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9

May, 2020

Precautions for the 2020 Season

May 9, 2020



Dear Joplin Little League Baseball Family,


With practices starting Monday, May 11, and games beginning Tuesday, May 26, I wanted to inform you of what you can expect when you come to our facilities and how we are prepared to operate as normally as possible while following recommendations and guidelines from our city and state.


Our league is no stranger to the need for flexibility (remember that Rain-pocolypse® last year?...yeah, don’t remind me 😀), and we thank you in advance for your patience, understanding, support, and excitement to get our kids back out on the baseball field doing what they love to do.


The game of baseball is a naturally social distancing-friendly sport, so with a few small adjustments, we are confident that it won’t seem too much different.


Practices

Coaches will do their best to help kids maintain safe distance apart while still doing the needed drills to teach kids the game and get them ready to play. We ask that families not congregate in groups of more than 6 and that each group of people would stay 6 feet apart if possible. No, we will not have anyone out there with a tape measure, but we’ve all had a lot of practice over the past several weeks, so I’m sure we’ll be fine. :-)


If you or your player are sick or experiencing any Covid-19 symptoms, please do not come to the ballpark. We are trusting everyone to be wise.


We will have hand sanitizer available as well as Lysol wipes for the catcher’s gear, bats, and helmets.


Bathrooms

There will be Lysol wipes in the bathrooms. It is not wise to keep bathrooms closed when you have children in one place for more than an hour or so… :-). We are trusting everyone to use the Lysol wipes in the proper manner to wipe down the surfaces and throw them in the trash before you exit the bathroom.


Games

  • Hand sanitizer will be available

  • Players and coaches are to be six feet apart

  • Players in the dugout must be spaced out, and the rest must spread out down the fence lines.

  • No handshakes or fist bumps. After the game, the teams will line up outside their dugouts and tip their caps to each other.

  • Instead of behind the catcher, the plate umpire will stand behind the pitcher’s mound, and as usual, there will be zero tolerance for questioning balls and strikes.

  • All groups of spectators must be no more than six people, and each group should remain six feet apart.

  • The benches will be sanitized between games

  • The baseballs will be sanitized between every inning.

  • All League-owned and/or shared catcher’s gear will be sanitized every time a new catcher comes into the game.

  • All League-owned and/or shared helmets will be sanitized after each use.


Concessions

  • All concession workers will wear sanitary gloves, and will be diligent to clean surfaces.

  • If we make condiments available, they will be pre-packaged, i.e. ketchup packets rather than a shared ketchup bottle.

  • We encourage you to use a debit card for purchases rather than cash.


While we normally only allow three adults in the dugout, the job of monitoring the players and sanitizing may fall to an extra parent. This is a league of volunteers working together to provide our kids with a positive baseball experience, so please make yourself available to jump in and help.


We anticipate a gradual return to normalcy after the initial couple of weeks, but we will remain flexible as the season plays out.


Thank you once again for your commitment to getting our kids out on the field this summer, and I look forward to another great season!



--

Nathan Horton

President, Joplin Little League Baseball

[email protected]

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