Shorewood Little League Volunteer Positions
Little League International requires a Board to have at minimum a: PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, SECRETARY, TREASURER, SAFETY OFFICER, and PLAYER AGENT.
LEAGUE PRESIDENT presides at league meetings, and assumes full responsibility for the operation of the local league. The President receives all mail, supplies and other communications from Little League International. The President must see to it that the league personnel are properly briefed on all phases of rules, regulations, and policies of Little League. The league President is the contact between the local organization and Little League International.
VICE PRESIDENT presides in the absence of the President; works with other officers and committee members; is ex-officio member of all committees and carries out such duties and assignments as may be delegated by the President.
SECRETARY maintains a register of members and directors; records the minutes of meetings; is responsible for sending out notice of meetings, issues, membership cards and maintains a record of the league's activities.
TREASURER signs checks co-signed by another officer or director; dispenses league funds as approved by the board of directors; reports on the status of league funds; keeps local league books and financial records; prepares budgets and assumes the responsibility for all league finances.
PLAYER AGENT conducts annual skills assessment and is in charge of player selection, assists President in checking birth records and eligibility of players; serves as a member of the board of directors of the local league an generally supervises and coordinates the transfer of players to or from the Minor Leagues according to the provisions of the regulations of Little League. Creates the game and practice schedules for the league.
SAFETY OFFICER coordinates all safety activities; ensures the safety in player training; ensures safe playing conditions; coordinates reporting and prevention of injuries; solicits suggestions for making conditions safer, and reports suggestions to Little League International through the league President.
Additional details on these above volunteer positions can be found at www.littleleague.org.
At our annual Membership Meeting in September, the league voted and approved to add these Board positions for 2014:
TEAMS OFFICER: This position replaces the individual Division Coordinators. They will work with many people within the league, ensure each team receives their uniforms & equipment, has a practice & game schedule, and established team parents… in essence makes sure each team is set for the upcoming season. He or she will be involved with Registration & Spring Training, be the go-to person for families in the league, as well as have the option to create the game and practice schedule. This person can also be a coach.
FIELD MAINTENANCE OFFICER: This role includes coordination of maintenance activities with volunteers, the Village and outside landscaping firms. Also includes weekly inspections and maintenance, coordinating the striping of the fields during game days, and generally treating the fields like they were your own backyard flower bed.
VOLUNTEER OFFICER: This organized, people-person will make sure volunteers are assigned to the activities they said they would help with, give guidance if necessary, assist the Team Parents with Concession Stand Assignment, and process volunteer applications and background checks.
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: The commitment in this role is to produce a quarterly Newsletter (optional), Flyers (when appropriate), but mostly to generate the Email blasts regarding league information and updates, and maintain the Shorewood Little League website with news, scores, and sponsors, schedules for practices and games, concession stand shifts, and umpire assignments, as well as handle the details for creating the on-line registration and survey forms.
UMPIRE IN CHIEF: Recruits and/or confirms umpires for the upcoming season, and prepares all league umpires for the upcoming season. Assigns the umpires to the game schedule, creates a sub list for any assigned game conflicts, processes pay slips for the Treasurer, holds one training/informational meeting to go thru local rules or significant rules changes, as well as gives each umpire a rule book, balls/strikes counter, umpire hat & shirt, as well as ensure they have proper protective equipment.
CONCESSIONS OFFICER: This Board position was created for 2008 in an effort to monitor the Concessions Stand and its activities. This organized person will hire a Concessions Manager, and assist them with pre-season/post-season opening/closing duties, as well as ensures our Concession Stand meets the Health Inspection requirements. Individuals are also responsible for making deposits regularly, as well as monitor the hours of the hired help (so we stay on budget). Note, actual working at the Concession Stand is not required.
SPECIAL EVENTS OFFICER: Responsibilities for this position require assisting the individual event coordinators (or taking charge of) the very important activities for the league. Attention to details, deadlines, and budgets required. Love working with people and planning a fun time, then this role is for you! The Special Events (SE) include: Spring Training (coordinated by the Player Agent & Teams Officer), Safety Days, National Little League Night, Team Pictures & Plaques, End of Season Parties, and National Night Out. See below for the individual Event Coordinator responsibilities.
Additional Volunteer Opportunities include :
SAFETY DAY COORDINATOR – This annual May event is sponsored by the Chiropractor Company on Oakland Avenue who actually does most of the work setting up and marketing to the community. What this person will do is… promote it more within our organization, and perhaps try to have Sponsors present as well.
NATIONAL LITTLE LEAGUE NIGHT COORDINATOR – This annual mid-June event is wonderful fundraiser for Shorewood Little League, but a great community building opportunity for an exciting evening of Brewer baseball. Ticket price includes sitting in one of our two all-Shorewood Family Sections at the game, hotdog / bratwurst tailgate dinner, and the opportunity for that Little Leaguer, Softball Player, or Shorewood Rec T-ball/coach-pitch player to participate in the pre-game walk-on-the-field parade! This individual coordinates the tickets sales, assigns tickets to families, and coordinates all the details for the tailgate!
PICTURE DAY COORDINATOR -- Establish the schedule for having the team pictures taken on a particular Saturday in mid-June, communicating that schedule to the families through flier and webmaster. Be on hand to assist in orchestrating the team pictures. Assist the Photography Company with assigning the correct sponsors to each team. They will do they rest – player plaques with the team picture for the end of the season. You will work with Team parents to ensure information is dispersed timely.
AAA/MAJORS END-OF-SEASON CELEBRATION COORDINATOR -- Come celebrate the end of the season (early July) with final games for their divisions at Haelfer Field. Families will be asked to bring a salad or dessert to share, as the league provides hotdogs, bratwurst, and beverages to everyone. Additional concessions will be available at the field. Activities include a Home-Run Derby for the different age groups, as well as the Announcement of the Baki Muchin Recipient.
MINORS END-OF-SEASON PICNIC COORDINATOR – Come celebrate the end of the season first weekend in August, and watch the Minor division teams play their final games at Spector Field. Responsibilities include coordinating pitching booth, dunk tank, food, and volunteers. Call on your Team Parents to help promote to individual teams. A good time to handout awards!
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT – Two individuals will be needed to work with Chairperson of the National Night-Out Committee. The two of you will represent Shorewood Little League, and may be required clock pitches for different age groups, and awarding with candy those who are the fastest for their age division, as well as hand out the flyer announcing the annual Membership meeting and any interest in joining the Little League Board.
SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR – This individual will work with the Board (may need to attend one or two Board meetings), and will contact prior year's sponsors for the upcoming season and if necessary ask the league Membership for leads for new sponsors. Ensure sponsors' logos are in pdf file format and given to the webmaster for Shorewood Little League website, and are given to the uniform coordinator for team sponsorship, and make sure banners are ordered (if new) and placed in the outfield at Spector field, and collect sponsorship fees.
UNIFORM & EQUIPMENT COORDINATOR – Parents select uniform sizes when they register. However, the coordinator verifies the info at the Skills Assessment. This role focuses on making sure that our kids get their uniforms before their first games, and that all baseball equipment is in good working condition, and well maintained, and given to the coaches.
COACHING COORDINATOR – The individual runs the background checks on Coaches, orders Positive Coaching materials and practice training books or DVDs for the coaches, supports and promotes additional coach training opportunities – breakfast with the HS Coach, holds pre-season coach training which covers: teaching how to field, bat, throw, and basic plays; running a practice; SLL Code of Conduct Policies, Baki Muchin Total Package Award, Tournament Team Opportunities, Creating Pre-Season Parent Letter, etc.
TEAM MANAGER (aka HEAD COACH) – This job is perfect for the person who loves the game of baseball and enjoys teaching the skills to play! It requires a commitment of time, energy, patience, and some basic knowledge of the game. As the main contact person for the team, other responsibilities include organizing and managing practices (2 or 3 during pre-season, and at least 1 per week once the games begin), games (1-3 per week), selecting two Assistant Coaches for your team, helping at the Players Skills Assessment in February/March, participating in the Player Draft, attending the Coaches Clinic in March/April, and Spring Training Clinic in April/May. Basic skills training will be provided for new coaches. Re-capture your youth and join our team!
ASSISTANT COACHES* – Each team is allowed to have two official Assistants (although Team Managers welcome the additional assistance from parents for practices). Assistant Coaches are selected by the Team Manager after players have been drafted to teams. It requires a commitment of time, energy, patience, and some basic knowledge of the game as they assist the Team Manager at practices and games. Assistant Coaches may be asked to work with small groups of players to develop specific baseball skills, work the baselines during the game, manage the players in the dugout, help with the scorebook/pitch counts, etc. If you signed up for this role as your volunteer contribution to the league, we encouraged you to help with the Skills Assessment in February/March. If selected as an Assistant by a Team Manager, you will be required to attend the Coaches Clinic in March/April, and assist with the Spring Training in April/May. Additional skills-training is available for new coaches. This is a lot of fun!
TEAM PARENT -- Each team needs one parent to help the coaches coordinate activities and communicate updates. Activities may include: creating an end of game snack schedule for games played at OTHER fields besides Spector, finding parent/teen volunteers to help work the Concession Stand at Spector, as well as promote, assist with, and encourage team families to help with Special Events. This is a great way to get to know all the families on the team! The Volunteer Officer will assist you in getting started. Should be email savvy.
CONCESSIONS MANAGER – Since this job requires about 10-15 hours per week during the baseball season, the SLL Board in 2007 agreed to make this a PAID position for our league. The dollars collected from the Volunteer Buyout Option off-set this payroll expense. Responsibilities include opening, maintaining, and closing the stand, pre-season set-up/post-season breakdown, as well as training volunteers OR any additional paid personnel. The Manager is required to work the stand if volunteers are not present or use some of their payroll dollars to hire outside help. This individual(s) would also order and restock items, present to the Board, inventory items before and at the end of the season, as well as give the Board a cash flow statement each month.
CONCESSION WORKERS – An easy way to fulfill your volunteer commitment. If you are not involved in any other areas above, we need your help working the Concessions Stand. A minimum of 3 games per registered child is needed… please see your Team Parent immediately with the games that work best for your schedule. Duties include helping to set-up before the game, preparing food items, serving customers, handling cash exchanges, restocking if necessary, and closing after the games. Minimum training needed.
WORKER BEE - There are a lot of events and activities that require multiple volunteers. If you don’t want to be completely responsible for an event or activity, but just want to help – then select this volunteer role. Areas that you may be called to help with are Concession Stand, Little League Night, End-of-Season Celebration, Spring Field Prep, and/or End-of-Season Equipment Inventory.