As we wind up the end of our Travel and older kid leagues, MYBA is looking toward's our upcoming Pinto & Maverick leagues, as well as to this fall to potentially offer more baseball opportunites to the youth of Morton.   Before we move any further, we would like to ask you to participate in a brief 6-question survey regarding your interest in fall baseball offerings, as well as feedback on this past season.  

Please complete this survey by 3pm this Monday, Aug. 2, so that we can take your feedback and finalize our plan for fall baseball.

A quick note, due to overlapping schedules for Maverick & Pinto, Fall Baseball will only be offered to boys going into grades 4 and up.  This is due to field availability and not because we do not want to offer it.

2020 MYBA Fall Baseball Survey

We appreciate your help,

MYBA Exec Board

Due to today's rain - ALL ACTIVITIES AT WESTWOOD PARK for today (THURSDAY JULY 30, 2020) have been POSTPONED. No announcements on make ups are made at this time.

As we wind up the end of our Travel and older kid leagues, MYBA is looking toward's our upcoming Pinto & Maverick leagues, as well as to this fall to potentially offer more baseball opportunites to the youth of Morton.   Before we move any further, we would like to ask you to participate in a brief 6-question survey regarding your interest in fall baseball offerings, as well as feedback on this past season.  

Please complete this survey by 3pm this Monday, Aug. 2, so that we can take your feedback and finalize our plan for fall baseball.

2020 MYBA Fall Baseball Survey

We appreciate your help,

MYBA Exec Board

To all Pinto parents, we are still in need of a few more volunteer coaches for tee-ball this season.  In order for us to announce our teams, we will need a few more head coaches.  I can promise you from experience, this is a rewarding and extremely enjoyable opportunity.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jason Vallar or Josh Tarter.

Thanks,

MYBA Board

Hello Parents, with our older kid leagues winding down, I wanted to provide an update on our Pinto (tee-ball) and Maverick (coach-pitch leagues).  

Registration will remain open until Aug. 18.

The Pinto and Maverick Leagues will each begin on Tuesday, Aug. 18.  League games will occur on Tues & Thursday evenings, as well as a handful of Saturday morning games as well. 

- Pinto will be playing on Field 7, the tee-ball field. 

- Maverick American League (incoming 2nd graders, and incoming 1st graders with at least 1 year of MYBA tee-ball) will play on field 3.

- Maverick National League (incoming 3rd graders) will play on field 2.

Next week, we will be notifying coaches of their rosters, which are currently in the process of being put together.  We are still in need of coaches are all 3 levels, so please register using the registration link on the front right of our webpage.   You can also reach out to Dave Hoffman for Maverick, or Heather Walters for Pinto.   

Coaches will reach out to their respective rosters to relay practice and game schedules.  

Please refer to our Phase 4 Guidelines with respect to MYBA's current social distancing policies.  You will be required to bring a fold up chair for your child to sit in during the game, as we are only allowed 4 players in the dugout at one time.  We are also asking parents and spectators to sit no closer than 6 feet from player areas. 

Feel free to reach out to Jason Vallar or Josh Tarter as well for any questions or concerns.  

We are looking forward to another fun season of baseball for the Pinto and Maverick leagues!

For all of those interested in coaching one of our MYBA Travel Heavy teams (9U - 14U) next season, elections will be at our next board meeting, Aug. 10. 

Please send in your name to Jason Vallar or Mike McKie no later than the Aug. 9.

The MYBA Monthly Board Meeting will be next Monday, July 20 at 6:00PM.    We will hold this meeting at the indoor hitting facility, if you are attending, please bring a folding chair.  

We hope this message finds everyone healthy, safe and ready to play baseball games in Morton again.  Once again, for those within our MYBA family that are working in healthcare, we extend a very heartfelt thank you for all that you are doing to battle the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We first want to thank everyone who has put in all of the hours to get our fields and facilty ready for our 2020 season.  A lot of hard work has gone into making this season a reality, and it would not have been possible with out all of our board members, field maintenance staff and volunteer coaches.   With the state finally moving into phase 4, MYBA will officially be able to host baseball games beginning June 26.  

After reviewing the state's Phase 4 Youth Sports Guidelines, our executive board has revised the current Phase 3 MYBA guidelines which will allow our youth to play baseball games.  Below there is a link to our guidelines for baseball activities in phase 4, as well as the state's phase 4 youth sports guidelines.  

MYBA Guidelines for Baseball Activities in IL Phase 4

IL Phase 4 Youth Sports Guidelines

Due to the social distancing requirement, our Tee-Ball (Pinto) and Maverick (Coach Pitch) seasons will begin the week of August 17.  Teams will be selected and announced the last week of July, and practices can begin the week of August 3.  This will allow more time for anyone interested to register.  Registration will remain open until games begin.  The season will conclude at the end of September, providing a full season to all participants. 

Moving forward, our dugouts will open during Phase 4 per Park District Guidelines., with limited capacity.   Practices and games will be done in accordance with the Youth Sports Guideines around social distancing.  

Spectators fall under the normal state phase 4 guidelines around social gatherings of 50 or less.  We ask that everyone responsibly follow those guideslines.  We also ask that there be not fans sitting up close to the dugouts, the state's youth sports guidelines dictate that spectators must follow distancing from players during phase 4.

Our indoor hitting facility will remain closed for now as we figure out a way to safely allow it's usage.  The outdoor cages have been set back up and are ready for use, please use those for any batting practice needs when fields are not available.

Our concession stand will open up this Friday.  There will be one window for orders, and one for pickup.  We ask that everyone please follow distancing while waiting in line.  Treat tickets this year will be done on a delivery system to avoid huge crowds after games, more details will be provided to coaches soon.  We ask that fans not congregate in the common area in between Fields 1 & 6 in front of the indoor hitting facility.  when watching games so that we can provide adequate room for concessions lines due to the distancing requirements.  Also, the park district is not permitted to turn on any water fountains at this time due to state mandates.

Thank you again for your patience, grace and support while we have been working to bring youth baseball back to Morton.  We are very excited for our season to kick off, and we look forward to seeing everyone out at Westwood Park in the coming days.

Best Regards,

MYBA Board of Directors

Registration for Mustang, Bronco, Pony and Colt will remain open until those leagues begin games.

Registration for Pinto (Tee-Ball) and Maverick (Coach-Pitch) will remain open until September 1.

Sorry for any confusion on this issue,

MYBA Executive Board

I hope this message finds everyone healthy and safe at home.  For those within our MYBA family that are working in healthcare, we extend a very heartfelt thank you for all that you are doing to battle the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We understand that right now baseball is not a top priority for any of us, but felt that as our weather improves (minus the snow about to hit us the next couple days) it might be a welcome message to get an update on when our kids can head out to play baseball together again.  The MYBA Executive Board has developed a contingency plan that we hope still allows all of our kids the opportunity to play baseball this summer.  Just a reminder that this is a tentative plan based on what the Governor decides to do with the current shelter in place order.

If Shelter in place is phased out during May, MYBA is hoping to start our 2020 season for both our travel program and in-house by the week of June 1, extending through the entire month of July.  Tentatively practices would be scheduled before and during the season.  Registration will remain open, and fees will not be due until a firm start date is scheduled.  We are looking forward to seeing you all out at Westwood Park this summer. 

MYBA and the Morton Park District are in constant communication, as we continue to monitor the public health situation, we will make adjustments to this plan, and keep all of you informed and up to date.

Until then, please send us any at home baseball pictures to our Facebook page, and we look forward to hopefully seeing you all at Westwood Park this summer.

Best Regards,

Jason Vallar

MYBA President