Hello, ONLL families!
The Spring season is right around the corner, can you believe it?!
As we gear up to kick off the season, here’s some important reminders, updates and save the dates:
MANDATORY ONSITE DOCUMENT VERIFICATION
While registrations are all online, we still need to physically check birth certificates and verify residency documents. Unfortunately, the website does not have the capability to check and confirm uploaded documents, which means a volunteer would need to manually check almost 1,000 documents for all players account one at a time. So to streamline the process, we do quick physical checks at the field during try-outs on January 22 and January 29, between 9:00 am and noon. Please bring your player's original or certified birth certificate (copies are not permitted) as well as their completed school eligibility form OR the documents verifying residency to the MLK Juniors field on one of the Document Verification days. (If your child goes to school in the league boundaries, the school of choice is the easiest option for address verification as only the form is required in addition to the players birth certificate.)
Please see the handy document checklist below to make sure you have the documents we will need. Also note that documents must be dated or valid between February 1, 2021 and February 1, 2022. We will quickly check the birth certificate, verify residency and provide you with your raffle tickets. We expect the verification process to go very quickly, so please be sure you have all of your documents ready before getting in line. If you are unable to attend either day, a friend or family member can bring your documents for you.
Please note that we will not be accepting any in-person registrations/payments during these days as all registrations are done online this year. Please be sure to register online prior to attending the Document Verification.
UPPER DIVISION TRY-OUTS
Saturday, January 22 & Saturday, January 29
Try-outs are mandatory for AAA, Majors, Intermediate and Junior Divisions and will be hosted at Martin Luther King Park Juniors Field. Players do not need to attend both try-out days...just pick the Saturday that works best for you! Players must bring their own gear (USA stamped bat, glove, cleats, helmet, etc.) to tryouts. The times for the different age groups are as follows:
8 & 9 year olds 9:00 am
10 & 11 year olds 10:00 am
12 - 14 year olds 11:30 am
Arrive 15 minutes prior to your start time to check in and get your badge. Please note, players must register online before they can try-out.
GEAR SWAP
Have baseball gear your player has outgrown? Please bring it to our gear swap table during try-outs January 22 and 29. All donations must be baseball-related i.e. gloves, cleats, baseball helmets, bat bags and bats (must have the USA stamp on the bat). Feel free to ‘shop’ and take ‘new to you’ gear with you as well. Any unclaimed gear will be available at the snack bar during the spring season.
MANDATORY FUNDRAISER
As part of your registration fees, you paid into the mandatory fundraiser. At Document Verification, you will receive 4 raffle tickets to either keep, enter into the raffle yourself, or sell for $10 each to friends and family. Any tickets you sell, you keep the money for since you already paid in advance for the tickets. At closing ceremonies in June, 5 lucky names will be drawn to win a family 4-pack of tickets to a shared luxury suite and a $100 Visa gift card at a Padres game in August! Raffle tickets can be dropped off anytime the snack bar is open during the season. Want more tickets to sell? Just let us know! All funds raised will stay in the League for the players.
REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN
January 29 is the last day to register to be ensured a spot on a team. After this date, players may be placed on a waiting list depending on team capacity. If you have friends or family that want to play, encourage them to sign up ASAP!
MANAGERS AND COACHES NEEDED
We still need Managers and Assistant Coaches for all divisions. Volunteer applications can be submitted via your account page on Sports Connect. For questions regarding Managing or Assistant Coaching, please contact our Coaching Coordinator, Matt Marshall, at [email protected].
TEAM ASSIGNMENTS
Teams will be formed the first week in February, and players should expect to hear from their manager by the second week of February. Practice schedules and locations will be announced once teams are formed.
TEXT ALERTS
Please be sure to sign up for text alerts. This will be used throughout the season to notify of field closures due to rain, important reminders, etc. A new company is being used for text alerts this year, so even if you were signed up last year you must sign up again for this season. To sign up for text alerts, text 'ONLLtshq30014' (case sensitive) to 334-310-2497.
GAME SCHEDULES
It takes a considerable amount of coordinating to schedule all of the games, and schedules cannot even be started until teams are formed. Game schedules will not be posted until late February/early March, but we will send out an announcement as soon as they are posted.
COVID GUIDELINES
We will be following all current CDC guidelines as we approach practices and games in regard to covid.
SAVE THE DATES
- Upper Division Try-outs and Mandatory Document Verifications – Saturday, January 22 and Saturday, January 29
- Manager Selections – February 1
- Upper Division Draft– February 5
- Coaches Clinic – February 5
- Meet the Coach Day – Saturday, February 12 - Players are encouraged to come to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Oceanside to meet their coach, find out their team colors, and save 20% off all gear purchased that weekend! Attendance is not mandatory but highly encouraged. Feel free to stop by anytime in your division window.
- Practices Start – February 15
- Opening Ceremonies – Saturday, March 5
- Picture Day – April 2
- Tentative Lower Division Closing Ceremonies – Saturday, June 18
We are very excited to see the season ramping up and can't wait to see our kids back on the fields again!!