JANUARY 11, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Hurdles remain to reunifying youth leagues
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Don’t look now, but
springtime is right around the
corner, meaning that youth
baseball and softball will be in
full swing a few months from
now.
With registration starting
to ramp up, both Brad Arns-
meier — Keizer Little League
President — and Ryan Walsh
— McNary Youth Baseball
President — are really en-
couraged about the direction
of their respective programs
going into the 2019 season.
“We feel really good about
the direction were going,”
Arnsmeier said. “We have seen
growth in both our softball
and baseball programs. Every
new year is exciting and we
can’t wait to get started.”
“Our numbers were real-
ly strong after the first week
out,” Walsh said. “We want
both programs to succeed and
have youth baseball in Keizer
in a good place. That’s what
the goal is.”
From 1972 to 2008, KLL
was the only option for youth
baseball and softball in the
city. But just over a decade
ago, several leaders left the
group — with tournament
revenue being the main point
of contention — to form
Keizer Youth Sports Associa-
tion (which is now MYB).
Both Walsh and Arnsmeier
weren’t involved with their
respective leagues when the
split occurred, but both par-
ties claim to actively be try-
ing to bring the two groups
together.
“It’s not just the city that
would like to see a unified
program again in Keizer. I
would say we all would like to
be under one umbrella. Keiz-
er Little League and MYB
officials sit down several times
each year to try and find com-
mon ground,” Arnsmeier said.
“We each offer solutions,
but we haven’t found the per-
fect fit yet. I will always re-
main optimistic, but until the
two groups can resolve just a
couple of fundamental philo-
sophical differences it will be
difficult.”
While MYB Vice President
Bo Lane does want to have
those conversations about
coming together once again,
he also believes that it won’t
happen in the near future.
“I would consider both
programs successful, so we
need a really good reason to
undoubtedly say that we need
to make a change in order for
our two programs to be bet-
ter, and I’m not sure that we
actually have an answer for
that right now,” Lane said.
“It doesn’t mean that we
won’t explore it, but at this
point we don’t have that one
main reason to do this. But
maybe that is something we
should talk about more.”
One of the biggest philo-
sophical differences between
as Sprague or West Salem —
and then has the chance to
qualify for the state playoffs.
There are also some mi-
nor rule differences between
the two programs as well. For
example, MYB, which plays
by Junior Baseball of Oregon
“ Many times, when you have
competing programs, you
always have stuff that you have
to deal with.”
— Brad Arnsmeier,
KLL President
the two programs is the way
teams are constructed.
With KLL, players who
tryout are put through a
drafting process to determine
which team they will play on
during the regular season.
At the end of the regular
season, the best players will be
put together to form an All-
Star team that will compete
in the District 7 Little League
Tournament, with the hope
of progressing to the state
tournament or even the Little
League World Series.
MYB, on the other hand,
has tryouts and places kids on
teams that match their skill
level and experience: Federal,
highly competitive, American,
very competitive, National,
level similar to recreational.
leagues with a bit more com-
petitiveness. (For kids under
the age of eight playing T-Ball
or Double-A, only the recre-
ation option is available).
Each team will play a
league schedule against other
squads from the valley — such
(JBO) rules, allows players to
lead off of bases. But that is
not permitted in KLL play.
KLL also offers softball
while MYB only does base-
ball.
Since both KLL and MYB
play the majority of their
games at Keizer Little League
Park, there have been some
disagreements about what
each side wants to do with
some of the individual fields.
At the KLL Long Range
Task Force Meeting on Jan
2., MYB personnel stated that
they wanted to make the in-
fields all dirt — likely due to
the fact that it would be easier
to change the dimensions of
the infield with the pitcher’s
mound and the bases, making
it so teams of different age and
skill levels could use the same
field.
KLL, however, wants the
infields to have the more tra-
ditional grass look for base-
ball — KLL has had the city’s
contract for management at
Keizer Little League Park
since 2013.
Even though it seems that
theyhave conflicting ideals,
Arnsmeier claims that the two
sides aren’t all that different.
“If people were to take
a close look at the two pro-
grams, they would find out
that we are so much more
similar than different,” Arns-
meier said.
The truth is that youth
baseball looks much different
in 2019 than it did in 1972.
There are youth teams all over
the Salem-Keizer area that ar-
en’t attached to a league, so
they exclusively play travel
ball in weekend tournaments.
Both KLL and MYB place
a large emphasis on player
development, which is why
KLL Vice President Lisa Buik
believes that keeping the two
programs separate may not be
such a bad thing.
“It’s almost a better thing
to stay as we are, because if
we decide to march together
under the same umbrella, it
doesn’t stop somebody else
from coming in and starting
their own thing,” Buik said.
“So, having people with a
more constructive mindset on
two separate sides of the fence
is probably the better thing,
instead of creating anoth-
er war that could potentially
happen.”
Since the two groups split
in 2008, there have been sev-
eral instances of animosity
between MYB and KLL over
the last decade.
One of the more recent
examples came in Decem-
ber of 2017 at a Keizer City
Council meeting regarding a
proposal by KLL to hike up
field usage fees by $10.
Walsh, as well as other
MYB members, were op-
posed to the increase. After
Clint Holland — who man-
ages the concession stand at
Keizer Little League Park —
claimed that not showing up
to the fields for reserved times
had a large impact on con-
cession sales, the temperature
in the room evidently got
so heated that Mayor Cathy
Clark had to cut the conver-
sation short.
At the task force meeting
on Jan. 2, concession sales
were a big point of conten-
tion yet again as multiple peo-
ple at the meeting confirmed
that, over the years, KLL and
MYB kids and parents were
instructed not to buy any-
thing from the concession
stand if it didn’t benefit their
own organization — conces-
sion revenue goes to whoever
holds the contract at the park.
However, both Walsh and
Arnsmeier indicated that the
two programs have left those
troubles in the past.
“Many times, when you
have competing programs,
you always have stuff that you
have to deal with,” Arnsmeier
said. “We’ve had some bumps
in the road, but it’s all water
under the bridge.”
Walsh also added: “It’s two
separate programs working
amicably and very fluidly. We
have a cohesive and fluid rela-
tionship and we work togeth-
er all year long.”
Both programs also shared
how developing players on
and off the field is their top
priority.
“Our board is filled with
people that are really passion-
ate about kids improving and
having fun and helping them
become successful young men
in our community.” Lane said.
“I take my involvement
with (KLL) very, very serious-
ly. I love to volunteer and I
love to coach,” Arsmeier said.
“If it makes a difference in
someone’s life, every minute I
spend on the field is worth it.”