LITTLE LEAGUE ONTARIO DISTRICT 2
OTTAWA WEST

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 2012-01-10: QUESTIONS FOR THE DA: (This year, I am going to try to make public some of the questions I get and the answers I provide, replacing specific names with more general terms.)

TOPIC: Registering in a different District

Q: I live (outside of District 2). I work in (District 2). I would like my child to play in (a District 2 League), as it is only possible for me to get him to (District 2 League) in time for games and practices. What is the approval process?

A: Due to Little League rules about League Boundaries, this is not a simple request. First and foremost, Little League rules do not allow it. A waiver can be requested on a year-by-year basis from the Charter Committee in Williamsport. But you need to have the local League Presidents and District Administrators support and forward the waiver request.

So let's assume you are making this Waiver Request. Since your residence is in (another District), you must first discuss this request with their District Administrator. He/She may have more "legal" suggestions for where your son could play. I will not even consider or discuss your request until I have heard from that other D.A.

However, even if your child would be permitted to play outside his/her league boundary areas, there are additional issues.

• The League you would like to register in may already be "full", in that for your child's age group, the number of in-boundary children take up all available roster spots for the number of teams that can be accomodated on League diamonds.
• In a twelve game season, plus playoffs, it may be that up to half of your games would not be in your new 'Home' League. You would still have the problem of getting your child to games in other District 2 Leagues and possibly District 8 leagues. In the summer season the problem is compounded by the interlocking of District 2 with District 6.
• Even if we found room for your child in the (District 2 League), as an out of boundary player he/she would NOT, under any circumstances, be eligible to play in what we call "Tournament" (or "All-Stars") which is Districts, Provincials, Canadians, etc.

So, in your shoes I would first call or e-mail the other D.A. and discuss with him/her the possibility of placing your child in a League closer to your home. If that fails, he/she and I can discuss with our League Presidents whether we want to proceed with a Waiver Request.

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 2012-01-08: DISTRICT POSITIONS: There is an opening at the District Secretary position, as well as some other unfilled District positions.

From LittleLeague.org: Assistant District Administrators (ADA) are appointed by the DA to serve at the pleasure of the District Administrator. They should include: secretary, umpire consultant, treasurer, training officer, safety officer, information officer and individual assistants as needed to help leagues with specific divisions of play.

Here is the list of District Positions as recommended by Little League:

TITLE	NAME
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR	Jim Dean
DISTRICT INFORMATION OFFICER	unfilled
DISTRICT SAFETY OFFICER	unfilled
DISTRICT TREASURER	Bruce Campbell
DISTRICT SECRETARY	unfilled
DISTRICT UMPIRE CONSULTANT	Ken Allen
ADA - LITTLE LEAGUE	Glen Bradley
ADA - JUNIOR BASEBALL	Bruce Campbell
ADA - SENIOR LEAGUE	unfilled
ADA - BIG LEAGUE	unfilled
ADA - SOFTBALL LITTLE LEAGUE	None required in District 2
ADA - JR SOFTBALL	None required in District 2
ADA - SOFTBALL SENIOR LL	None required in District 2
ADA - SOFTBALL BIG LEAGUE	None required in District 2
ADA - CHALLENGER	Steve Suttie
DISTRICT AUXILIARY CHAIRPERSON	unfilled

As mentioned above, we are particularly in need of a District Secretary. Most of the job description is: participate in, and record & distribute the minutes of, the monthly Presidents' meeting.

If you are interested in any of these positions, particularly Secretary, please let me know. see more here...

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 2012-01-07: LITTLE LEAGUE ANNOUNCES RULE CHANGES FOR 2012:

                              SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FOR 2012
           (NOTE: Unless noted otherwise, these apply to all baseball divisions) 

POLICY

Residence Eligibility Requirements - Added language to clarify the policy, mandating  
residency documents be dated or in force between February 1, 2011 (previous year) and 
February 1, 2012 (current year).  Page 16. 

REGULATIONS

Regulation I(c)(9) - Modified Note 1 and 2 to highlight changes in the laws of four states  
with regard to sex offender registries, and the free criminal background checks Little  
League strongly recommends. Page 24. 

Regulation I(a) - Senior and Big League:  Changes were made to expand the Senior divi- 
sion to 13-16 years-old and Big League to 15-18 years-old.  Page 25. 

Regulation IV(i) - Added language to define the requirements of mandatory play.   
Page 37. 

PLAYING RULES

Rule 1.10 - Added language prohibiting the use of composite bats for the Major division  
unless approved and licensed by Little League International.  Modified language noting  
the new BBCOR bat standard for Junior, Senior and Big League.  Pages 53-54. 

Rule 1.11(j) - Added wording that all jewelry, regardless of composition, must be  
removed.  Page 55. 

Rule 2.00 - Added the definition of an "At Bat."  Page 56. 

Rule 2.00 - Added the definition of an "Illegal Bat."  Page 59. 

Rule 6.05(b) - Major Division: Added language allowing the batter to become a runner  
on a dropped third strike.  Page 75. 

Rule 6.06(d) - Added language to impose a penalty for use of an illegal bat.  Page 77. 

TOURNAMENT RULES AND GUIDELINES

Responsibility and Chain of Command - Added language allowing the Tournament Com- 
mittee to impose penalties if a manager or coach repeatedly/willfully violates any Little  
League rules, regulations or policies.  Page T-2. 

Curfew - Added language prohibiting suspended games to be continues after curfew.   
Page T-10. 

Rule 3 - 10-11 Year Old Tournament Division: Added language allowing the batter to  
become a runner on a dropped third strike.  Page T-13. 

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 2011-12-08: CRAIG ALAIN'S BLOG: Craig, from Pinecrest, has a baseball blog that has been mentioned at this site in the past. He has asked me to remind folks about it, and to point out that he has a very recent arctive on the importance of off-season baseall training. see more here...

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 2011-12-08: Pinecrest Little League Winter Ball: Get a head start on the Spring season by attending our Winter clinics. Learn the proper fundamentals of baseball through fun competitions and instructional stations.

Clinic 2

• Boys and Girls Ages 6 to 12
• $60 per player
• Monday evenings Jan 9 - March 19, 2012
• Ages 6-8 6:00pm to 7:15pm / Ages 9-12 6:45pm to 8:00pm
• Adrienne Clarkson Public School Gym

Clinic 3

• Boys and Girls Ages 5 to 14
• $125 per player ($100 if registered by Jan 1, 2012)
• Sundays 4-6pm April 1 - 29
• Dome (Knoxdale @ Hunt Club)

To enroll, email P.L.L. registrar Pam Dupuis.

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 2011-09-19: JUNIOR PROGRAM CLINIC INFO

We now have a time and a place:

• WHAT: "Teaching for Tomorrow" Clinic
• WHO: Coaches of Junior age players
• DATE: Fri 20 Apr 2012
• TIME: 5:45 PM Registration, 6:00 PM Start, 10:00 PM Completion
• WHERE: Canterbury High School gym (to be confirmed)

A Message from Al Herback (LL National Coach) regarding the clinic for Junior coaches on Fri Apr 20, 2012:

For the districts able to have a clinic for the Junior and up programs, the following will be the areas covered throughout the 4 hour session. These skills will all be covered in depth at the clinic, but will only be listed for the benefit of you and the coaches and managers who will attend.

• Warm-up
• Review of hitting, and the introduction of advanced throwing and catching
• Ground balls to the backhand and forehand
• Safety and steal lead-offs, returning to a bag on possible pick-off
• Pitcher set position and balk situations, pitcher pick-offs to 1st, 2nd and 3rd base along with pitcher coverage situations.
• Double plays from 2nd base and shortstop including feeds and footwork
• Push and drag bunts
• Infielders 1-2-3 and 4 positions on different situations along with runner responsibilities after scoring
• I will spend limited time with various pitches.

As the above was normally an 8 hour program, I will do my very best to complete, but thoroughly, as much as possible. The majority of the information will be either in the Playing the Game manual as well as in the Additional Innings programs of Little League Canada. These will both be available at the clinic for purchase if needed.

Thank you so much for offering this to your coaches and managers. It will also be a great session for any interested coaches from the majors and down who may at one point want to coach in the Junior program. As some of you are doing this program before the Majors clinic, you may wish to advertise that everyone is welcome.

Use whatever you wish to promote this clinic to your district. As always, the more the merrier!!!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get back to me. Thanks for your tremendous support not only for the Little League clinic program, but for doing such a great job helping the coaches and managers meet the challenges faced with a team in Canada.

Al Herback
403-273-4656
al.herback@gmail.com

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 2011-09-05: IMPORTANT!! SET CALENDARS NOW FOR COACHING CLINICS APRIL 20-21, 2012.

Once again, District 6 and District 2 are teaming up to bring you the "Teaching for Tomorrow" clinics by our National Coach, Al Herback. This will be the third year in a row. We have received plenty of positive feedback and no negative feedback on these sessions, which D6 and D2 provide at no cost to their coaches. This year we are adding a special sessions of coaches of Juniors (13-14). We will have more details as the event approaches. For now, here is waht you need to know:

• T-Ball (4-6), Rookie (7-8) coaches: Saturday morning, April 21, 2012
• Minor (9-10), Major (11-12) coaches: Saturday afternoon, April 21, 2012
• Junior (13-14) coaches: Friday evening, April 20, 2012

Pending your own availability, coaches who can't make the morning session may attend the afternoon session, and vice versa. The sessions are not identical but they are similar.

More to come! Watch this space.

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 2010-03-30: WHAT LEAGUE AM I IN?: We get this question from new Little League families quite a bit. To help answer this question, I have put together a map of the Little League boundaries for District 2 (Ottawa West out to Arnprior) and District 6 (Ottawa East out to Hawkesbury). It's a Google Map, so you can zoom in to your residence and discover which boundary it lies inside. You can click this link http://tinyurl.com/ottawaLL or click the "see more here..." link, and find out what your League is, and get its web site address as well. see more here...