When a baseball connects perfectly with the bat and sails over the fence, there's a special feeling that stays with you forever. That magical moment—one that Clearwater Little League board member Amanda Cole hopes every child experiences—sits at the heart of our latest conversation about youth sports, community building, and creating future leaders.
Fresh off our successful fundraiser that raised $3,500 for the league, Amanda reveals what makes Clearwater Little League special beyond the typical base hits and strikeouts. With over 360 players each season, their programs extend far beyond traditional baseball, including six Challengers teams that provide children and adults with disabilities the opportunity to experience America's pastime. Every fall, they host the statewide Challenger jamboree, welcoming teams from across Florida for a weekend celebration of inclusive baseball.
Behind the pristine fields and impressive facilities lies a volunteer-driven organization tackling significant challenges. Hurricane damage last season forced the closure of five fields, while annual expenses—including a surprising $10,000 just for baseballs—require continuous fundraising efforts. Yet through careful stewardship, registration fees remain remarkably affordable ($35 for T-Ball), ensuring financial barriers don't prevent participation. The league provides equipment for newcomers and creates a supportive environment where players can develop confidence while building relationships with caring adults.
Amanda's vision for the future includes doubling their softball program and increasing female representation in coaching and umpiring roles. However, with seven fields already booked from afternoon until night throughout the season, community support through sponsorships (ranging from $600 to $25,000) and volunteering has never been more crucial to their continued growth.
Whether you're looking to register a player, volunteer your time, or support youth development through sponsorship, visit clearwaterlittleleague.com today to discover how you can help build brave, honest leaders who care about their community both on and off the diamond.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome back to this week's Real Estate
Disruptors podcast.
I am your host, amir Habibzadeh, and I am lucky enough to be
sitting down with Amanda Cole.
She is one of the board membersover at Clearwater Little
League and, as you know, wereally enjoy working with
(00:21):
Clearwater Little League becausethey are such a wonderful
organization helping out thekids and community right here in
the city of Clearwater.
So, amanda, welcome.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thank you for having us.
It's great to see you again.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Likewise, likewise.
Yeah, we just had Amanda here.
About a week ago, a little lessthan a week ago now, we did a
wonderful fundraiser to help outwith Clearwater Little League.
Do you know how much we raisedin total?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We raised $3,500 between the raffle and all of
the wonderful fundraising thatwas done here on site the day of
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I hope that was helpful for you guys.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Definitely Thank you very much.
That was helpful for you guys.
Definitely Thank you very much.
It was quite a blessing to havea little inflection of
fundraising dollars in themiddle of the season.
We get so routines scheduled.
It's game day.
It's game day what?
Are we doing with concessions.
It's nice to have kind of amid-spring, hey, let's raise
(01:23):
some money.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So I loved it.
Well good, we're glad we couldhelp and I'm sure Clearwater
Little League will willdefinitely use that money for
some good things down the line.
Oh yeah, so obviously you siton the board over at Clearwater
Little League.
What does?
What does Clearwater LittleLeague mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Clearwater Little League means community to me.
My kids enjoy it.
They have built lifelongfriendships.
Our family has become closer toothers in our community and it
gives me an opportunity to giveback as a board member to our
community.
So while some say, oh, I lovethe game and teaches valuable
(02:04):
life lessons, yeah, all thosethings.
But it's also community.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, they definitely do teach all those things
Because I remember, as you know,I'm an alumni Back.
You know I showed you mypicture when I was like six
years old in my ClearwaterLittle League uniform and you
know I grew up right, two blocksaway from the park.
So you know, being able to havethat part of my upbringing, it
was wonderful.
(02:29):
It gave me the love forbaseball, taught me all the
basics, taught me about teamworkand you know working together
and you know that winning is noteverything, but it's definitely
important.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's fun but, it's not always reality.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It is fun to win Good stuff.
So what is the, what's themission of Clearwater Little
League?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Clearwater Little League exists to provide the
young people of Clearwater andPinellas area with fun, safe,
productive and healthyenvironment for them to become
brave, honest leaders who careabout their community and care
about others.
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Very good.
What's something that mostpeople don't realize that the
league does for the communityand its members.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
So what most people don't know is that Clearwater
Little League also has aChallengers baseball program.
Okay, so typically you think oft-ball or softball or baseball.
The Challengers is a programthat allows both young people
and adults who have disabilitiesto come out and enjoy the game
(03:50):
of baseball and have thoselifelong memories created on the
field, just like, you know, anyother kid.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Awesome.
Well, that is cool.
I did not know that you had theChallengers Six teams, wow.
Yeah, that's a know that youhad the challengers.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Six teams.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Wow yeah, that's a pretty big league there.
It is, it is.
That is insane.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
We actually host the statewide challenger jamboree
every fall, where teams from allover Florida come to have that
a full weekend tournament stylebanquet, the whole kit and
caboodle.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well, I can only imagine why you guys hold that
because you have such beautifulfacility over there.
It has changed dramaticallysince I used to play there.
I mean, those fields are likestate-of-the-art, they are.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
We're very blessed and we have to thank the City of
Clearwater and the sponsorshippartnership that we have with
them.
We're blessed that they keepthe fields in such a pristine
shape and that we can put ourmoney that that we fundraise,
you know to use of equipment anduniforms and balls and all of
(05:07):
the things that it takes to fund360-plus players each season.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Oh wow, that's a lot you all have to do.
Did the fields experience anyissues from the hurricanes last
year?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, I kept the first storm last year.
I kept the sponsor banners upuntil like 24 hours before the
winds started.
I was like, oh, let's just waitand see.
I was in emergency management20 years ago.
And I was like well, we justwant to.
It's a lot of work to takethose banners down if the storm
(05:46):
skirts around.
Okay, it was quiet, thereweren't any raindrops, no wind.
The second I pulled up to thefields three hours later.
(06:06):
Water was just pouring from thesky.
So we pulled them down in thepouring rain.
But I'm grateful that we did,because five of seven fields had
damage either to the foul polesor to the fencing damage either
to the foul poles or to thefencing.
So it took the community thatcame together on a daily basis
(06:31):
and spread us apart, you know,for some time without any
baseball, which was hard for thekids, right, you know, for us
it just seems like, oh, anotherday, like let's take the kids to
practice, but for them, thatconnectedness and those
relationships with caring adultsand their teammates really was
a big shock for them.
And when we did get back toplaying, we only had two fields
(06:55):
open, so a lot of our practiceswere redistributed or schedules
were trimmed so that everybodycould still get some play time
in, but we're grateful to beback in our beautiful complex at
Sid Lichten this spring and thecommunity back together.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Well, that's wonderful, you know, I know that
was a huge challenge for you.
Are there other challengesthroughout this season that
Clearwater Little League sees?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
You know, I think we see a lot of great things like
when we look at kind of surfacelevel, but people don't realize
how much the operation of aleague takes.
So our entire board ofdirectors, we're all volunteers,
right, we're just kind of doingwhat we can in our spare time.
(07:49):
And we've had new backgroundcheck laws that have been
mandated at the state level.
Of course, little leaguealready has background checks,
but the state has kind of kickedthose up another notch and then
those laws change again nextyear.
(08:10):
So those are really difficultto keep up with right, stay
compliant with all of those andpay for all of that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Even things, as you would say, like buying balls.
Right, simple, right.
You just go to Dick's SportingGoods.
You buy a bunch of balls.
It takes over $10,000 a yearjust to buy baseballs and
softballs.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Oh, wow.
For a league of our size, Iwould have never have guessed
that that is a lot of baseballs.
It's a lot of baseballs, orbaseballs are just expensive.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I don't know they're both.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Well, I'm glad they have you and the rest of the
board and all the community thatcomes together to help put the
program together.
You know, because I know ithelps a lot of kids.
You know how does the leaguesupport kids who are new to the
game and you know, cause I knowit helps a lot of kids.
You know how does the leaguesupport kids who are new to the
game and you know, maybe they'rea little hesitant to to come
out and join a team or somethingalong those lines.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know, I love that you asked about that because
most kids have that traditionalstart in T-ball and continue on
my kids were not in.
That started at the young age.
Mine started in double a, okayum, and so I can you know, speak
from experience there, thatwhen a kid comes in, whether
(09:36):
they're coming in at the juniorsmajors level, where things are
pretty competitive in the littleworld arena, sure, um, or back
in in single or double a,coaches really meet kids where
they're at um.
There's no expectation thatthey're going to come in with
all the equipment they need.
You know, we provide whetherit's a helmet or a glove or a
(10:01):
bat or more than one of thosethings, right, we provide that
help for a kid who isn't surethat they really like this
Gotcha, we provide catchingequipment.
I like to think back when mykids first started AA and I
(10:22):
thought they would never playcatcher because, one, they'd not
never played before and two, Iwasn't sure that the league
would have catching equipmentfor these kids who were twice
the size of their peers on thedouble A teams Gotcha Right,
they were at the top of the agegroup.
Their peers on the double Ateams Gotcha, right, they were
(10:45):
at the top of the age group andthe coach pulled open the the
team bag and had, you know,three different sizes of
catching gear and had allowed mykids to try it.
One of them decided they loveit and now is a catcher on every
team that he's on, just becauseyou know it's a position that
he gets a lot of fulfillment outof.
So meeting kids, what they'reat, you know, we ensure, from a
(11:09):
safety perspective right, thatthey're going to meet the
milestones needed to be safe onthe field.
But as long as they're safe onthe field, you know the coaches
get out there and work with themuntil they build up that, that
skill that's wonderful, that'sreally great.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You know the, because baseball is expensive, you'd
think.
You know, hey, I just need aglove.
But you know that glove is notcheap and you know baseball bats
.
And then you're telling me tenthousand dollar baseballs and
that's something well, you know,it's it is.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
It's the bats, it's the cleats, it's the.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It's everything, it's everything, and I'll put it all
together right, you look atthese kids, uh, we last year
when we did the program and, um,you know, I hadn't been on a
legal little league field inprobably 25, 30, maybe 35 years
at this point, and walking outthere and seeing the young guys,
they are decked out.
I mean they look like little,uh little all-star players, you
(12:11):
know little professionals.
I was blown away.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
There's a term for it , it's drip.
Oh, they got the drip.
That's great, that's great.
Baseball drip, that's great,that's great.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So what do you hope each player walks away with at
the end of the season?
For a new player that comes outand never did it before, what
do you hope that they?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
walk away in remembrance Two things.
I want every kid to walk awaywith confidence.
Okay, I can do hard things.
I want every kid to walk awaywith confidence, right, um, I
can do hard things, I can workthrough adversity.
I can learn a new skill.
I can when I can lose, right.
But I can do it with confidence, um.
And I want every kid to walkaway from a season knowing that
(13:01):
there are adults who care.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Awesome.
Now that's two great, greatthings to learn, especially, you
know, from a community and teamgrowth.
So obviously we've touched onyou know how the league has
changed over the years.
What, what kind of involvementdo you do the parents need need
(13:25):
to dedicate in order for theirchild to be successful in the
league?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
To be successful in the league.
We need parents that have awillingness to just fill in the
gaps when it comes to support ofthe league.
We need concession volunteers,we need team parents, we need
assistant coaches, we need teammanagers.
(13:53):
None of what we can do as aboard works unless there are
multiple levels of parentinvolvement, and not every
parent may have time to jump inand be on the board or devote
their evenings and weekends tobeing a team manager, but
(14:14):
there's definitely.
If you have a willingness, wehave a job right that can be
done something small, somethingbig, something that fits your
talents.
And then in terms of the kidbeing successful in baseball or
softball, it's thatencouragingness right of their
(14:34):
child.
It is helping their childunderstand, whether it's
baseball or piano or dance orsoccer, it's about the time that
you put into it yourself, right, and getting to know yourself
and pushing your own individualskills to a point where you
(14:56):
don't always rely on what thecoach tells you to do.
You know you've got to learn ityourself also thinking for
yourself out there so as littleas 15 minutes a day, right um
outside of your regular practice, um as a as a player, can help
you get better and, um you know,be on that all-star team gotcha
(15:18):
understood.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So do you have a favorite little league moment
out there?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
My favorite little league moments are when, when
kids hit home runs, Um, theirteammates run out to the plate,
lift them up, cheer for them,get excited.
Parents of both sides of theteams right all cheer and are
(15:53):
kind of joining that celebration.
And I've become the home runchurro mom, so regardless of my
team or not, I see one of thosemoments happen and you know I go
to the concession stand andfork over my card and buy
churros for the kids.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I mean, hey, if anything else, I'm hitting a
home run just so I can get achurro.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
A home run churro.
Exactly.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So where do you see the league in the next five
years?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
We are busting at the seams.
Frankly, you know even ourmajors games they start almost 7
o'clock on Monday nights rightbecause we have a double-A or a
single-A or a T-ball practiceright before them.
But I see that Clearwater LittleLeague we take, I see that our
(16:55):
softball side of our leagueincreases even more.
We have a single-A, double A, atriple A and two majors and one
juniors softball team.
Okay, and those are combined ofgirls that come from many
(17:15):
different league districts inthis area, because there's not
as much interest in softball asthere is baseball, gotcha, and
I'd love to see that double insize.
I'd love to see more females incoaching and umpiring roles and
I think that you know takingsome dedicated efforts to go out
(17:39):
and promote softball,especially at the T-ball level.
Okay, because I think there's alot of girls that will start in
T-ball and then, becausethere's not something close by,
they tend to go off to otheractivities, gotcha, but to
really let folks know more aboutour softball programs and the
(18:03):
amazing teams that those youngpeople have put together and are
being successful with Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So when you say you guys are busting at the seams,
does that mean that you justdon't have the field available?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Space-wise, the seven fields that we have are are
packed right from four, 30 andthe after four, 35 o'clock in
the afternoon till nine o'clockat night.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So are you guys able to partner with other fields, or
are they packed too?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Um, I think the city of Clearwater.
Um, there's a lot of demandfrom travel teams and other
organizations that use fieldstravel teams and other
organizations that use fields.
So, you know, I'd love at somepoint if, if our fields could
expand even right, we've got abeautiful home and there's no
(18:55):
place like it, but, you know,trying to come up with how do we
get creative in terms of spaceso that we can bring more
softball, so that we can bringmore uh, t-ball and uh have all
of those programs going on umyou know together so so how can
people best help the league moveforward?
(19:16):
Um, so, in general, uh, we have,uh, what we call giving
champions.
Those are community businesseslike Charles Ruttenberg Realty
that help to sponsor teams.
We've also introduced leaguesponsorships that will help us
to move forward things like oursoftball programs and our t-ball
(19:39):
programs.
And then your traditional buy abanner.
Right, we have a program whereyou can help us fill our fences
by buying a banner andadvertising your business.
Those are the ways that just,it takes money to run right,
(20:01):
it's bring your kids bring yourkids to come out and play right.
The registration fees that wecharge are a third or less of
what it takes to actuallyoperate the program for a player
.
What are those?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
fees.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
For Challenger Ball and for T-Ball we charge $35.
Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, veryaffordable to get in and play
and enjoy.
All the other ones kind of justrange from like $125 up to $200
.
Okay, you know your expensesget higher as you get older,
(20:41):
based on all the other extraequipment and the umpires and
the travel components and all ofthat.
So, but yeah, I mean, bringyour young people out four years
old all the way through 16.
Okay, we have programs forbaseball, softball and then
(21:04):
donate time and money.
We need concessions volunteers,we need special event day
volunteers.
So if you've got an hour or ifyou've got a month of Sundays,
there's something that we can dowith your time and your, your
talents, in order to helpfurther the league.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And going back to you know, sponsorships and whatnot
what, what are your levels asfar as sponsorships?
What's, what can somebody getin and what's the max and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
We've got single sponsorships for as low as $600
per season, right Per season,right, Uh-huh per season, or we
have league sponsorships as highas $25,000.
Okay, so kind of everything inbetween.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Understood.
Well, good stuff, all right.
So I just wanted to maybe do alittle fun wrap-up here.
Okay, all right.
So what is your favoriteballpark snack?
Maybe it's a churro, I don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Okay, so churro would have been what I said first,
but since I already talked aboutthat one, I would say the
corndog People underratecorndogs.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I agree with you.
You know there's a new foodtruck that opened up.
That's.
All they do is corndogs.
No way yeah it's down inseminole, he's, he does a good
job.
What is your favorite baseballteam?
My favorite baseball team arethe the braves, are the good old
atlanta braves, okay, and uh,most iconic baseball movie oh
(22:38):
sandlot oh yeah, yeah, you'rekilling me Smalls.
Well, good stuff.
Is there anything that youwanted to end with here and let
everybody know I want to hearyour favorite baseball moment.
My favorite baseball moment.
(22:58):
Well, of course it involves ahome run.
It was, I want to say, I was 12years old, still playing
Clearwater Little League.
Well, yeah, clearwater LittleLeague.
I remember the jersey I had wasyellow and it wasn't like one
of those game-winning home runs,but it was just the first time
(23:22):
that you ever felt the bat andthe ball really connect and you
were like you knew once, whenthe ball and bat connected, that
it this was like the best hityou ever had.
And I and I remember thatfeeling and just from that
connection and then seeing theball, and at that point in time,
if it went over the fence itwasn't considered a home run, it
(23:45):
was out of bounds, so youcouldn't really do that, but it
made it to the area inside thefence where it was still
considered a home run andwhatnot.
So that was my best memory fromLittle League Nice.
It was that good old home runstuff.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I bet there was a pop kind of sound that happened
after that ball and bat connect.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And there's nothing like it.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Nope, there isn't.
And you know, I remember thefeeling like you don't even
really feel it hit the bat.
Really, it was just that youheard the pop and you knew you
connected and it was gone andyou're like, yes, I just did
something.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And that is the feeling in life of yes, I did it
, yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
And I hope every kid that goes through Little League
has that feeling at some pointin time, because that's really
what made my love for the gameeven stronger.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
All right, Thanks for having me, Amir.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Absolutely.
We'll see everybody next time.
Thank you, amanda Cole, forjoining us.
We really appreciate it andanybody want to help Clearwater
Little League.
She is available.
Feel free to reach out to usand we will get you in touch.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yes, clearwaterlittleleaguecom.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
All right, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Have a great day.
Hey everyone, welcome back to this week's Real Estate
Disruptors podcast.
I am your host, amir Habibzadeh, and I am lucky enough to be
sitting down with Amanda Cole.
She is one of the board membersover at Clearwater Little
League and, as you know, wereally enjoy working with
(00:21):
Clearwater Little League becausethey are such a wonderful
organization helping out thekids and community right here in
the city of Clearwater.
So, amanda, welcome.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thank you for having us.
It's great to see you again.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Likewise, likewise.
Yeah, we just had Amanda here.
About a week ago, a little lessthan a week ago now, we did a
wonderful fundraiser to help outwith Clearwater Little League.
Do you know how much we raisedin total?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We raised $3,500 between the raffle and all of
the wonderful fundraising thatwas done here on site the day of
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I hope that was helpful for you guys.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Definitely Thank you very much.
That was helpful for you guys.
Definitely Thank you very much.
It was quite a blessing to havea little inflection of
fundraising dollars in themiddle of the season.
We get so routines scheduled.
It's game day.
It's game day what?
Are we doing with concessions.
It's nice to have kind of amid-spring, hey, let's raise
(01:23):
some money.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So I loved it.
Well good, we're glad we couldhelp and I'm sure Clearwater
Little League will willdefinitely use that money for
some good things down the line.
Oh yeah, so obviously you siton the board over at Clearwater
Little League.
What does?
What does Clearwater LittleLeague mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Clearwater Little League means community to me.
My kids enjoy it.
They have built lifelongfriendships.
Our family has become closer toothers in our community and it
gives me an opportunity to giveback as a board member to our
community.
So while some say, oh, I lovethe game and teaches valuable
(02:04):
life lessons, yeah, all thosethings.
But it's also community.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, they definitely do teach all those things
Because I remember, as you know,I'm an alumni Back.
You know I showed you mypicture when I was like six
years old in my ClearwaterLittle League uniform and you
know I grew up right, two blocksaway from the park.
So you know, being able to havethat part of my upbringing, it
was wonderful.
(02:29):
It gave me the love forbaseball, taught me all the
basics, taught me about teamworkand you know working together
and you know that winning is noteverything, but it's definitely
important.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's fun but, it's not always reality.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
It is fun to win Good stuff.
So what is the, what's themission of Clearwater Little
League?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Clearwater Little League exists to provide the
young people of Clearwater andPinellas area with fun, safe,
productive and healthyenvironment for them to become
brave, honest leaders who careabout their community and care
about others.
Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Very good.
What's something that mostpeople don't realize that the
league does for the communityand its members.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
So what most people don't know is that Clearwater
Little League also has aChallengers baseball program.
Okay, so typically you think oft-ball or softball or baseball.
The Challengers is a programthat allows both young people
and adults who have disabilitiesto come out and enjoy the game
(03:50):
of baseball and have thoselifelong memories created on the
field, just like, you know, anyother kid.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Awesome.
Well, that is cool.
I did not know that you had theChallengers Six teams, wow.
Yeah, that's a know that youhad the challengers.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Six teams.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Wow yeah, that's a pretty big league there.
It is, it is.
That is insane.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
We actually host the statewide challenger jamboree
every fall, where teams from allover Florida come to have that
a full weekend tournament stylebanquet, the whole kit and
caboodle.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well, I can only imagine why you guys hold that
because you have such beautifulfacility over there.
It has changed dramaticallysince I used to play there.
I mean, those fields are likestate-of-the-art, they are.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
We're very blessed and we have to thank the City of
Clearwater and the sponsorshippartnership that we have with
them.
We're blessed that they keepthe fields in such a pristine
shape and that we can put ourmoney that that we fundraise,
you know to use of equipment anduniforms and balls and all of
(05:07):
the things that it takes to fund360-plus players each season.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Oh wow, that's a lot you all have to do.
Did the fields experience anyissues from the hurricanes last
year?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, I kept the first storm last year.
I kept the sponsor banners upuntil like 24 hours before the
winds started.
I was like, oh, let's just waitand see.
I was in emergency management20 years ago.
And I was like well, we justwant to.
It's a lot of work to takethose banners down if the storm
(05:46):
skirts around.
Okay, it was quiet, thereweren't any raindrops, no wind.
The second I pulled up to thefields three hours later.
(06:06):
Water was just pouring from thesky.
So we pulled them down in thepouring rain.
But I'm grateful that we did,because five of seven fields had
damage either to the foul polesor to the fencing damage either
to the foul poles or to thefencing.
So it took the community thatcame together on a daily basis
(06:31):
and spread us apart, you know,for some time without any
baseball, which was hard for thekids, right, you know, for us
it just seems like, oh, anotherday, like let's take the kids to
practice, but for them, thatconnectedness and those
relationships with caring adultsand their teammates really was
a big shock for them.
And when we did get back toplaying, we only had two fields
(06:55):
open, so a lot of our practiceswere redistributed or schedules
were trimmed so that everybodycould still get some play time
in, but we're grateful to beback in our beautiful complex at
Sid Lichten this spring and thecommunity back together.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Well, that's wonderful, you know, I know that
was a huge challenge for you.
Are there other challengesthroughout this season that
Clearwater Little League sees?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
You know, I think we see a lot of great things like
when we look at kind of surfacelevel, but people don't realize
how much the operation of aleague takes.
So our entire board ofdirectors, we're all volunteers,
right, we're just kind of doingwhat we can in our spare time.
(07:49):
And we've had new backgroundcheck laws that have been
mandated at the state level.
Of course, little leaguealready has background checks,
but the state has kind of kickedthose up another notch and then
those laws change again nextyear.
(08:10):
So those are really difficultto keep up with right, stay
compliant with all of those andpay for all of that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Even things, as you would say, like buying balls.
Right, simple, right.
You just go to Dick's SportingGoods.
You buy a bunch of balls.
It takes over $10,000 a yearjust to buy baseballs and
softballs.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Oh, wow.
For a league of our size, Iwould have never have guessed
that that is a lot of baseballs.
It's a lot of baseballs, orbaseballs are just expensive.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I don't know they're both.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Well, I'm glad they have you and the rest of the
board and all the community thatcomes together to help put the
program together.
You know, because I know ithelps a lot of kids.
You know how does the leaguesupport kids who are new to the
game and you know, cause I knowit helps a lot of kids.
You know how does the leaguesupport kids who are new to the
game and you know, maybe they'rea little hesitant to to come
out and join a team or somethingalong those lines.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know, I love that you asked about that because
most kids have that traditionalstart in T-ball and continue on
my kids were not in.
That started at the young age.
Mine started in double a, okayum, and so I can you know, speak
from experience there, thatwhen a kid comes in, whether
(09:36):
they're coming in at the juniorsmajors level, where things are
pretty competitive in the littleworld arena, sure, um, or back
in in single or double a,coaches really meet kids where
they're at um.
There's no expectation thatthey're going to come in with
all the equipment they need.
You know, we provide whetherit's a helmet or a glove or a
(10:01):
bat or more than one of thosethings, right, we provide that
help for a kid who isn't surethat they really like this
Gotcha, we provide catchingequipment.
I like to think back when mykids first started AA and I
(10:22):
thought they would never playcatcher because, one, they'd not
never played before and two, Iwasn't sure that the league
would have catching equipmentfor these kids who were twice
the size of their peers on thedouble A teams Gotcha Right,
they were at the top of the agegroup.
Their peers on the double Ateams Gotcha, right, they were
(10:45):
at the top of the age group andthe coach pulled open the the
team bag and had, you know,three different sizes of
catching gear and had allowed mykids to try it.
One of them decided they loveit and now is a catcher on every
team that he's on, just becauseyou know it's a position that
he gets a lot of fulfillment outof.
So meeting kids, what they'reat, you know, we ensure, from a
(11:09):
safety perspective right, thatthey're going to meet the
milestones needed to be safe onthe field.
But as long as they're safe onthe field, you know the coaches
get out there and work with themuntil they build up that, that
skill that's wonderful, that'sreally great.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You know the, because baseball is expensive, you'd
think.
You know, hey, I just need aglove.
But you know that glove is notcheap and you know baseball bats
.
And then you're telling me tenthousand dollar baseballs and
that's something well, you know,it's it is.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
It's the bats, it's the cleats, it's the.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It's everything, it's everything, and I'll put it all
together right, you look atthese kids, uh, we last year
when we did the program and, um,you know, I hadn't been on a
legal little league field inprobably 25, 30, maybe 35 years
at this point, and walking outthere and seeing the young guys,
they are decked out.
I mean they look like little,uh little all-star players, you
(12:11):
know little professionals.
I was blown away.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
There's a term for it , it's drip.
Oh, they got the drip.
That's great, that's great.
Baseball drip, that's great,that's great.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So what do you hope each player walks away with at
the end of the season?
For a new player that comes outand never did it before, what
do you hope that they?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
walk away in remembrance Two things.
I want every kid to walk awaywith confidence.
Okay, I can do hard things.
I want every kid to walk awaywith confidence, right, um, I
can do hard things, I can workthrough adversity.
I can learn a new skill.
I can when I can lose, right.
But I can do it with confidence, um.
And I want every kid to walkaway from a season knowing that
(13:01):
there are adults who care.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Awesome.
Now that's two great, greatthings to learn, especially, you
know, from a community and teamgrowth.
So obviously we've touched onyou know how the league has
changed over the years.
What, what kind of involvementdo you do the parents need need
(13:25):
to dedicate in order for theirchild to be successful in the
league?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
To be successful in the league.
We need parents that have awillingness to just fill in the
gaps when it comes to support ofthe league.
We need concession volunteers,we need team parents, we need
assistant coaches, we need teammanagers.
(13:53):
None of what we can do as aboard works unless there are
multiple levels of parentinvolvement, and not every
parent may have time to jump inand be on the board or devote
their evenings and weekends tobeing a team manager, but
(14:14):
there's definitely.
If you have a willingness, wehave a job right that can be
done something small, somethingbig, something that fits your
talents.
And then in terms of the kidbeing successful in baseball or
softball, it's thatencouragingness right of their
(14:34):
child.
It is helping their childunderstand, whether it's
baseball or piano or dance orsoccer, it's about the time that
you put into it yourself, right, and getting to know yourself
and pushing your own individualskills to a point where you
(14:56):
don't always rely on what thecoach tells you to do.
You know you've got to learn ityourself also thinking for
yourself out there so as littleas 15 minutes a day, right um
outside of your regular practice, um as a as a player, can help
you get better and, um you know,be on that all-star team gotcha
(15:18):
understood.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So do you have a favorite little league moment
out there?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
My favorite little league moments are when, when
kids hit home runs, Um, theirteammates run out to the plate,
lift them up, cheer for them,get excited.
Parents of both sides of theteams right all cheer and are
(15:53):
kind of joining that celebration.
And I've become the home runchurro mom, so regardless of my
team or not, I see one of thosemoments happen and you know I go
to the concession stand andfork over my card and buy
churros for the kids.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I mean, hey, if anything else, I'm hitting a
home run just so I can get achurro.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
A home run churro.
Exactly.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So where do you see the league in the next five
years?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
We are busting at the seams.
Frankly, you know even ourmajors games they start almost 7
o'clock on Monday nights rightbecause we have a double-A or a
single-A or a T-ball practiceright before them.
But I see that Clearwater LittleLeague we take, I see that our
(16:55):
softball side of our leagueincreases even more.
We have a single-A, double A, atriple A and two majors and one
juniors softball team.
Okay, and those are combined ofgirls that come from many
(17:15):
different league districts inthis area, because there's not
as much interest in softball asthere is baseball, gotcha, and
I'd love to see that double insize.
I'd love to see more females incoaching and umpiring roles and
I think that you know takingsome dedicated efforts to go out
(17:39):
and promote softball,especially at the T-ball level.
Okay, because I think there's alot of girls that will start in
T-ball and then, becausethere's not something close by,
they tend to go off to otheractivities, gotcha, but to
really let folks know more aboutour softball programs and the
(18:03):
amazing teams that those youngpeople have put together and are
being successful with Gotcha.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So when you say you guys are busting at the seams,
does that mean that you justdon't have the field available?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Space-wise, the seven fields that we have are are
packed right from four, 30 andthe after four, 35 o'clock in
the afternoon till nine o'clockat night.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So are you guys able to partner with other fields, or
are they packed too?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Um, I think the city of Clearwater.
Um, there's a lot of demandfrom travel teams and other
organizations that use fieldstravel teams and other
organizations that use fields.
So, you know, I'd love at somepoint if, if our fields could
expand even right, we've got abeautiful home and there's no
(18:55):
place like it, but, you know,trying to come up with how do we
get creative in terms of spaceso that we can bring more
softball, so that we can bringmore uh, t-ball and uh have all
of those programs going on umyou know together so so how can
people best help the league moveforward?
(19:16):
Um, so, in general, uh, we have,uh, what we call giving
champions.
Those are community businesseslike Charles Ruttenberg Realty
that help to sponsor teams.
We've also introduced leaguesponsorships that will help us
to move forward things like oursoftball programs and our t-ball
(19:39):
programs.
And then your traditional buy abanner.
Right, we have a program whereyou can help us fill our fences
by buying a banner andadvertising your business.
Those are the ways that just,it takes money to run right,
(20:01):
it's bring your kids bring yourkids to come out and play right.
The registration fees that wecharge are a third or less of
what it takes to actuallyoperate the program for a player
.
What are those?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
fees.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
For Challenger Ball and for T-Ball we charge $35.
Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, veryaffordable to get in and play
and enjoy.
All the other ones kind of justrange from like $125 up to $200
.
Okay, you know your expensesget higher as you get older,
(20:41):
based on all the other extraequipment and the umpires and
the travel components and all ofthat.
So, but yeah, I mean, bringyour young people out four years
old all the way through 16.
Okay, we have programs forbaseball, softball and then
(21:04):
donate time and money.
We need concessions volunteers,we need special event day
volunteers.
So if you've got an hour or ifyou've got a month of Sundays,
there's something that we can dowith your time and your, your
talents, in order to helpfurther the league.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
And going back to you know, sponsorships and whatnot
what, what are your levels asfar as sponsorships?
What's, what can somebody getin and what's the max and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
We've got single sponsorships for as low as $600
per season, right Per season,right, Uh-huh per season, or we
have league sponsorships as highas $25,000.
Okay, so kind of everything inbetween.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Understood.
Well, good stuff, all right.
So I just wanted to maybe do alittle fun wrap-up here.
Okay, all right.
So what is your favoriteballpark snack?
Maybe it's a churro, I don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Okay, so churro would have been what I said first,
but since I already talked aboutthat one, I would say the
corndog People underratecorndogs.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I agree with you.
You know there's a new foodtruck that opened up.
That's.
All they do is corndogs.
No way yeah it's down inseminole, he's, he does a good
job.
What is your favorite baseballteam?
My favorite baseball team arethe the braves, are the good old
atlanta braves, okay, and uh,most iconic baseball movie oh
(22:38):
sandlot oh yeah, yeah, you'rekilling me Smalls.
Well, good stuff.
Is there anything that youwanted to end with here and let
everybody know I want to hearyour favorite baseball moment.
My favorite baseball moment.
(22:58):
Well, of course it involves ahome run.
It was, I want to say, I was 12years old, still playing
Clearwater Little League.
Well, yeah, clearwater LittleLeague.
I remember the jersey I had wasyellow and it wasn't like one
of those game-winning home runs,but it was just the first time
(23:22):
that you ever felt the bat andthe ball really connect and you
were like you knew once, whenthe ball and bat connected, that
it this was like the best hityou ever had.
And I and I remember thatfeeling and just from that
connection and then seeing theball, and at that point in time,
if it went over the fence itwasn't considered a home run, it
(23:45):
was out of bounds, so youcouldn't really do that, but it
made it to the area inside thefence where it was still
considered a home run andwhatnot.
So that was my best memory fromLittle League Nice.
It was that good old home runstuff.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I bet there was a pop kind of sound that happened
after that ball and bat connect.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And there's nothing like it.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Nope, there isn't.
And you know, I remember thefeeling like you don't even
really feel it hit the bat.
Really, it was just that youheard the pop and you knew you
connected and it was gone andyou're like, yes, I just did
something.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And that is the feeling in life of yes, I did it
, yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
And I hope every kid that goes through Little League
has that feeling at some pointin time, because that's really
what made my love for the gameeven stronger.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
All right, Thanks for having me, Amir.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Absolutely.
We'll see everybody next time.
Thank you, amanda Cole, forjoining us.
We really appreciate it andanybody want to help Clearwater
Little League.
She is available.
Feel free to reach out to usand we will get you in touch.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yes, clearwaterlittleleaguecom.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
All right, sounds good.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Have a great day.
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