Hi everyone. We are getting very close to the start of the 2021 Rye Little League season. By now, you should have heard from the coach of your son or daughter’s team. In addition, our full season schedules for all leagues are set. They are available on ryelittleleague.com, if you log in to your account and search for your team. Furthermore, each of the head coaches has, or will, input the full schedule into TeamSnap. More on TeamSnap below, but it is critical that you become familiar with using that app.
Here are some key pieces of information heading into the start of our season:
Opening Day
No parade again in 2021, unfortunately. Instead, we will have pictures the morning of April 10th at Grainger Field at Disbrow Park. Following pictures, the Minors, Intermediates, and Majors leagues will have their first practices (games for Majors). Tee Ball will have their first practice on Sunday, April 11th.
We will need to stagger team arrivals for picture day, and all players and parents must wear masks. We are exploring a composite picture approach for the team photo. Otherwise, if a team picture occurs, masks will be required. Players will be able to remove their masks for individual shots. Given the large number of players that will come down to the field, we ask that only one parent and no siblings attend.
Here is the schedule, and we will have four picture stations running simultaneously (Updated 4/7/21):
8:00am: Astros, Brewers, Marlins, Nationals
8:20am: Padres, Rockies, Royals, Twins
8:40am: A’s, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs
9:00am: Dodgers, Indians, Orioles, Pirates
9:20am: Reds, Tigers, Bats, Bulls
9:40am: Hooks, Iron Pigs, Lugnuts, Mudcats
10:00am: Diamondbacks, Phillies, Rattlers, Riverdogs
10:20am: RockHounds, Storm, Thunder, Yard Goats
10:40am: Angels, Giants, Mets, Rangers
11:00am: White Sox, Yankees
Please arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled time slot. You can order your pictures in advance, which is highly recommended, via the following link and Picture Day ID:
website: http://www.lifetouchsports.com/
Your Picture Day ID: RI510037X0
Uniform Distribution/Required Equipment
Coaches will distribute uniforms during the week before opening day. All players will receive a team jersey and a hat. Players will be responsible for providing their own baseball gloves, cleats, white baseball pants, and a batting helmet. The league provides catcher’s equipment, balls, training equipment, etc. Players often have their own bats, but sharing bats will be fine as well.
Westchester County Code of Conduct Waiver
On Saturday morning, you should have received an e-mail with the subject “Action Required: Rye Little League / Westchester County Official Code of Conduct.” Many of you (more than 200!) have already handled processing the waiver, which should only take two minutes. Docusign is set to automatically send reminders to those who have not submitted the waivers every 3 days. Sorry for the hassle here, but it is mandatory that we receive those waivers before your player is eligible to play this season. Reminder that you will need to submit a waiver for each player (i.e. not one per family).
TeamSnap
Please familiar yourselves with this app, as it will be the primary way your coaches will be communicating with the teams this year. With very few exceptions, team rosters have been loaded into TeamSnap, and you will need to accept an invitation that comes via e-mail to join the team on the app. Coaches will also be loading in the full season schedules as well (many already have). The use of TeamSnap is critical this year, as we will need to track both attendance and health status attestations for each practice or game in case contact tracing becomes necessary. Again, please use the app for every practice or game to mark attendance and health status. If a Rye Little League player tests positive, a representative from Rye Little League will be required to promptly contact Westchester County Department of Health to determine contact tracing, and we will follow their guidelines.
COVID Protocol
We are doing our best to keep up with the evolving COVID protocols, particularly as it relates to required quarantine. Rye Little League is seeking to align as closely as possible with the approach Rye City School District (RCSD) is taking (which is aligned with Westchester County Department of Health), and we will update our approach as protocols continue to evolve. If you have any doubts, please error on the conservative side so that we can avoid unnecessary mass quarantines across our league.
Here are a few key points to keep in mind:
- Any player placed in quarantine by the Westchester County Department of Health may not play with Rye Little League until he or she has been cleared. Put even more simply, if your child cannot attend school, he or she cannot participate in Rye Little League.
- We are following Westchester County Department of Health guidelines related to travel, which currently state:
- Travel to a state non-contiguous to New York for more than 24 hours requires quarantine for three days, plus a COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to returning from your destination and on day 4 after returning, both of which much come back negative. The second test must be a PCR.
- Travel outside of the U.S. requires quarantine for seven days, if you take a COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to returning from your destination and on days 3-5 after returning or quarantine for ten days. The second test must be a PCR.
We will also provide additional information regarding the New York District 20 Little League Safety Plan we will follow during our practices/games prior to the season. Here are a few rules in that plan:
- Masks will be mandatory for all players and coaches at all times, which is aligned with the varsity baseball protocols. Gaiter masks will not be permitted. The mask requirement applies to spectators as well.
- Spectators will be limited to two per player at any games or practice.
E-mail Distribution List
Several parents have asked to add a spouse’s contact info to our distribution list. The distribution list for these broad messages automatically pulls from our registration database. If you would like to add additionally recipients, please log into the profile you created when registering your child at ryelittleleague.com to add any additional contact info.
I hope you find this information useful, as you begin to plan for the season. If you have any questions, please e-mail
.
I am really looking forward to another great season, notwithstanding all of these extra safety precautions!
Ben Bubeck
President, Rye Little League
