Hi District 13!

It was another jam-packed day at Little League Congress - and my brain is literally mush. However, there are some important insights that I felt compelled to share - as I embrace this idea that Little League is so much bigger than any of us have really considered.

Historically, we have all operated pretty independently of one another. The District comes into play when we have summer All Stars and that's about it. However, sitting here in Williamsport, everything is about the District. Every discussion item revolves around how the district operates. District Administrators proudly talk about how their district operates and how many leagues they have in their district. A healthy district has healthy leagues... and I am realizing that by working together as a district, we have a great opportunity to improve each of our individual leagues.

Many of us have worked together in new ways this year, as we have embraced interleague play at certain divisions! I know that for WPLL, being able to interleague at various levels was incredibly valuable. We would not have had Intermediate without interleague play. We would not have had majors softball. Learning more about the Little League structure and rules has really helped our league - and I hope that your leagues have benefited as well. The point is.. Interleaguing is only the tip of the iceberg. I am realizing that we have a lot of great people with great ideas across our District - and the more that we become educated and work together at the district level, the better off each of our own leagues will be!

Today's Congress was a series of panels meant to educate attendees on the proposed rule changes that will be voted on by all DAs in a couple of weeks. We talked about changing the structure of teenage divisions, whether we allow coaches to warm up a pitcher, eliminating league boundaries, appointing a DA vs. electing them, and much more. The conversations I heard around me were varied - but what I realized is that even huge thriving districts face many of the same challenges we face. The same concerns we have are shared by leagues and districts all over the world.

There was also a real sense that Little League feels the need to adjust and mold to compete better with travel ball. Many of the topics focused on creating flexibility in Little League in order to be more appealing to potential travel ball players. I honestly felt concerned about this. I recognize the value of having more flexibility. But I also think that in our current culture, holding tight to the values that make Little League special is really important. Volunteer lead - a focus on citizenship, sportsmanship and community - helping kids learn valuable life lessons through a sports program that promotes integrity. So, my thoughts as I listened to the discussion were that we need to be more flexible, but we need to make sure that we are carrying the values of Little League into the travel ball world... and not being consumed by the travel ball mentality.

Honestly, my brain is spinning with information. I was sitting next to DAs from Norway, Switzerland, and Lithuania. They told me that their districts run quite different from our districts in the states - and they don't face many of the same challenges. But they make the trip over seas to be at congress, to see what information they might gain that will help their districts to be successful. My brain is being stretched - and filled with ideas - and I truly feel that we can really build some great baseball and softball in District 13 if we can recognize the value in working together! And remaining focused on what is truly important. THE KIDS!!

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to attend Little League Congress - and I think the future is bright for our district - especially if we can work together!

Stacy Ashcroft ADA District 13 Stacyashcroft09@gmail.com 509-294-5341