Trust us when we tell you that the decision made by the former Newberry Little League Board of Directors to give up our charter was not an easy one. 76 years. One of the oldest charters in the world. The history, the teams, the past, present, and future players… they all factored into our decision. And, yes, it was very sad to have to make that decision. Members of our board who have been with the league for 10, 20, 40 years… forced to do something they never thought they would have to do.
However, Little League made this decision for us in 2014 when they changed their league boundary rules… allowing players to choose to play where they live or where they go to school. Little League lost sight of the values that Carl Stotz founded Little League on, that these leagues were to be neighborhood based, to encourage community pride. They saw the success of a local area team and focused on having a league from the Williamsport Area make it to the Little League World Series. But we ask this… how can leagues build these community values when kids in some areas are now traveling in upwards of 45 minutes to play in a league? How can small leagues compete with larger ones that offer and promise everything under the sun to get kids to choose to play in their league?
To add insult to injury, until 2017, the Williamsport Area School District still offered parents the choice to choose which school their children attended. The boundaries for Newberry included one elementary school, Jackson Primary. Many parents in Newberry’s boundaries chose to send their children to a different school, usually one closer to where they lived. When WASD ended school choice, most of the families were now established in a different league, so they were able to be grandfathered into that league, and they did not return to Newberry.
Year after year, kids left Newberry to play elsewhere. With registration numbers so low in the last few years, we were barely able to field one team in each age group in the baseball division and unable to field any softball teams for 2 years. With dwindling player numbers, the volunteer numbers dropped as well. It became harder and harder to sustain the league. The board made Little League aware of our issues, yet they did not try to help. Even when we decided not to renew our charter, there was no contact from them to even ask why. What does that say when the governing body, whose President & CEO along with his children played at Newberry Little League, didn’t reach out? What does it say when the Senior Director of Operations & Education for Little League, who used to serve on the Newberry Little League Board of Directors, doesn’t contact us? A charter that was in existence for 76 years… gone, and no one “on the hill” cared.
The board began to explore other options and found one that would allow baseball & softball to continue on the fields at the corner of Arch St. & Mosser Ave. We reached out to our friends at West End Babe Ruth and knew that this was the way to move forward. Lincoln Youth League will be a division of Babe Ruth for younger players, Cal Ripken baseball and Babe Ruth softball. With a player pool that includes all of Lycoming County, the possibilities are endless for this league. It truly will be a league for everyone!
For those who are upset and disappointed by our decision regarding Newberry Little League, please know that we are too. We did everything we could to keep the league alive. We have never been a league with financial issues, we operated within our means and prided ourselves in keeping registration costs low year after year. Unfortunately, that was not enough to keep kids playing in their neighborhood.
As a board, we value the history associated with the league thus the reason we chose the name Lincoln Youth League, an homage to the original chartered league. Expect to see more local history references in this new league. While we may be bringing children in from all over the county, they will learn about the history of those that came before them as well as our little section of Williamsport.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Youth League Board of Directors
