Dear Friends and Families,
It's with great sadness, but probably little surprise, that I am announcing the end of the 2020 baseball season that we began in late February. The state is unlikely to allow us to play games in time to have a meaningful season.
I am pleased, however, to report that parents have expressed a significant interest in playing ‘some sort of baseball’ this summer. Our goal will be to set up ‘baseball activities’ for interested families once allowed. We are eagerly awaiting for further guidance from State and County health officials and expect guidance in the next few weeks.
So…baseball activities that we are currently entertaining for this summer are: sandlot style pickup games, skills competitions, and perhaps something special for our outgoing 12 year olds. We hope to be able to start smaller group activities in mid/late June and perhaps larger gatherings later in June/July. Specific baseball activities will be tailored to what we are allowed to organize based upon regulations and field access, and timing will depend upon when the County, State, and
School District say its ‘OK'. As Solana Vista has officially been shuttered for the next 15 months, we will be working with the School District to obtain access to Skyline and CDC Fields contingent upon the implementation of additional safety measures that we will communicate once available.
If your child registered this season, there is nothing that you will need to do; you will be eligible to participate in whichever age-appropriate activity we are offering and will simply need to sign up when we put the word out.
At this time, I would also like to communicate that we will be offering up to a $85 rebate (per child) for families who would like one for the 2020 regular season. Our league operates with heavily front-loaded expenses, so unfortunately we have already incurred extensive costs for equipment upgrades, field maintenance, uniforms, etc and are not able to offer a full rebate.
On the bright side, we are viewing the next 15 months as a bit of a renaissance for SBLL. With the loss of access to our prized Solana Vista fields for the 2021 season, we are taking this opporuntity to implement numerous capital improvements to the fields at Skyline (for next season) and Solana Vista (for the 2022 season). We hope to also emerge from the rebuild of Solana Vista school with improved, next-generation baseball facilities that your kids will enjoy for years to come. As these planned renovations are not cheap, we humbly request that if you are on the fence about requesting a rebate, that you "donate" your rebate instead to the league to help fund these renovations. The donation is tax deductible and will go a long way to avoiding the need for a capital campaign. If you would like a rebate, please email
with your player/s full name/s, your full name, and your mailing address. If you intend to "donate" your rebate, you don't need to do anything.
That's all for now. We will be reaching out with additional information very soon.
All the best,
Patrick Johnson
SBLL President
Dan Krems
SBLL President (incoming for 2021)
