Len Penzo
President
2007 - 2008
Alex
Baez
Executive Vice
President
2007 - 2008 |
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
July 2008
Chino Hills
Little League Members:
Little
League is a fun-first sports organization, and so I hope everybody had
a great time this season, win or lose! Although most of us are now
focusing on summer vacations and other sports, your Board of Directors
never stop working. Right now, the Board is currently preparing for
our 2008 winter ball season. Now on to the news and views:
1. Our spring season was a huge success! Our total registration numbers
increased for the fourth consecutive year. Our 2008 Spring fundraiser,
coupled with the grants received from the Angels Baseball Foundation
and the Anaheim Ducks that will be used to upgrade the fields at Los
Serranos, has also solidified our league’s financial status. On the
field, our All-Star teams were successful and represented our league
well. Our photo gallery offers some highlights and memories from the past season.
2. Early bird registrations
are now underway through Saturday, July 26. Early bird registrants can
save $10 off the regular Winterball fee of $60. Don’t wait too long,
though, as an additional $10 late fee takes effect on September 1.
3. Winter ball is the perfect opportunity to move up and sample the
“next level” of competition, or to work on fundamentals and enrichment
of skills. Winter ball season is very relaxed; there are no
fundraisers, and official standings and scores are not kept.
4. For those of you involved in other sports, keep in mind that the
winter ball season is not only relaxed, but also short and sweet. The
winter season schedule is generally one game per week, and usually only
on Saturdays for most levels of play. If you decide that winter ball is
still out of the question, remember that you can still keep your Little
Leaguers sharp for next Spring by attending batting facilities or
taking lessons from any of our recommended sponsors such as Caira’s
Cages, or Dirt Dawg Baseball Academy.
5. Winter ball also offers parents coaching opportunities. We are
always looking for coaches and this is a great opportunity to see if
you have what takes to be a Little League Baseball coach! Give it a
try! Send in your requests to President@chinohillsll.com.
6. Current and prospective coaches are both encouraged to check the Little League
national website for videos and tutorials that will help enhance your
coaching skills. I strongly recommend you take a look at the site as
Little League offers you many resources to help you teach the kids.
7. Spring 2008 managers and coaches: Please help us by reaching out to
your players and encourage them to play winter ball. The winter season
does not have a draft, and players can request their managers of choice
for all divisions. This is the perfect opportunity to build your own
team!
8. Congratulations to all of our All-Star teams and their coaching
staffs! Although we failed to win a District 23 championship for the
first time in three years, our all-star teams can hold their heads
high. That is because in addition to the fantastic play displayed on
the field, all of our all-stars also displayed outstanding character
and sportsmanship, regardless of whether they won or lost.
9. With respect to the level of play being displayed by our all-stars,
I have to paraphrase a comment from the Chief Umpire for District 23
regarding a game our Major All-Star team played against the Chino
National All-Stars (in which we lost a 9-inning heartbreaker by a score
of 5-4) stating that it was the most well-played Little League game he
had seen played at any division level in the last five years. High
praise indeed!
10. For complete synopses on all of this season’s all-star games, check
out the All-Star page on
our website.
11. Congratulations are also in order for our 2008
Spring Season League champions! In our AA Division, it was
the White Sox. Believe it or not, the AA White Sox started the season
as an orphan team without a coach! The AAA Mets, after going undefeated
during the regular season, lost the first game of their playoff
tournament, only to reel-off five straight hard-fought wins to finally
claim the AAA Championship. The top-seeded Athletics culminated a very
successful regular season campaign by winning the Majors Championship.
And our Junior division Yankees ran off four straight tournament wins
to take the Junior Interleague Championship for Chino Hills and Canyon
Hills.
12. I want to personally thank all our volunteers for helping to make
this past spring season and enjoyable one for all our families and
players!
13. A special thank you to Tom Sanhamel, who, as usual, did an
absolutely first-class job as the tournament director for our AA
Playoff Tournament! Tom is an extremely dedicated long-time Little
League volunteer and Chino Hills Little League is fortunate to have his
services. Tom also helped us run our tryouts this past Spring. Tom is
the father of our Lower Divisions VP, John Sanhamel.
14. I would also like to thank Sean Rich for stepping up to volunteer
as our Major Playoff Tournament Director! Sean did a tremendous job
overseeing the tournament and we appreciate his service.
15. While I’m at it, I would also like to thank Tara Noelte for
stepping in at various times during the past season and helping the
Board and me with various volunteer duties.
16. In June we held elections for our 2008-09 Board of Directors, who
begin their new terms in August. I am especially pleased to announce
Paul Corrales as the new President of Chino Hills Little League. I am
also pleased to report that Alex Baez will continue in his key role as
the Executive Vice President, and Eric Aparicio, who has done a
yeoman’s job over the past year in managing our finances (including
organizing the books and keeping us on a rock-solid financial footing),
will be back as Treasurer. Other board members for the 08-09 season
include Judy Bourgouin, Gil Bourgouin, Amado Botello, John Massa, Chris
Preli, John Sanhamel, Scott Boskovich, Emmett Donovan, John Burks,
Connie Green, Billy Patterson, and Jennifer Rich. We still have a few
open Board positions available, so if you are interested in
volunteering please be sure to drop our new President, Paul Corrales, a
note at president@chinohillsll.com.
17. On a personal note it has been an extremely rewarding experience to
serve as a board member for the past five years. It has been a special
honor to serve as the league President for the last two years. But my
son has decided to pursue other recreational interests, and so I will
be moving on too. It has been extremely challenging at times, but I
have learned so much about what it takes to run a youth sports
non-profit recreational organization. I leave knowing the league has a
solid base and core of volunteers. The League is in good hands with
Paul. He has been a Board member for the last three years serving in
key positions as Divisional Vice President at both the lower and upper
divisional levels. I am confident that he will do a great job!
18. By the way, although I am moving on I will continue to work with
Paul and the Board of Directors during the transition process. I will
also continue to maintain the web site until the Board finds another
web master. I hope you enjoyed the web site this year. This year, our
humble website was averaging almost 250 hits a day during the regular
season, and over 450 hits a day during the playoffs and all-stars –
that was an increase of well over 100% from the previous season. We had
almost 30,000 hits this Spring season alone! Hopefully, that kind of
exposure benefited our sponsors. Anyway, if you would like to bail me
out and volunteer to be the next web master, please send an e-mail to
Paul.
19. Without question the tasks and responsibilities of a Little League
President are sometimes overwhelming. Believe it or not, it really is
almost a full time job. I would like to thank all of the 2007-08 Board of Directors for
all the hard work they put in this year. A league is only as good as
its Board of Directors and Chino Hills Little League is truly fortunate
to have such a dedicated group of volunteers.
20. Before I get off the stage, I need to acknowledge our Executive
Vice President, Alex Baez, who has been my right hand man for the past
two years. Alex has been tirelessly serving as a volunteer Board Member
and manager in our league for the past seven years. Alex has also
served as our league President. You won’t find a more dedicated
individual for our League, or a bigger advocate of Little League
baseball and all it represents. He dedicates countless hours to Chino
Hills Little League on a daily basis, all year long. Our league is
extremely fortunate to have him working both behind the scenes as a
Board member, and in the spotlight as a team manager. I know Alex will
give Paul the same incredible level of support he has offered my
predecessors and me over the years. Thank you, Alex, for all of your
help and your dedication to Chino Hills Little League!
Thank you again for your support and I hope to see Chino Hills Little
League enjoy continued success in the coming years. I have developed
relationships and friendships that I will cherish always.
Until the next time don’t forget to keep your eye on the ball!
Len
Penzo
President
Alex
Baez
Executive
Vice President
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