Managers, here it is early May and we are on our way to another great year.  Many of our Board members asked me to discuss various topics with you and a couple of reminders as well.

 

As often as we can, we rotate your game times throughout the year from early morning, late morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon.  One of the major reasons that may change your rotation is that if you go up or down a bracket, it is not unusual to affect your game times.  Also, remember that you are guaranteed 2 games per day, but you are not guaranteed 2 games in a row.  You may have to sit a game, and maybe more than one game on a rare occasion.

 

I am extremely happy with the voter turnout over moving the State Tournament to the fall.  We had 143 Managers vote, which is almost 75% of our teams represented.  Thanks to our Commissioners and volunteers who made that happen at the tournament sites.  The vote was 78-65 in favor of keeping the tournaments in December this year.  It was a close vote, and that tells me that many would like to see a change.  We will address this again later in  the year and see about another scenario for next year.  

Our Commissioners make the decision together on whether to go to a 1-pitch day or not.  Some like the format and some don't.  But, we only go to 1-pitch to try and get all of the games in, which is fair to all teams concerned.  If we play a normal game in the morning, and only go to 1-pitch in the afternoon, it means there is a great chance the afternoon games would be wiped out.  Please be mindful that our concern is with all teams and not just some teams.

 

Many of our tournaments are now hosted by the FHC Board.  Unfortunately, many of our Hosts in the past did not prepare properly for the tournament they were assigned, and did not have enough people to run a site the way they should.  We are happy to allow teams to Host if they have proven or if they can show that they will have sufficient numbers to Co-Host a tournament.  You can still contact your Area Director if you have interest.  When the FHC Hosts a tournament, the umpires carry additional duties, and the teams are required to chase their own home run balls and foul balls.

 

The 2019 calendar is almost completed.  Our goal is to announce the 2019 schedule by June sometime.  That leaves you plenty of time to make plans for next year.

 

This is a reminder that most of our sites do not allow alcohol or animals on the tournament grounds.  Please adhere to these regulations.  However, please clean up after yourself, and put your cola containers in the garbage can.  Also, clean up after your pets.

 

There have been several changes for the good of the Association that have taken place in the past year plus.  Our FHC Board has worked very hard to improve on the day-to-day operations, and especially the tournaments themselves.  Some of these are:

Managers, please check your rosters before you get to the tournament site and see if it aligns with your records.  You can go on the website and do just that.

 

Have a great summer, and remember to drink the right stuff prior to the hot tournament months.