Happy New Year!

The unseasonably warm weather this past week has us thinking about baseball and the start of the 2020 season.

Registration opens on January 1^st and stays open through January 26^th. After January 26^th, a late fee of $20 will be applied to all registrations. Also, mark your calendars - tryouts for the 2020 spring season will be on Sunday, January 26^th at the Western Fieldhouse. Only players who are moving up in age division or are new to RYBL need to attend tryouts.

T-ball players (4-6 year olds) do not need to tryout.

Times for tryouts are as follows:

11 &12 year olds: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

9 & 10 year olds: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

6, 7, & 8 year olds: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

An open tryout will be 5:00 – 5:30 for any player who cannot attend their assigned tryout time.

Fees for this year will be:

T- ball - $70.00

8U (Rookie) -$100.00

10U (Minor) - $115.00

12U (Major) - $120.00

There is a $5.00 fee increase for this season. This is due to the board voted decision to build into the registration fee the cost to include the players name on the back of their uniform, instead of collecting this separately as we have done in years past. The cost for the player name is $3.00. The remaining $2.00 goes towards offsetting the always increasing cost to run our league. So when all is said and done, families are really only experiencing a $2.00 fee increase over last year. Remember, that each player is given raffle tickets to sell to offset the cost of registration. You sell the raffle tickets and keep the money. If you sell all of your tickets, your player plays for free! RYBL does not ask for any of the raffle money. We do this to avoid having to have fund raisers throughout the year.

In December, the RYBL board of directors approved a Code of Conduct which goes into effect for the 2020 season. This code lays out guidelines and expectations that we have for our coaches, players, and parents. We need to keep in mind that this league is for the kids. As adults, we should model acceptable behaviors for these young, impressionable children. Use of foul abusive language and actions towards other coaches, umpires, or parents is not acceptable. There are penalties in place within the code of conduct that can and will be enforced if necessary. It is the board’s intention that everyone will abide by the code of conduct. To help with this, as a part of this year’s registration, parents/guardians of all players will have to read and acknowledge the code of conduct. This will serve as your signature and acceptance of the code. The same also holds true for all coaches and board members. They must read and acknowledge the code of conduct to complete their registration. A copy of the code of conduct can also be found on the RYBL website here.

We are excited to get the 54^th season of RYBL baseball underway and are working hard to make this season the best one yet! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the members of the board with any questions. The members of the board for the 2020 season are:

President – Tom Mashino   

1^st Vice President – Mike Smith  

2^nd Vice President – Jake Young     

Player Agent – Bryan Altmaier                

Secretary – Jodi Hartzler

Treasurer – Doug Edison

Umpire in Chief – Alaina Bradley

Equipment Manager – Dawn Hyman

The above board members, along with our managers and coaches are volunteers. No one receives any payment of compensation for their involvement in our league. Of the 8 board positions, 6 of these will be vacant in October as the board members will have completed their 2 year terms. For anyone who is interested in becoming involved with the board, you are invited to our regular board meetings, which are held on the 3^rd Thursday of every month at 7:00 in the Lions Club Building. We invite you to come and get involved with the league, find out how things are run, and to voice your opinion on subjects that the board discuss. Feel free to contact anyone on the board to find out how you can get involved.

Thank you,

Tom Mashino, RYBL President