Hi All, I am working on scheduling a time to meet with all the Presidents of the Boards in both Districts. I am hoping to make it next week, but will post a meeting time later this week. I have been able to attend a couple games from different leagues, and have had some "general" questions that have popped up. First, Districts - District 5 and 13 will both have District tournaments at this time. The COVID phase currently active in both Districts will allow for it with certain procedures in place. District 5 will be in Walla Walla Valley during the week of June 28 at last notice. That may change, but we will discuss that in our presidents meeting next week. West Plains will host for District 13, in Cheney. I have had some questions about the number of games leagues can schedule at a minimum. LL likes to see 12 games as a minimum to get qualified for tournament play but I am working with leagues in individual situations to get a couple lesser game counts approved. Regular seasons normally have between 14 and 20 games scheduled. The more games you play, the happier kids are and better prepared for the All-Star seasons. The State tournament will most likely have to be moved (AGAIN) I'll know more about this by next week. It had started out in District 13 and is now in District 5, but may move out of 5 as well due to unforeseen issues at the hosting league. If anyone is interested in either District, please let me know your thoughts on hosting the State 12 year olds.It's a big deal that only comes around once every 13 years. Some of the leagues I have watched have been doing a great job in putting on games and executing the season. it's a tough year to restart, but I see them doing well and there have been reports of leagues actually gaining players this year. While others have struggled with numbers there have been a couple boards that have managed to pull off the impossible and get more kids in than normal. Good work! Safety issues have been minimal but I want to outline some things I have seen on the field - and the recommend and require procedures and practices in some cases: 1. There is no "on-deck" batter in any division under Juniors in Little League. Keep the kids behind the fence and in the dugout during da teams' time at bat. 2. No swing trainers, batting donuts, or the like anywhere on the field, or in the dugout. They cannot be used. 3. Catchers must have a dangling throat guard 4. If there is NO bullpen with fencing or protection for the participants in a warm up for a pitcher, a coach or manager should be with the players as they warm up to keep spectators away from the warm up. 5. Catchers when warming up a pitcher must have on a helmet with face shield and throat guard. 6. Coaches MAY NOT warmor up a pitcher between innings. Only a player with a helmet and face guard and throat guard may warm up a pitcher between innings 7. Any umpire behind the plate MUST WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR (I saw this at a game last night! - the umpire was not wearing gear behind the plate). If you want to umpire a game without protective gear do it from behind the pitchers mound. 8. An umpire or someone from the league (a manager, coach, or Board Member) should check the bats, helmets, field, fencing for any safety issues before each game starts. Please use only LL certified baseballs, bats, and helmets for play or practice 9. Make sure you have the proper break-away bases 10. Summer is coming, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate Finally questions have come up about paying umpires. Little League umpires are supposed to be volunteer. There are lots of reasons for this, but one important one is the liability picture leagues get into when they don't follow this rule. You must have proper insurance, follow payroll laws, IRS code, and state mandates when you begin to pay umpires. your policy with Little League is only helpful if the umpires you use for games are volunteers. And watch using teenagers. This can be a difficult path to go down. some teens are great umpires and many high schools have volunteering requirements in their curriculum so you can get good umpires when the high school baseball players need to fulfill their volunteering requirement, but when you pay them, you create an entirely new scenario that can have legal ramifications, especially in the case of an injury to an ump. I'll post a meeting time for our next presidents meeting, until then PLAY BALL! JP DA WA5/13 Regards JP DA WA 5/13