Dear La Jolla Youth Baseball Families,
Welcome (back) to LJYB and another season of baseball in La Jolla, our 71st!
A few months ago, I wrote an email announcing that baseball was thriving in La Jolla. As it turns out, I underestimated all of you as LJYB has now touched absurd heights. We will have 580+ players this season, easily an all-time high. For context, we had 386 players just two years ago. Our farm system is stacked with 190+ players in Shetland alone yet I am most thrilled about the 64 players who remain with LJYB through their Pony years (ages 13-14) despite their many other commitments. Thus, a sincere nod of gratitude to everyone in our baseball community and especially to those at the very center of the action: our volunteers, sponsors, and board members. Thank you!
The purpose of this email is simply to provide a road map for the next four months. As such, here are some important dates for your respective calendars:
-Assessments (Shetland’s Minors/Majors grouping, Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony): Saturday, February 4
-Live Scan at Cliffridge for all volunteers: Saturday, February 4, 8am – 5pm
-Catching clinics at Cliffridge: Saturday, February 4 & Sunday, February 5 (please register at www.ljyb.org)
-Pre-season clinic with UCSD’s coaching staff at Triton Ballpark: Sunday, February 5 (please register at www.ljyb.org)
-Shetland teams are announced: Monday, February 6
-Draft week (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony): Monday, February 6 – Friday, February 10. Teams are selected and you will hear from your manager at some point late in the week. The draft order is as follows: Mustang on Monday, Pony on Tuesday, Pinto on Wednesday, and Bronco on Friday.
-AED/CPR Training at Cliffridge: http://assn.la/UserForm.asp?RegID=238529&org=LJYB.org on Saturday, February 11.
-A final pitching clinic with Jack Liebesman and a final preseason camp with Jared Suwyn: Saturday, February 11 (please register at www.ljyb.org)
-Practices begin (all divisions): Sunday, February 12. Please expect your practice to end at/before 230pm as the Super Bowl will kick-off at 330pm.
-Opening Day (all divisions): Saturday, February 25. Please carve out the 12-1pm hour to celebrate our Decade on the Diamond players on the Bronco field.
-Spring Break, no games: Monday, March 27 – Sunday, April 2 (there are games on Saturday, March 25)
-Picture Days: Saturday, April 8 & Saturday, April 15
-End of the regular season (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony): Saturday, April 29
-Playoffs (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony): Monday, May 1 – Saturday, May 13
-Championship Saturday (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony): Saturday, May 13
-End of the regular season (Shetland): Saturday, May 13
Our list of offseason accomplishments is sort-of ridiculous: turfed two Pony batting cage, added lights to all of the batting cages, replaced the netting in all batting cages, added even more protective netting to thwart foul balls on the Bronco field, we are in the process of adding protective netting to the Pony field to keep more of those foul balls away from spectators, we are currently refurbishing our bleachers and dugouts with a new paint job pending, finished stage one of the roundabout redevelopment project (hint: it looks tremendous), started phase two of redeveloping Cliffridge with work on the walkway between Shetland and Pony on-going, replaced old fencing with new, added wood to various fields to freshen the look, brought flag football to Cliffridge, continued with fall baseball at Cliffridge for the second consecutive offseason, brought you a robust series of pre-season clinics (some of which drew the media’s attention locally, see www.ljyb.org), served the community via Feeding San Diego and with our work at San Diego American Little League, and on and on and on. Plus, wait until you see the fields, they look incredible.
This is a league where you get out what you put in. I’m beyond grateful to our great board as they put in a ridiculous amount of volunteer hours to make this a better experience for you and your families. Please thank them if you see them (http://www.ljyb.org/Page.asp?n=15532&org=LJYB.org). I’m not asking you to sacrifice what they do, yet please do enjoy what has been created here, chip in where you can, definitely sign up for a snack bar shift, and join our unique culture where families hang out for numerous hours before and after their games on Saturdays. This is not a commuter sport or league. Please swing by the snack bar, find a seat in the stands and catch another ballgame, allowing kids from 4-14 to run around, eat some junk, and hang with their buddies.
It’s officially that time again. Let’s play ball!
Thank you all,
Scott Blumenthal (volunteer)
LJYB President
www.ljyb.org
IG: @lajollayouthbaseball
Dear La Jolla Youth Baseball Families,
Thank you for your overwhelming support of LJYB. Once again, we have a record number of players (550 and counting) for the second consecutive season. It should be noted that our league hovered around 380-400 registrations for the past decade until the latest surge of families arrived last season and followed through again this season. We don’t take such support lightly and remain humbled by the backing of this baseball community. We won’t let you down.
As we prepare to embark on the 2023 season, we wanted to send along a series of helpful things to consider as we get set to begin.
Q) We are new to baseball. What should we purchase in advance of the 2023 season?
A) A glove, a bat, baseball cleats, and white baseball pants. The league will provide a jersey and a hat while each individual team will decide what color socks and belt your ballplayer will need. Note that metal spikes are allowed in both Bronco and Pony yet not before then.
Q) What type of glove is best?
A) Something that closes. The best gloves are the worked in ones as they snap shut more easily than the others. Charlie Rose Baseball and Dick’s Sporting Goods are a couple spots worthy of checking out.
Q) How about for a bat?
A) USA stamped bats only. USA stamped bats with a tee-ball designation are allowed in Shetland yet not beyond that division. USSSA bats are not allowed during practices or games – no exceptions. This is a very important safety issue, one we will continue to harp on.
Q) What other equipment should we consider?
A) We are recommending protective cups (all levels), helmets with C-flaps/jaw guards (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony), chest protectors (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony), mouth guards (Bronco & Pony), and pitching plates (Bronco & Pony). Each of your respective managers will have further information for you in regards to these items.
Q) We’d like to prepare our young ballplayer for the 2023 season. What should we do?
A) First, please visit www.ljyb.org and attend all the clinics that your schedule allows. Next, please see the list of coaches below if you are seeking individual or small group work.
Pitching: Tim Tisch,
Pitching: Jake Grosz,
Hitting: Ryan Lehr,
Hitting: Ron Hudgins,
Fundamentals for Younger Kids (ages 4-7): Cesar Rivera,
All ages, all skills: Jared Suwyn,
All ages, all skills: Mike Ramazzotti,
All skills, all ages: Brett Volger,
All skills, all ages: Bobby Schuman,
Q) We play travel baseball and rec baseball simultaneously during the spring. Is that a good idea?
A) Sure, that’s fine, we know there is a small handful of such players in each division, yet please be mindful of your young athlete’s arm. At LJYB, we adhere to PONY Baseball’s Pitch Smart Guidelines. Those can be found at www.ljyb.org > Division Rules > Mustang, Bronco & Pony. As a league, we are trying to place an emphasis on arm care. In order to do so, please inform your manager if your ballplayer is pitching for a team outside of LJYB and please keep them to-date of such pitch counts. We also recently announced an arm care clinic ( https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.leagueathletics.com/Text/Documents/6914/104355.docx) and have another on the horizon for January.
Q) This league is expensive. Where is all my money going?
A) The fields first and foremost. Jose Perez and his crew are working overtime to prepare the fields for the 2023 season. As such, please avoid stepping on the Shetland and Pony field until they re-open on January 2nd. From there, Pinto, Mustang, Bronco, and LPP will close in early January for their winterization and will then re-open on February 4th for assessments. Please adhere to the “CLOSED” signs on each field during the next two months as we aim to protect our claim that Cliffridge Park is where the best baseball fields in San Diego reside. Beyond the fields, and thanks to the generosity of our many donors, you will be pleased to see that our work on the walkway between Shetland and Pony is officially underway as we continue redeveloping Cliffridge. Further, we are in process of turfing another batting cage, providing new netting in all of the batting cages, replacing the wood in all of our dugouts, surrounding the Bronco field with additional protective netting, placing new fencing where the old stuff is tired, and on and on. We are excited to unveil a new and improved Cliffridge Park when the 2023 season begins.
Q) Can you please provide all of the important dates for the 2023 season again?
A) Of course.
-February 4 – 5: Assessments for all levels, including five year-olds in Shetland as five year-olds may be assigned to either Shetland Minors or Shetland Majors
-February 6 – 10: Drafts and team assignments (Shetland’s teams will also be released at this time)
-February 12: Practices begin
-February 25: Opening Day – Celebrate LJYB’s Decade on the Diamond players
-March 27 – April 2: Spring Break (no games)
-April 8 – Picture Day I
-April 15 – Picture Day II
-April 29: Regular season ends
-May 1- 13: Playoffs begin (no playoffs in Shetland)
-May 13: Championship Saturday (final games in Shetland as well)
Q) Are you done?
A) Mercifully, almost.
Before we go, please also take note of this message from PONY Baseball:
PONY Baseball and Softball has a zero tolerance policy for the consumption of alcohol, tobacco (including e-cigarettes) and/or illegal drug use around youth (participant or spectator) at any PONY sanctioned event including but not limited to practices, competitions (games), etc. This policy also extends to "reasonable access" to alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. Simply stated: if a youth can witness the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, etc. or have reasonable access to alcohol, tobacco and/or illegal drugs at a PONY event, it is considered a violation.
We are fired up and remain appreciative that your family has entrusted LJYB to deliver a memorable experience for you and your family.
Can you feel it? It’s almost that time again. Baseball is on the horizon and our 71st season in La Jolla is nearly upon us.
Happy Holidays!
Scott Blumenthal
LJYB President - Volunteer
www.ljyb.org
INSTAGRAM: @lajollayouthbaseball
Hello La Jolla Youth Baseball Families,
Welcome back to another baseball season (our 71st!) in La Jolla.
The Padres captivated us all and the game of baseball has never been more popular locally. It’s our honor to keep the good times rolling at LJYB.
We’ve been busy since our season concluded in late May. Thanks to your continued generosity and support, here are just a few of the things we’ve accomplished:
- For the second time in league history, we delivered a fall ball season, sporting nine select teams from 9U – 14U. The teams were comprised solely of LJYB’s players as 108 kids from our community played on during the fall. Additionally, a grouping of high-caliber coaches hosted a series of clinics, most of which were free, at our fields and at UCSD’s Triton Ballpark.
- In coordination with Tecolote Youth Baseball, we created and then introduced the “Beach and Bay Battle” to the youth baseball scene in San Diego. LJYB hosted 54 local all-star teams at Cliffridge Park, further showcasing our immaculate fields and facilities, not to mention our league’s high level of play.
- For the second straight summer, LJYB hosted PONY’s Regional All-Star Tournament, this time at four different age levels. During the summer of 2022, our all-star teams earned a staggering total of six banners as four teams (7U, 11U, 13U & 14U) placed second in Region and blew up their parents’ summer plans while the 14U team came within a bounce or two of reaching the International World Series. The 7U Pinto team nearly took home the big piece of cake before they bowed out in the finals at the West Zone World Series. It was the first time that a 7U team from La Jolla has ever reached such heights.
- We continue to clean up Cliffridge. The Pony field is now playable at four different age levels and distances as we now have this field under baseball’s jurisdiction 12 months a year. We added lights to the batting cages on Pony so kids can get some swings in at all hours. We took the initial steps to clean up the walkway between Pony and Shetland as debris has now been removed from that area. Thanks to your generous support, we completed the revitalization of the roundabout, one complete with flag poles, a donor wall, trees, plants, and a brand new container that stuns with incredible graphics. From there, we have plans for extra netting surrounding Bronco to further thwart flying foul balls. In addition to that, we intend to turf another batting cage, purchase new netting for all five cages, and place additional seating around the Pony field.
- Further, we brought flag football to Cliffridge and hope you enjoyed our latest addition plus the short commute.
- Finally, we have started to make some in-roads in an effort to provide seven months of baseball related activities for our 500+ LJYB families.
As such, the game plan for the 2023 season is as follows:
-Clinics during November, December, and January: some clinics are already readily available at www.ljyb.org, yet we are aiming for an 5-7 additional leaguewide clinics during the winter with details to follow later this month. These clinics are only available to those players who are registered for the 2023 season.
-February 4 – 5: Assessments for all levels, including for all five year-olds in Shetland (please see the Shetland note below for clarification)
-February 6 – 10: Drafts and team assignments (Shetland’s teams will also be released at this time)
-February 11 - 12: Practices begin
-February 25: Opening Day – Celebrate LJYB’s Decade on the Diamond players
-March 27 – April 2: Spring Break (no games)
-April 29: Regular season ends
-May 1- 13: Playoffs begin (no playoffs in Shetland)
-May 13: Championship Saturday (final games in Shetland as well)
We believe the above lineup that we’ve put together is a stout one and we hope that you will agree. By signing up now at www.ljyb.org, you will be eligible for all of the aforementioned events while also allowing those of us who sit on LJYB’s Board of Directors the opportunity to pre-plan our expenditures for the upcoming season.
Before we go, a few other important issues:
-Registration: LJYB has become increasingly popular over the past two years as evidenced by the record-breaking number (525) of participants during the 2022 season. To ensure that each returning LJYB family has a secured slot for the 2023 season, we have created seven unique URLs, all found directly below, so you can register before we release news of our registration throughout the community. As such, please register before Tuesday, November 15th. At that time, we will open up registration to others. Your spot will not be lost as of November 15th, yet it will no longer be protected should we experience another flurry of registrations. Generally, there is more urgency to register in both Pinto and Mustang as we only have 110 slots in each of those divisions.
Registration is now open by invite only via the following links:
- Shetland Minors (age four as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235101
- Shetland Minors - Majors (five as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235591
- Shetland Majors (six as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235499
- Pinto (seven or eight as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235102
- Mustang (nine or 10 as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235104
- Bronco (11 or 12 as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235106
- Pony (13 or 14 as of 4/30/23) - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=3:235107
-Age change: Pony has been juggling the cut-off date for age limits between April 30 and August 31 for decades now. The latest move has shifted the age deadline back to April 30, meaning your ballplayer’s age as of April 30, 2023 will dictate their league with the following exceptions below. Two new rules will now apply for the 2023 season: 1) Any ballplayer with a birthday between May 1 – August 31 will have the option of staying and playing up in the division in which he/she would have been eligible to play in if Pony hadn’t made this change; and 2) if your family is considering all-stars at the conclusion of the regular season, we will need a commitment via email as to their preferred age group for all-star purposes, i.e. if your ballplayer was born on May 2, 2011, he would be eligible for 11U and 12U all-stars and might even prefer to play 12U as he presumably has been with that team for many years. As such, to alleviate any postseason issues, we are going to request such age declarations before the season begins.
-Shetland: We are going to have Shetland Minors (four years-old as of 4/30/23) and Shetland Majors (six years-old as of 4/30/23) while all five year-old players (five years-old on 4/30/23) will go through an assessment before being placed in either Minors or Majors.
--Coach and player requests: Please fire away at the Shetland level and we will accommodate if possible and if your request doesn’t alter the separation of Minors/Majors. The floor is yours though please do hurry as we generally honor requests on a first-come, first-serve basis. Beyond Shetland, we have assessments and drafts with the goal of creating equal teams. As such, though siblings will play together within the same division, there are no coach and/or player requests at Pinto and beyond. Additionally, and though we couldn’t do anything mentioned above without our overwhelmingly generous sponsors, sponsorship arrives with no favors as to who will be placed on what team.
-Safety: We are recommending protective cups (all levels), helmets with C-flaps/jaw guards (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony), chest protectors (Pinto, Mustang, Bronco & Pony), mouth guards (Bronco & Pony), and pitching plates (Bronco & Pony). Each of your respective managers will have further information for you in regards to these items.
-Bats: USA stamped bats only. USA stamped bats with a tee-ball designation are allowed in Shetland yet not beyond that division. USSSA bats are not allowed during practices or games – no exceptions. This is a very important safety issue, one we will continue to harp on.
At this point, LJYB has become the premier destination for rec baseball in San Diego. As our tag line suggests, LJYB is also WHERE YOUR FRIENDS PLAY. The word is out. As such, we were forced to turn players away last season as all levels were completely sold out. Thus, our ship will soon set sail for the 2023 season. Please ensure that your kids are aboard.
It's almost that time again. We can’t wait to see you on the diamond.
Thank you,
Scott Blumenthal
LJYB President - Volunteer
www.ljyb.org
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