ANS: Please make a request to the convenor of the age group BEFORE the sort-out process begins. While every attempt will be made to facilitate such requests, parents must realize that part of the responsibility of convenors is to attempt to create “balanced” teams, and therefore not all requests can be granted.
We live in Quebec/Kemptville, and for convenience would like our child to play in Kanata.
ANS: Little League has strict geographical boundary rules for each league. There is a formal “waiver” process that exists to allow exceptions to these rules, but the home league must agree, and the argument must be strong.
Effective in 2014 Little League has eased the residence within boundary requirements to also include players who attend school within the League boundaries. If this applies to you, you must also provide 'proof' of school attendance to the league at registration time.
The conditions of the baseball field need to be improved.
ANS: We realize that the conditions of some of our diamonds leaves much to be desired. These diamonds are supplied in most cases by the City of Ottawa and/or the local school boards, and we pay good money for the use of the diamonds. However, repeated attempts to improve diamond conditions with the City have failed, and attempts to find replacement diamonds have been futile as there are none available. We welcome any help in this regard.
For 2014, the league is investing league money (in some cases matched by the city) to start to improve fields. March Central has been upgraded to include a grass infield and permanent pitching mound, and is now suitable for Minor, Major and Intermediate. We hope to add permanent pitching mounds to WBE and Roland Michener Large, and also to extend the fence at RML.
We have also recently adopted a longer term vision for reconfiguration of WBW, Tokessy / WBE and Pumphouse park fields.
Why aren’t there any diamonds in Stittsville/better diamonds in Kanata being used?
ANS: KLLBA would like to offer our programs in Stittsville proper as well as Kanata. Repeated attempts to obtain suitable diamonds in Stittsville (and better diamonds within Kanata) have been responded to as “none are available”. If you know of a suitable location that is in fact not being used, we would appreciate if you could advise us of this fact, noting the evenings (specific dates) that it was not used so that we can further negotiate with the City. KLLBA greatest need is for additional suitable Baseball diamonds for the Coach Pitch through Minor age groups. See also HOW DO I VOLUNTEER? FAQ below.
That Umpire/Coaching decision/call was a blown call, costing us the game! That Coach/Parent attempts to intimidate the umpire in order to influence a call.
ANS: While the game of Baseball is by nature competitive, almost always having a winning and losing team, it can also be a very subjective game. Umpire strike zones and safe/out base calls can be very different seen from different positions on the field. Often our young umpires are intimidated by adult coaches/parents who think they know the game better than the umpire. We ask that you please respect the umpire decision and rise above your own competitive emotions to act in a responsible/respectable manner towards all officiating staff. A parental and coach code of conduct will be published – but the basic premise is simple – positive cheering for all good efforts by all teams, and no negative cheering.
Why can’t we run the programs some other way? Suggestions for improvements in the Programs/Fields/Process/Fund Raising/Profile of the League. HOW DO I VOLUNTEER?
ANS: KLLBA is overseen by a small core board of directors (6 people) who are volunteers. There are a small number of additional volunteers who coordinate facets of the program delivery, and quite a number of “open” volunteer positions within the organization. There are several expansion and re-programming initiatives that we would like to accomplish, but we do not have enough volunteers to manage these at the current time so our current focus is to concentrate on delivering quality proven programs in existing locations. We will welcome with open arms volunteers who wish to help the organization grow and improve. Suggestions for improvement are also welcome at any time – please approach any of the core executive whose contact information are listed on the website.
My player played up into a higher division in a previous year, why can't they play up this year?
ANS: The league provides a program that has players in age divisions which are tiered into A and B at most levels. This provides a solid foundation to ensure that kids play with others their own age and are also challenged at the approipriate skill level. Additionally, the top players in each division are offered affiliation to higher level teams which allows them the opportunity to have some exposure to the next level. See the Spring Policy for details.