Welcome to the new Board Blog. The executive committee will be using this space to share updates on league business, decisions, and general happenings. Our goal is to provide monthly updates that will generally be posted in the last week of the month after our league meeting.

July Update – Everything softball is moving along well as we enter our last month of the 2023 season. Teams have completed 9 or 10 of their 14 season games and the standings are neck and neck!

We hosted our annual All Star and Legends Field Day this past Saturday, July 22nd. We would like to once again thank all the incredible volunteers, all stars, legends, and fans who made the day a delightful success!

For league business you can find the July Meeting Minutes here. To summarize:

EXECUTIVE BOARD UPDATES

• The league is on track and within our season budget.

• We’re trying out a new volunteer organizer. First tab is a list of volunteer needs, the second tab is a directory of current volunteers, and the remaining tabs outline the general duties of the positions.

TOURNAMENT UPDATES

• Tournament preparation is underway, find the revised rules and brackets here.

• Teams should start thinking about who will volunteer during your off games during the Tournament. The sign-up schedule will be released once we have the season standings and can populate the bracket.

• Teams should submit any tournament exemption requests via this form by August 2nd.

• We will be getting our own port-a-potties for the Tournament!!! This was in progress during the meeting but has since been approved by the Parks Department and a vendor has been selected. If you know anyone who would like to help sponsor the costs please reach out.

RECONCILIATION UPDATES

• League reconciliation work is progressing with a core group of league members. They have met twice to assess league issues and brainstorm solutions.

• Issues were spotted based on the recent Town Hall and the summary provided by the Be Consultancy in 2021.

• The ad hoc group will continue to meet to solidify ideas that will be brought to the board of directors.

• Additionally, a mediation effort is underway to try and resolve the hurt felt earlier this season.

ELECTION UPDATES

• We’ve elected our third grievance chair for the season, Siobahn Hotaling, who joins Sabrina Gratia and Cyrano Patton.

• Mid-season elections to fill our vacant President and Vice President positions were postponed by league vote. The elections will be held in abeyance until the mediation process has been completed and its outcomes communicated to the league. It is hoped this will be soon but if the process takes longer, elections will be held at the November meeting as usual.

UMPIRES & PITCHING DISCUSSION

• The umpires have been contacted regarding a few instances of mis-applied rules and unprofessionalism this season. Please continue to report any issues to the Board.

• One instance was regarding legal pitching which many members reported to find confusing per the USA Softball guidelines. Summary of points from our discussion:

  • Many pitchers in our league are new to the position or our league’s style. We are in agreement that errors/ potential illegal motions are generally honest mistakes.

  • As an instructional league that values sportsmanship, we should be comfortable pointing out any concerns to the team’s coach so that we can help one another grow.

  • Umpires should be reminded to review our league and the USA Softball rules, especially before the Tournament.

  • The instruction committee is working to implement professional pitching instruction to help newer pitchers.

  • Karena on Backlash is happy to work with any league pitchers looking for assistance to better understand proper/legal pitching mechanics.

Thank you for tuning in. If you have any concerns or comments our inbox is always open, you can reach all executive board members at info@ppwsl.org or our personal emails listed in the volunteer organizer.