Dear RC Family,

Your RCLL board would like to take some time to update you on two pieces of exciting news for the 2022 Spring Baseball season and ask for your help.

The first piece of news that we are excited to announce is our Transform the Turf campaign. As you know, our mission here at RC is to facilitate a space for kids in our area to play and experience the great game of baseball. Like our parent organization Little League Baseball, we believe in the power of youth baseball to teach life lessons that build stronger individuals and communities. Our organization has been in operation since 1960 here in Reno and Jack Tighe Park has been our home. It is time to upgrade our home.

The Transform the Turf campaign centers on replacing the infield playing surface for our Major/Minor field. Our current surface is 10 years old and is showing its age after hosting countless youth games over the past decade. The synthetic turf that is currently on the field has a life expectancy of 8 years. Our turf is wearing through to the dirt below. The surface is beyond repair and needs to be replaced.

Fund raising for this project is essential because the cost of a project like this is currently out of the scope of our normal operating budget. Comprehensively, we are seeking $125,000 in funding through this campaign. $96,750 of which will be spent on the removal of the old turf and the purchase and installation of the new turf. The remaining balance of the funds raised by the campaign will be used to purchase new field equipment, such as bases and pitcher mounds, as well as repair any of the surrounding structures and landscape needed during this upgrade. This project is projected to be complete by the start of our spring 2022 season. So, time is of the essence.

We have already started generating support for this project and received generous donations from local companies and individual donors. Some of the donors include The Dolan Auto Group, Keller Williams Group One, The Peppermill, SRT, SILegacy Commercial Floor Finishing, and First American Title, Granite Construction. To date, we are just over halfway to our goal. We believe with the addition of one or two more key donations, the amazing families of RCLL will be able to fund the rest of the campaign. If you have the means and feel inclined to help fund this Transform the Turf campaign, please follow this link to our GoFundMe page.

Importantly, if you know of any corporate sponsors that might be willing to help please reach out to either Dave Olsen at [email protected] or Cory Miller at [email protected]. We can send them a sponsorship package and provide any support needed. There is also additional information on our RCLL webpage.

We know another project that has been on many of our minds is adding restrooms to our facility. Unfortunately, the City of Reno has blocked any and all efforts we have made to install new restrooms, even at the sole expense of the league. Any improvements to our city owned park must be cosmetic until the completion of the new Moana Pool next door. Which is expected to be completed in 2024. So, for now, we will continue to improve our home in the ways that we are allowed to.

Which brings us to second piece of exciting news, Reno Continental is passionate about youth baseball and seeing the youth in our city grow and mature. For us to be able to provide an adequate safe playing surface is critical component for the success of this program. The other aspect to a successful program is participants. Many families may still be concerned with group activities due to the COVID pandemic and the uncertainty that may lie ahead. In an effort to generate attention, excitement and participation for this season, and in part thanks to some generous pledges, we have decided to make baseball free to all new players and all returning players that would like assistance. We want to remove as many obstacles as possible to get our kids in this city back on the field and active.

As our city continues to grow and evolve, so do the demographics of each area of our town. In the natural evolution of a city, certain areas of town tend to age and mature just like our youth. Neighborhoods that once had young Little League age families, now have less kids. This has caused the participation numbers in our league to drop over the recent years. Little League International holds each local chapter to very specific league boundaries in which kids living or attending school inside those boundaries are eligible to play. Our RCLL boundaries have not only not grown over the years as the demographics change, but they have been reduced slightly. Just recently our boundary lines were reduced by our Little League Regional Director to exclude the newly constructed Nick Poulakidas Elementary School. As your board, we will continue to work with the district and with other leagues in the city to find a balance that is fair for all parties. We are also currently working with other leagues, specifically Reno National and High Desert (Fernley) to play an inter-league season for our Major division.

We will be sending out flyers and social media posts with more information but please help spread the word. If you know any families that may be interested, please share this news with them. There will be a discount applied at the end of the registration process that will make baseball Free for the season. We also ask that you like and share our posts on Facebook and Instagram to get our numbers up. If you have already registered and would like a refund, please email Dave Olsen at [email protected].

Thank you for all your support and we look forward to seeing you on our brand-new field very soon!

Sincerely,

Reno Continental Little League’s Board of Directors 2022