2010 Baseball Season - Wrap up

It doesn't seem like that long ago we were doing indoor player evaluations and forming teams, yet here we are at the end of our season! A big thank you to all the coaches, board members, committee volunteers, concession volunteers, parents, and players for making this season a great one. Combined, our 14 teams played 166 PONY league games with an over .500 record of 88-72-6. Ten of our teams finished .500 or better in league play. Plus our combined teams played in about 30 various tournaments.
Teams that got hardware in PONY League play:

Holt Jr. Rams Black U14 (9-3-9) - 1st Place in Division F

Holt Jr. Rams D&M Silkscreen U12 (12-0-0) - 1st Place in Division E

Holt Jr. Rams Gold U10 (9-2-1) - 2nd Place in Division A

Holt Jr. Rams Black U10 (8-3-1) - 2nd Place in Division C

Tournament Success:
Holt Jr. Rams Gold U10

1st Place - Fowlerville Community Gladiator Classic
2nd Place - East Lansing Spring Tournament
2nd Place - St. Johns Battle of the Bats
2nd Place - PONY Sectional Tournament

Holt Jr. Rams White U10

2nd Place - Mid-Michigan PONY End of Season Tournament

Holt Jr. Rams D&M Silkscreen U12

1st Place - Mid-Michigan PONY End of Season Tournament

HJRB Board Meeting - November 17

The Holt Jr. Rams Baseball board will be having a board meeting next Wednesday November 17, at 6:00pm. Parents are welcome to attend.

We will be finalizing discussions on the 2010 season, discussing the upcoming 2011 season, and the Elliott field conversion project.

The meeting will be held at the Holt High School Library. If you come in the main front doors, take the steps upstairs and it is right there.
6pm – 8:30pm.

Grand Slam Baseball Academy

Court One Athletic Clubs is proud to

introduce the 2010-2011 College Series

 

As the area’s only “full-service” baseball academy , Grand Slam’s focus will be

to continually expose area baseball players to unprecedented opportunities.

Designed to educate players, parents and coaches, the Series will be filled

with fundamentally stressed instruction from nationally respected college

head coaches and their staff members, who will mix individual/group drills and

informative curriculum as how to best approach the game of baseball. Ideal for

young players to college prospects who want to get better one day at a time.

 

Eastern Michigan University • November 13th, 12p-4p.

Grand Slam welcomes head coach Jay Alexander and staff members for part 1 of the College Series.

 

Wayne State University • December 4th, 12p-4p.

Grand Slam welcomes head coach Ryan Kelley and staff members to part 2 of the College Series.

Coach Kelley enters his third season as WSU’s head coach.

 

Michigan
State University • January 22nd, 12p-4p.

Grand Slam welcomes head coach Jake Boss and staff members to part 3 of the college series.

Jake Boss Jr. was appointed the 16th head coach in Michigan State baseball history on July 1, 2008,

and took little time making his mark on the program as in his first season he guided the Green

and White to its highest Big Ten finish and first trip to the Big Ten Tournament since 2004.

 

We also offer the following services:

•Individual and Team baseball skill instruction •Travel Baseball Teams

• Baseball memberships available • Baseball Facility Rental

 

For more information contact Mike Bess,

Director of Baseball Operations

517.908.3245

Project Proposal: Elliott #3 and #4 Field Conversion

HJRB Community,

Please take the time to read this email and respond. This is a very important project for our baseball program both to improve our facilities and to greatly increase our ability to self generate funds for future projects without having to totally rely on donations or player fundraisers.

As most of you know, we plan on converting two additional fields at Elliott Elementary into HJRB fields. We have permission from Delhi Parks & Rec. and also Holt Schools to do this. The plan is to convert Elliott #3 into a combination U10 / U12 field and to convert Elliott #4 into a U10 field. Then we will relinquish use of the Jr. High fields back to Delhi P&R for their usage. This will allow us to bring all of our HJRB games together into one baseball “complex”, creating a fun baseball atmosphere next season. This centralization will allow our U10 teams to have access to real bathroom facilities, the concession stand, the batting cages, better parking, and any equipment stored at the site. Concession proceeds, all of which directly benefit the entire program, should more than double by hosting the U10 teams at Elliott. We will also have a greater ability to host our own tournaments next year which is an excellent fund raiser for the program. Allowing Elliott #3 to be used for U12 usage also gives us greater flexibility for U12 games; as a backup field and for tournaments.

The conversion involves extending out the infield and installing fencing for safety. Currently those fields have base dimensions of 50’x50’. U10 requires 60’ and U12 requires 70’, thus the need to make the infield bigger. Sod will need to be cut out, removed, and filled in with baseball dirt. We are not completely enclosing the fields with fencing (nor can we), we are planning on installing fencing that extends from the backstop to about 15 feet past 1st and 3rd bases on both sides for safety reasons. This conversion is estimated to cost around $4000 - $8000, depending on how much we can do ourselves.

In order to make this happen we need a workable balance of volunteers and money. The less volunteers the more money we’ll need, the more volunteers the less money we need – you get the picture. We have about $3,000 in our general fund that we can use for this project; this surplus is from pre-season donations, HJRB merchandise sales, concession sales, etc.

We are asking for pledges of time, material, equipment, and/or money. We need:

Fencing Work

• Do you work for a fencing company? Can you get a discount or a full or partial donation?
• Do you know how to properly install fencing?
• Do you have equipment to install fencing (dig post holes, etc.)
• Can you volunteer time to work on an installation crew?

Field Work

• Do you work for a landscaping company? Can you get a discount on services and/or equipment, or donation of such?
• We will need a sod cutter or backhoe
• We will need a place to dump the cut away sod and dirt
• We need good quality baseball dirt. We can work through Delhi P&R to get it from their supplier but if you have any connections we can compare pricing. The dirt alone may cost around $2000.
• Can you volunteer time to work on a crew for the field work?

 Money!

• Don’t have the time, skills, or even desire to volunteer for a work crew? You can do your part by making a donation instead.
• We are a registered non-profit organization and any donations are tax deductable.
• Make a personal donation of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, or more and your name will be listed on a plaque that will be hung on the field’s new fencing.
• Business making donations can be listed on the plaque or special arrangements can be worked out based on amount of donation. They should contact me for more info.

All pledges will be collected and I will work out a proposal for how we can best get this project done. This proposal will then be presented at the next board meeting (sometime in July). If the project is approved by the HJRB Board of Directors then we will proceed ASAP with the project this summer.

Please email me what you would like to pledge for this project (time, material, equipment, and/or money donation). Pledges will only be collected if we have enough support to proceed with this project.

I am counting on everyone pledging something! If you have friends or neighbors that are not part of our HJRB community now but may put their boy in the program next year, please forward this email to them also as it will benefit them as well.

Thanks for your time,

Brian Kayser, President
Holt Jr. Rams Baseball
http://www.hjrb.org/

Turning in uniforms

Parents,

What a great season!! I can’t believe it is winding down already. Thanks to everyone that participated, cheered on the kids, and helped out by volunteering.

I have asked all of the coaches to find a parent volunteer on their teams to collect all of the kids uniforms on the last game. This is not necessarily the last PONY league game as there may still be tournaments to play. This is always a tricky process for some reason and I’m counting on everyone’s help and cooperation to help make it go smoother this year.

If you have not heard anything from your coach about uniform collection, please ask. If you want to help out by collecting and washing the uniforms please let them know that also (they have been working hard the past few months running the team, please pitch in). We will arrange to get them collected by our uniform committee from the parent volunteer.

Our suggestion is that on the last game the team plays together, that the kids bring a change of clothing. Hopefully wherever this is has a restroom available to change, then all the uniforms (jersey, pants, and belt) can be turned into the parent volunteer from the team. If this doesn’t work then the coach and/or parent volunteer can work out an alternate plan.

If nothing gets coordinated with the team you are on, or you miss the last game, it is ultimately YOUR responsibility to get your uniform turned it. Email me and we’ll work something out.

We need all uniforms back after the season, no exceptions. Any players that do not turn in their uniforms will be promptly contacted to either collect the uniform or the $50 everyone agreed to pay if not returned.

You help is GREATLY APPRECIATED in helping us make this process as smooth as possible.

THANKS!
Brian Kayser, President
Holt Jr. Rams Baseball
http://www.hjrb.org/

BPA Tournaments Canceled

Unfortunatly the BPA tournaments that we needed volunteers for were both canceled so we no longer need volunteers for these events. 

PLEASE HELP

Parents,


As most of you know, we are trying to raise the money needed to convert two of the “Midget Baseball” fields at Elliott School into U10 fields so we can discontinue using the fields at the Jr. High. This will allow all our HJRB games to be played at a single venue so the U10ers can have access to better parking, full restrooms, the concession stand, and hopefully better fields (with no lacrosse in the outfield). One of the fields may be made into a field that can accommodate additional U12 games also. The infields need to be extended outward and some additional fencing added at a minimum.

I’m really trying to avoid sending home stuff with the kids to sell door to door. Not many people like those. So, what we do need are some volunteers for various money making endeavors. Some have been helping out already in our new Snack Shack – thank you to those folks!! Plus thank you to those that have been patronizing the stand during your son’s games, that helps too.

For the help I need right now: I have committed the HJRB program to provide volunteers for two different weekends for BPA tournaments at the Holt High School. The first one is the weekend of June 12th, for Saturday and Sunday. I’m not sure of the exact times yet but Saturday would be all day from 8am – around 9pm. I need to maintain at least 3-4 adults plus their HJRB players at all times during the tournament. Duties will be selling gate tickets, concession workers, scoreboard operator, and ball field prep between games.

Only about 10% of our parents are active volunteers and those 10% are bearing the entire load. Please step-up and help us make this a better youth baseball program for your kids!!

If you can help out on Saturday June 12 th or Sunday June 13th, please email me how long of a shift you’d be willing to work and which hours you are available.

If your schedule doesn’t work for this weekend, our other weekend is June 26th. Or let me know if you are willing to work at our HJRB Snack Shack and I’ll let you know what days we need help.

THANKS in advance for any help you can offer.

Rainout Info

For rainout information regarding HJRB home games only, call the Delhi Parks & Rec rainout number 517-694-3433 after 4:30pm. You can also check the "Rainout Information" section on the home page of our website www.hjrb.org; a message will be posted if games are canceled. If possible, an email will be sent to the HJRB mailing list if all home games are canceled.

For away games, you must contact your coach or the community where your game is scheduled.

2010 AQUAFINA PITCH, HIT & RUN

DELHI PARKS & RECREATION

2010 AQUAFINA PITCH, HIT & RUN

WHEN: SUNDAY, MAY 23 - 11:00 A.M.

WHERE: ELLIOTT ELMENTARY FIELD #6

WHO: BOYS & GIRLS, AGES 7-14 (AGE DETERMINED AS OF 7-16-10)

EVENTS: BATTING, PITCHING AND BASERUNNING

COST: FREE!

Pitch, Hit & Run is intended to encourage participation and
emphasize the "fun" element of baseball competition. Every
child, 7-14 years of age is eligible to compete free of charge.
Each participant will compete in each of the three events and
accumulate a total score based on his/her performance.

Winners from each age division will advance to the
sectional competition, Sun. June 6 at 11:00am at
Elliott Ele. Field #6. Sectional winners will then be
eligible to advance to the State Championships at Comerica Park.

The top three finalists in each age group will be awarded
ribbons. The individual winner from each skill event will also
be awarded a ribbon.

The Delhi Township Parks & Recreation Department will provide
baseballs and batting tee. Participants bring their glove & bat.

REGISTRATION PROCESS: All participants must pre-register by
contacting Delhi Parks & Recreation Department.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
A) Metal Spikes are not allowed.
B) In case of inclement weather the competition will resume
Sunday, June 6 10:00 a.m. at Elliott Elementary Field #6.
C) Pre-registration is required.
 
Delhi Township Parks & Recreation Dept.
http://www.delhitownship.com/parks-recreation.htm
2074 Aurelius Rd.
Holt MI 48842
phone: 517-694-1549
email: tim.tilma@delhitownship.com
Office hours: M-F 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

-------------------------------------------
HOW TO ADVANCE

Each youngster MUST first participate at a local
competition. The 1st Place All-Around, Pitching, Hitting
and Running Champions in each age group advance to
the Sectional competition.

At the Sectional competition, the youngster must be a
1st Place All-Around Champion in his/her age group in
order to qualify to advance to the Team Championship.
The Sectional All-Around Champions' scores are
compared with the other Sectional Champions' scores in
that respective MLB® team market. The Top 3 participants
in each age and gender group advance to the Team
Championship. The Sectional Champion does NOT
automatically advance to the Team Championship.

After the Team Championships, the All-Around Champions
in each age and gender group are ranked nationally by total
score. The champions' scores from all 30 team markets are
compared and the top scorers in each age group and gender
nationwide advance to the National Finals in Anaheim, California.

PONY Meeting April 22

Head Coaches,
Mason PONY has scheduled their next meeting for April 22nd at 6:30pm in Room 22 at the Mason Middle School. This is the meeting where games schedules are hammered out. Please know what nights your team can schedule home games!
 
It is mandatory that each team has at least one of their coaches attend. They will be setting the 12 game schedule with their peer coaches from the other communities. If you, the head coach, can not make it, please ensure at least one of your assistant coaches can.

Sprink Break Baseball Camp

Not going anywhere over spring break??

Want to keep your baseball player(s) busy and tone up the skills?

You may want to consider this baseball camp being put on by Justin Pierce.  

See http://www.lansinghitclub.com/ for more information.

This is not a HJRB event so please direct any questions to Justin at the Lansing Hit Club.

Brian Kayser, President

Holt Jr. Rams Baseball

www.hjrb.org

Credit Cards working / Player Fees were due TODAY!

Well someone at Google finally responded and realized their error.  

If you have not paid and still want to pay via Credit Card, it is now working again.

 

Thanks!!

Brian Kayser
 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Brian Kayser [HJRB]" <bkayser@hjrb.org>
To: "Brian Kayser [HJRB]" <bkayser@hjrb.org>
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:18:47 -0500
Subject: Player Fees were due TODAY!

Again, thanks to everyone that has already paid!!!

 

For those of you that have not paid, the baseball player fees were due today (March 1, 2010).  If you have not sent your payment please do so ASAP.  We need to receive your payment by March 5th to avoid any late fees and to allow your son to participate in practices. 

 

Unfortunately, as a lot of you found out this weekend, we are unable to process any more Credit Card payments .  Google Checkouts suspended our account because they said (in an email) that they couldn't verify our non-profit status.  I'm not sure why that even matters; nonetheless without prior contact or warning they just suspended the account.   For four days I have not been able to get any sort of resolution or even a response to my emails (which is their only support option).  So I apologize for this as it couldn't have happened at a worse time but there is nothing I can do.  If you did pay by credit card already (prior to Friday February 26) your payment processed successfully and we received your funds.

 

While accepting credit cards was a payment convenience we were happy to offer for the first time this year , it is not mandatory that we offer this as an option.  Payments must now be made via check/cash.  To make payment, you still go to   http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp, enter the email address you used during registration, then select the PAY BY CHECK option for payment instructions. 
 

If you are wondering if your payment has been received and processed, you can re-visit http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp .  If we have processed your payment your balance should be $0.00. 

 

Thanks,

Brian Kayser, President

Holt Jr. Rams Baseball

www.hjrb.org

 

 

 

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Player fees were due TODAY

Again, thanks to everyone that has already paid!!!

 

For those of you that have not paid, the baseball player fees were due today (March 1, 2010).  If you have not sent your payment please do so ASAP.  We need to receive your payment by March 5th to avoid any late fees and to allow your son to participate in practices. 

 

Unfortunately, as a lot of you found out this weekend, we are unable to process any more Credit Card payments .  Google Checkouts suspended our account because they said (in an email) that they couldn't verify our non-profit status.  I'm not sure why that even matters; nonetheless without prior contact or warning they just suspended the account.   For four days I have not been able to get any sort of resolution or even a response to my emails (which is their only support option).  So I apologize for this as it couldn't have happened at a worse time but there is nothing I can do.  If you did pay by credit card already (prior to Friday February 26) your payment processed successfully and we received your funds.

 

While accepting credit cards was a payment convenience we were happy to offer for the first time this year , it is not mandatory that we offer this as an option.  Payments must now be made via check/cash.  To make payment, you still go to   http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp, enter the email address you used during registration, then select the PAY BY CHECK option for payment instructions. 
 

If you are wondering if your payment has been received and processed, you can re-visit http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp.  If we have processed your payment your balance should be $0.00. 

 

Thanks,

Brian Kayser, President

Holt Jr. Rams Baseball

www.hjrb.org

 

 

 

**** Subscribe to this mailing list ****

If you were forwarded this message and would like to subscribe to this mailing list yourself, simply send a message to:

Mailing.List-subscribe@hjrb.org . You can put in anything for the subject and body or leave it blank. This is not a monitored address.

 

**** Unsubscribe from this mailing list ****

To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to:

Mailing.List-unsubscribe@hjrb.org

 

HJRB Player Fees Due

Thank you to everyone that has already paid their player fees via check or credit card!!!  This has helped a lot as we already have bills to pay. 

 

For those of you who have not paid yet (there are a lot) please take this opportunity to do so! 

Simply follow this link and plug in the email address you used when you registered your son.  It will tell you how much you owe and let you pay via credit card or check. If you pay by check, all the information you need will be provided. 

Click here: http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp

 

The fees are considered late after March 1 and players will not be able practice until the fees are paid.  For those players playing Tier-2/3 you start indoor practice the week of March 8!  Players on Tier-2/3 teams should have been contacted by their coach by now to communicate the indoor practice schedule. 
 

Thanks

HJRB Merchandise a great success!

We sold 82 HJRB logoed items to families during our first order window for merchandise!!  These were shirts, personalized bat bags, automobile window stickers, sweatshirts, etc.  Thanks to everyone that placed an order. A portion of the proceeds are donated back to the program!! 

If you missed this order window don't worry, we are now taking orders again for our second order window which will get the merchandise in your hands prior to April 5, 2010. 

Have you checked out the HJRB Merchandise Store?

The order deadline for the first round of merchandise is being extended from today to Monday (2-22-10) at noon. If you want a t-shirt, sweatshirt, polo shirt, bat bag, or window sticker you have a few more days to get your order in for a March 8 delivery.

The adult polo shirts were just added yesterday (check them out!!). The bat bat was added a few weeks ago and can be personalized with the player's name.

Orders are taken on-line at www.hjrb.org (visit the HJRB Store). Payment isn't due until you pick up your order. There is a size chart available at the bottom of the merchandise page but if something doesn't fit we will get you into something that does.

Check it out, this is your last chance to get in on this first order. The second order window will have a delivery date of April 5. So if you're on a team that does indoor practice and want to get your player a nice practice shirt, this is your last chance.

Thanks!!
Brian Kayser, President
Holt Jr. Rams Baseball
http://www.hjrb.org/

P.s.s - Don't forget player registration fees are due now. Please pay at: http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp

Registration Reduction Program

I hope everyone has had a chance to checkout the rosters, I know our website has had a lot of visitors this week! Now that the rosters are in place the player fees are now due ! With that in mind, this is your last chance to try to take advantage of our "Registration Reduction Program "!! We have revamped it a little to make it easier for potential sponsors to pick a donation level and pick a corresponding recognition perk (such as ball field signage, a team or field sponsorship, etc.).

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, this is a program where if you obtain a donor/sponsor or two (or three...), then 15% of their donation will be used to reduce YOUR player registration fees!!!! For example, if you can get a sponsor that donates $500 to our tax deductible baseball program then you get $75 off your registration fees! The more sponsorship money you obtain the bigger your discount!! Check out the website for more information.

Time is running out on this program as the fees are due now and the deadline is March 1. Please don't delay your payment too much though as we need to start paying some bills. If you do pay your player fees and then get a business to donate we'll figure out a way to get you your discount, even if it is refunding that portion of your fees.

If you don't plan on trying to solicit any business for this then please help us out by paying your player fees ASAP (thanks to those of you that have paid already!!). You can find out exactly what you owe by visiting our website or here is the direct link to the payment page: http://www.hjrb.org/PaymentForm.asp

Payments need to be mailed in to our treasurer, Ramona Butterson, or you can pay by credit or debit card. Payments will not be taken by the coaches this year. If you want to pay by via cash, contact Ramona for arrangements ( rbutterson@hjrb.org).

Holt Jr. Rams Baseball Store
We have gear!! Great selection, great logo, and Great prices!! Get your players a wicking shirt for practices or get yourself a t-shirt or sweatshirt to show your support during games. This also helps raise funds for our program. Don't be the only parent not sporting HJRB gear at the games! Click on the HJRB Store button on our website!!


ESPN Magazine: Get (or give) a 2-year subscription to ESPN The Magazine and HJRB keeps 75%. You pay $40 which is still 80% off the newsstand prices. You will also receive 2 years of ESPN Insider as well. Click here to order -->> http://proxy.espn.go.com/coaches/store?sellerEmailId=34587

THANKS!!
Brian Kayser, President
Holt Jr. Rams Baseball
http://www.hjrb.org/

Coaches Clinic

If you are a head coach or an assistant please plan on attending the Coaches Clinic which will be run by the High School coach, Brad Phillips.

Coaches Clinic
February 11, 2010
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Holt 9th Grade Campus in the Choir Room.

Registration Deadline Looming!

First of all, thank you to the 100 plus families that have already registered your boys to play baseball with the Holt Jr. Rams Baseball program. We appreciate it! However, going by last year’s numbers we are potentially about 80 families shy of getting everyone registered!

Everyone MUST be registered before player evaluations:

• The registration deadline for U14 is January 18!
• The registration deadline for U12 is January 19!
• The registration deadline for U10 is January 25!

*** Don't Delay - Registration only takes about 5 minutes online http://www.hjrb.org/ ***