2011 Toronto Playgrounds Tournament Letter


A COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING THE ANNUAL END OF SEASON HOUSE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

MAKING THEIR PITCH Left to Right: Enzo (11) of the Lizzies (Bantam); Sarah (2) of the Red Sox; Naiemul (3) of the Royals and John Eric (4) of the Cubs.

Dear Parents/Guardians, Players and Coaches                                                                                                         

It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for it, but here’s the schedule and rules for our end-of-year tournament (a.k.a. “September Madness”).  We’d like to go over a few things so that all of us…parents, coaches, players, and umpires… are all on the same page.

Please click the following link to access a printable PDF copy of the 2011 TP House League Baseball Tournament Schedule.

First of all, please note that we’re no longer following a standard division night schedule…games can be any night and also throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Please read the schedule carefully to see when your team plays.

Secondly, as you will see from the schedule, there is a lot of baseball taking place over the next couple of weeks! We set it up this way in order for the players to get the chance to play as much baseball as possible before we have to pack it all up again until next year. Although we’re keeping standings during the round-robin schedule, the emphasis during the tournament is still on having fun, building skills, and being good sports, and we ask all of you to help with this by being good role models for all of the players.

Please click on the following link to access a printable PDF copy of the 2011 TP Tournament Rules.

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION – PLEASE NOTE:

  • ALL games WILL start at the scheduled time, regardless of how many players are there. This is necessary because we don’t have nearly as many hours of daylight for the diamond 3 games, where there are no lights present. Defensive teams will have to start the game fielding with however many players they have (up to a maximum of 9 of course!).
  • Please arrive as close to one half hour before game time as possible to allow coaches to make lineups.  
  • Full uniforms (house league hat, house league jersey, house league pants) are to be worn.
  • Decisions regarding rain outs will be placed on the website/Twitter/hotline 1 hour prior to game time. If games are cancelled due to weather, the tournament will run longer than indicated on the schedule. Please note however that during the tournament we will play through light rain because of the need to get the games completed, so players and parents should dress for the weather.

Tournament rules information sheets will be distributed to everyone over the next few days. Please take the time to read the information and let either your coach or myself know if you have any questions. Diamonds 2 and 3 will have fencing set up, and balls bouncing over or rolling under the fence will be declared dead and bases will be awarded at the umpire’s discretion. Balls clearing the fence on the fly will be home runs.

Players, coaches, and umpires will receive a free lunch from the BBQ on Saturday. We will also be selling lunch from the BBQ on both Saturday and Sunday from approximately 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. We require some volunteers to help run the BBQ, so if you could be available for an hour or two on either Saturday or Sunday, please give your name and phone number to your child’s coach or to me before the start of the tournament. We greatly appreciate any help that you can provide. Thanks in advance!

Updated scores, standings, pictures and other news will be available nightly and daily on the Toronto Playgrounds House League website (www.torontoplaygrounds.ca) and on Twitter (@TPbaseballnews) throughout the tournament.

Remember to check the website, Twitter, or the hotline at (416) 392-1914 if the weather is suspect.

Finally, let’s try and keep the games and our comments positive, and help the players and coaches be good sports.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Smith

Coordinator, Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball