Here is what I can tell you at this point. We are planning to have a season for 2020. We encourage all local associations to continue with planning for the same. Continue with your online house league registrations, and plans for your rep programs and select. Keep in mind however that there is still to be no in person or baseball operations to take place. Working remotely, online meetings and conference calls are all ways that organizations can continue to plan.
With the most recent announcement from the Ontario government of the extension of the emergency act until May 12, we anticipate a future statement from Baseball Ontario, extending the baseball operation suspension until at least that point as well. Most cities have adjusted staffing etc so safe to say we will not be starting until late May at the absolute earliest.
The LDBA Executive has had 2 conference calls to discuss options for season start-up. We have a plan for a June start up as well as a July start-up. At this point, we feel that we need to wait a little while longer to see what happens with the orders before we bring the entire group together through Zoom or another platform to meet. We recognize that teams will need some time to get ready to be on the field so we will build that time into any start up time frame.
I had the opportunity to sit on a town hall with Baseball Ontario recently (and maybe others did as well). There was a fair bit of information discussed on this call and it is actually available to view on the OBA website if you wish. They are going with the same mindset. Continue to plan for a season. For your coaches, clinics have moved to an online platform so if they were registered for an in person clinic, they were automatically moved into an online session and emails were sent with instructions on how to log in etc. Coaches that have not registered should do so right away. Level 1/2 umpire clinics are also still taking place on line and the level 3 exam is available as well.
One thing to suggest is in regards to tournaments. Most of the tournaments scheduled in May have been or will likely be cancelled at this point. We would suggest that if any of your teams have a registered for a May tournament, that they check with the host on the status of the event.
In terms of rosters etc, there is no change to those deadlines as of now, however OBA has said that as the season start-up dates move, deadlines for things will move as well, but for now plan to meet the deadlines as scheduled. Please ensure that your registrar knows to keep doing the rosters. As far as Central Registration, insurance applications will be processed based on the Central Registration information submitted by the association. If you have questions, please ask Diane.
Again, we are still in a wait and see stage but we hope that we will be able to put together a meaningful season of baseball for the 2020.
We will continue to keep everyone posted on any information over the coming weeks.
We wish all of you the best as we continue to move through these difficult times.
Stay safe everyone.
Derek Brooks, President
London and District Baseball Association