Random acts of kindness

There are literally thousands of man-hours volunteered by Board Members, Managers, Coaches, Umpires, Team Moms, Concession Workers, etc. throughout the Little League season. 

The Board of Directors meets 2-3 times a month starting in October, plus MANY hours spent outside of the meetings, to prepare for the season. Organizing and executing Registration, Tryouts, the Draft, Player/Manager/Umpire Clinics,  Opening Day, the Regular Season, Tournaments, Closing Ceremonies and All-Stars takes more work than most can imagine. There is even more work done behind the scenes on Uniforms, Equipment, Concessions, Fields and Grounds, Database Entry, Web Site Management, Scheduling and Manager Selection. There are over 700 players, age 5-16, on 59 teams in NVLL this year alone. Managers, Coaches, and Team Moms put in countless hours to make these teams run smoothly.

However, I truly believe the success of NVLL is based upon random acts of kindness. I have personally witnessed parents or volunteers who have stepped forward and volunteered to do something for the League out of the goodness of their hearts. These acts either "fill the gap" when someone is truly needed or many times, free up Board Members to work on other things that make our League better.

Here is a small sample of the random acts of kindness I have witnessed this year:

Ralph Nardo has volunteered to umpire 13 Major League games throughout the season that his son's team is not involved in.  *** Received "Volunteer of the Year" award ***

George Van Houten has volunteered to umpire as many Minor A games as possible in the month of April.

Chuck Simpson and friends volunteered to assemble the portable batting cages at Twin Oaks.

Joe Friedman and Neal Tate volunteered to umpire an extra game on Opening Day.

Carol Boyer helps setup the concession stand when her son has an early game if the concession workers are running late.

Vic Foster and Ken Marchman have volunteered to umpire Major League games through the season.

Rayna McGlockton and her committee (most were not Board Members), who organized the best Opening Day in the history of NVLL.

Terry Rarick designed, engineered, and built the new portable dugouts at Twin Oaks.

Adrian Hall volunteered to umpire the 7pm game on a moments notice after another team's manager mentioned that he had just flew home on a redeye, worked all day, and managed his team for the 5pm game.

The Ground Crew who spent two hours drying the field for the Minor A Championship after the Minor B Championship was rained out. When the Minor A Championship was rained out, they spent another three hours drying the field (for the second time in the same day), so the Major League Championship could be played.

T.C. Herman and Glenn Letham from GeoComm, for making our League Boundary maps listing all the player's residences for the sanctioned teams.

Ron Covey umpired over 40 games in the Junior and Senior Leagues. He also spent many hours setting up the Teen League concession stand.

The countless hours spent by our Fields and Grounds crews and other volunteers during our work days this year.

This list is in no way all inclusive. Please do not be offended if I failed to mention someone. Send additions to: webmaster@nvllb.org.

Look at our current list of projects and see where you can help. Every person has some way they can help out. Even something as small as picking up trash makes a difference (just ask a Park Ranger).