teams, or how they placed in the Spring.
| Seed \ Division | Minor | Major | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | East Nepean | Pinecrest | Kanata | WCA |
| B | WCA | CFR | WCA | CFR |
| C | Pinecrest | Kanata | East Nepean | Kanata |
| D | CFR | East Nepean | CFR | Pinecrest |
| E | Kanata | WCA | Pinecrest | East Nepean |
| Seed \ Division | Minor | Major | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | East Nepean | Pinecrest | Kanata | WCA |
| B | Pinecrest | CFR | WCA | Kanata |
| C | CFR | Kanata | East Nepean | Pinecrest |
| D | Kanata | East Nepean | CFR | East Nepean |
| E | WCA |
2009-06-26: WEBSITE TUTORIAL: If you are registered as a Contact on this site's
Contacts page, then this tutorial will help you change your password, add
other team contacts, and enter your game results. see more here...
2009-06-26: HELP! MAJOR CONVENOR NEEDED I would really appreciate it if someone would step up and
volunteer to be the Major Convenor. We filled Minor, Junior and Senior with volunteers from
District 6, so I'm really putting some pressure on District 2 to come up with the Major convenor.
The duties of the convenor are as follows:
2009-06-26: BIG LEAGUE: Congratulations to the following players who have been selected to the District 2 Big League Tournament Team,
the Ottawa West Crusaders:
Alex Bellini, Richard Campbell, James Day, Matt Godinsky, Shane Harper-Thompson, Conner James, David Lanthier,
James Martensen, Cory McCarney, Garrett McCurdy, Doug Mclean, Duhaney Salmon, Matt Rendell, Tyler Welch
Coach Dave Wilson may have one addition to make to the roster shortly, and if that happens I will update the list.
Pinecrest Little League is hosting the Big League Provincials July 14 to July 19. We need all Big League parents
and any interested volunteers to help with this event. Please contact
Alan Martensen ASAP.
2009-06-10: TOURNAMENT TIME: IMPORTANT!!! All players travelling to the
World Series MUST have proper travel documentation. The Little
League Canada website says this (see the website for the full article
with additional details):
Starting June 1, 2009, Canadian citizens will be required to present
a valid passport, a NEXUS or Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card, or
an enhanced driver's licence/enhanced identification card when seeking
to enter the United States at its land or water crossings. Canadian
citizens 15 years of age or under will only require proof of
citizenship, such as a birth certificate or a Canadian citizenship
card. Canadian citizens 18 years of age or under who are travelling
with a school or other organized group, under adult supervision with
parental/guardian consent may also present proof of Canadian
citizenship alone.
The U.S. document requirements for air travel took effect in January 2007,
and require Canadian citizens flying to, through or from the United States
to present a valid passport or a valid NEXUS card when used at a NEXUS kiosk
at participating Canadian airports or at any U.S. airport when returning to
Canada. The air travel requirements apply to all Canadian citizens,
regardless of age, including children.
In the most recent edition of Bob Taunton's excellent
7th Inning Stretch newsletter, he reminds us:
Don't
wait until its too late and be disappointed when your child cannot
cross the border with the team! This must be done! You can pick up a
passport application at any Post Office, or to find a service location near
you, call or visit: www.passportcanada.gc.ca Or call 1-800 O-Canada
(1-800-622-6232)
So if you are going into Districts, and there is any chance at all
that your team could move on, it would be helping yourself if you
started the process NOW Additionally, I just received an e-mail
from Little League Canada
saying "Please remind your team managers that as of now, all Big
League age players require passports. The players need to look
after this immediately."
see more here...
2009-06-05: NEW RESOURCE: Geoff Thacker from East Nepean sent in an item for the "Resources" page -- it's a baseball scoring and stats application for your iPhone or iPod Touch. see more here...
2009-06-01: ADVERTISING: Join Mike Kusiewicz and his top instructors at the Nepean Sportsplex for his 4th annual skills development camp. Training begins August 10th and runs until the 14th. Camp begins each day at 9 a.m. and ends at 12 noon. Lunch will be provided. Bring your hats, bats and gloves for a great time! Limited space available so be sure to contact Mike as soon as possible if interested. see more here...
2009-04-20: WEEKEND TOURNAMENTS: This is a reminder to check the Calendar or Tournament pages for the latest up-to-date tournament schedules. Pinecrest's 2009 Tournaments have just been added.
2006-01-01: VOLUNTEER POLICY - CHILD PROTECTION PROGRAM: Little League Canada now requires that all volunteers within their structure have a police background check for assault and sex related offences. They have also delegated the responsibility for these checks to the individual leagues. Failure to do so comes with a penalty of revoking a league's charter. Please refer to the web site for your league for details on this program and how it affects you.