Dear BLL Players and Families –
We all hoped for a small return to normalcy with BLL families watching our kids play at our local fields. But given the continued public health recommendations we have no path to have a season given that Seattle Parks fields are closed through June 30th and King County in still phase 1.5 instead of moving into phase 3 (when games could actually be played) anytime soon.
Many other Little Leagues in our area have also cancelled their spring seasons. BLL is in conversation with those leagues about some sort of summer league for both baseball and softball. The ideas range from skills development trainings, casual sandlot games and local tournaments for our older players. The details will need to be determined as the public health situation evolves. If those become possible, it would involve a separate registration process.
As a 501c3 non-profit organization, BLL runs on a very thin cash flow margin each year. Each year, there are costs that must be incurred prior to the start of the season, some of which must be paid out several months in advance. Unfortunately, some of these expenses - over $21,000 for things like field reservations (before mid-March), storage locker fees and insurance – all of which are sunk costs that cannot be moved to next year’s season.
BLL is setting up a process to issue refunds on player registration fees. Families who registered for the 2020 season will have two options: 1) donate the 2020 fee to BLL, or 2) receive a refund. As noted above, because BLL has sunk costs for 2020, we will unfortunately not be able to provide a full refund. The board is currently assessing exactly how much we will be able to refund to our families. Please know that we are 100% committed to providing refunds that are as high as possible.
If you are in the financial position to donate your 2020 league fees, BLL would be very grateful. Donated league fees would be spent in future years on new equipment, pitching mounds and to enhance our players’ experience. That being said, if you would like to ask for a refund please do not hesitate to ask.
To facilitate this process, we are asking each family to please complete this survey, by Wednesday, June 24th, indicating whether your selection to donate your 2020 enrollment fee of request a refund. Any enrollment fees not requested as a refund by this date will be defaulted to a donation. Note that BLL will not process refunds by email request, please use the survey above instead.
We thank you for being part of our BLL community and for hanging in there with us as we held out hope for the season. We hope to see in the spring of 2021.