Click on any of the following news headlines, or just scroll through the site to see what's happening with WESAC Baseball

Notes from the 2000 WESAC Baseball Board Meeting (November, 2000)
Parade Figure Skaters finish 2nd in world competition (August, 2000)
The WESAC Picture Gallery is Now Open (April, 2000)
Registrations for 2000 are closed - Registration Statistics (April, 2000)
Congratulations to WESAC Basketball Championship Teams (April, 2000)
ˇViva el Bésbol! WESAC assists youth baseball in Cuba (March, 2000)
Clinics for coaches at Kenwood (March, 2000)
SI's suggested code of conduct for parents (February, 2000)
WESAC provides first aid kits for all teams in 2000 (January, 2000)
WESAC T-Ball and Coach Pitch in the Metrodome! (November, 1999)
WESAC Baseball goes live on the world wide web (November, 1999)
Guthrie wants Parade (it was news then)(November, 1999)
Notes from the 1999 WESAC Baseball Board Meeting (November, 1999)
Predator Coaches (not at WESAC, thankfully) (September, 1999)
Margaret Jaeger Named Kenwood Park Director(September, 1999)






Notes from the 2000 WESAC Baseball Board Meeting

(November, 2000) The current board members were unanimously reelected to one year terms. Brad Hanson, President, Jim Feldman, Treasurer & Commissioner, Tom Owens, Secretary, Bill Bowen, Ed Pluimer & Clark Griffith, Members. Routine action included a reduction in extended season registration fees from $50 to $40 with all other levels being the same. Additional funding was secured for continuation and expansion of the web site. Funding was approved for the Metrodome T-Ball/Coach Pitch games and the T-Ball/Coach Pitch Picnic. An effort will be made to field a committed tournament team this season. Participation increased from 399 players in 1999 to 423 players in 2000.

Parade Figure Skaters finish 2nd in world competition


(August, 2000) The Parade Figure Skating Club finished 2nd in the 2000 ISI world recreational team championships held in Blaine. The October Hill & Lake Press has complete details. Congratulations to all Parade skaters, especially to current and former WESAC Baseball and Softball players.

The WESAC Picture Gallery is Now Open

(April, 2000) WESAC Baseball and Softball will periodically post action and candid pictures on the web site. For security reasons, no chld will be identified by name and no team will be identified by name. The server WESAC is using has limited space, at least for what we are willing to pay (which, by the way, is zero). As a result, only low resolution pictures will be posted and pictures will generally be combined into a collage. Watch for new pictures following significant WESAC events. The schedule for the 2000 season is as follows: Preseason Pee Wee Tournament, Opening day for Pee Wee Softball, Machine Pitch, Coach Pitch and T-Ball, the Metrodome games and the T-Ball/Coach Pitch Picnic.

If you have digital images that you wold like to submit, please send an e-mail. Also, if there is someone who is good at this kind of presentation and would like to take charge of this part of the web site on a volunteer basis, send an e-mail.

Registrations for spring 2000 are closed

(April, 2000) There are a few spots open at some levels. Spring Pee Wee baseball and Softball and T-Ball need a few additional players.
As of April 22, here are the 2000 registration statistics.
T-Ball, 10 Teams, 75 Boys, 36 girls
Coach Pitch, 11 Teams, 93 Boys, 34 girls
Machine Pitch, 6 Teams, 58 Boys, 7 girls
Pee Wee Baseball, 4 Teams, 45 Boys, 3 girls
Pee Wee Softball, 2 Teams, 0 Boys, 21 girls
Cub Baseball, 2 Teams, 27 Boys, 2 girls
6 Players were placed on SWAC teams for Cub Softball and Midget Baseball.
3 Players who registered late could not be placed on any available team.
54 schools are represented. The top six schools are Kenwood (111), Breck (42), Lake Country (27), Blake (25), Bryn Mawr (19) and Grace Nursery (17). 33 registrations did not indicate a school.

Last Year we had the following numbers by the end of the season (the 2000 teams will still expand a bit)
T-Ball, 10 Teams, 79 Boys, 41 girls
Coach Pitch, 11 Teams, 88 Boys, 32 girls
Machine Pitch, 6 Teams, 66 Boys, 21 girls
Pee Wee Baseball, 2 Teams, 30 Boys, 1 girl
Pee Wee Softball, 1 Team, 0 Boys, 13 girls
Cub Baseball, 2 Teams, 32 Boys, 1 girl
T-Ball, 10 Teams, 75 Boys, 36 girls


WESAC Basketball League Champions

(April, 2000) Seven WESAC Basketball competed in park leagues this winter, and three finished in first place in their league! Congratulations to the Midget Open (7-1), Pee Wee Open (8-1) and Pee Wee Girls (8-2) teams for their success in 2000. Also the Cub 2 Open team finished in second place with a 6 - 3 record.

ˇViva el Bésbol!

(March, 2000) WESAC Baseball alumni Josh Hanson spent this past January in Havana on a school assignment. One of his observations about Cuba was that they had many very good baseball players who were passionate about the game and who had precious little equipment to use (one way to develop "soft" hands is to pick up ground balls without a mitt). One thing led to another and University of St. Thomas students (their baseball team played a few games in Havana this past January) will accompany donated baseball equipment to Cuba next winter. WESAC Baseball will solicit donations of used (or new) gloves, bats, balls and other items to send down to Cuba. This goodwill effort will not reduce any help that WESAC gives to our neighbors in Whittier and other local park baseball programs. Brad Hanson will provide more details later in the season. If you have equipment to donate or have connections to suppliers of baseball equipment, please call Brad or send WESAC an e-mail.

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National Youth Sports Coaches' Association
Comes to Kenwood Rec. Center This Spring.

(March, 2000) The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is sponsoring free clinics for coaches and parents this spring. Several of the clinics will be held at the Kenwood Rec. Center. Each team must send at least one coach to these clinics. Parents are welcome as well. The dates of the Kenwood clinics are April 11 (General Youth Coaching), 18 (Baseball or Softball) & 25 (T-Ball & Coach Pitch). There are many other scheduled clinics at other parks if these are not convenient. Call Jim Feldman or Margaret Jaeger for the dates and places.

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Code of Conduct for Parents

(February, 2000) The youth sports association in Jupiter, Florida, required parents to sign a statement that they would behave in a civilized manner at youth sporting events. Parent behavior has not been a cronic problem for WESAC Baseball, though there have been a few events over the years that could have gone better. We don't need a fprmal statement from parents, but if we did it would look more like to one found in Rick Reilly's column in the 2/28/2000 edition of Sports Illustrated. Click here to view the atricle.

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Please Don't Drink the First Aid Kit!

(January, 2000) Thanks to the generous donations of many of our families, WESAC Baseball will be able to provide first aid kits for each team this season. The quest for a water proof, cruch proof affordable box led us to buy Igloo cold drink containers. The T-Ball/Coach pitch kits will have instant ice, band aids, wipes, gloves and zip lock bags. The hard ball teams will get all of the above plus an Ace bandage, 3x3 gause pads, adhesive tape, Medi-Rip and some Tylenol (to be given ONLY by a parent unless the coach has written permission in advance). If anyone has better ideas for supplies, please let us know.

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Let it Rain on May 13th!

(November, 1999) What could be more fun that watching 250 kids paying T-Ball and Coach Pitch in the Metrodome? We are not sure, but at least we will find out how much fun that is. On Saturday, May 13th, 2000, all games will be in the Metrodome. Bring the grandparents, and video cameras (leave the dogs at home, please) and make as much noise as you want as you cheer your home town heros on a day they will never forget (not until the middle of the summer, at least).

As game day gets closer we will post more details here and distribute letters to your coach. We will cover parking and which entrance to use. Game times are the usual times of 9:00 and 10:30. If there is an odd number of teams in the league this season we will ask for a volunteer to play a double header so that everyone can get into the act.

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WESAC is Live on the World Wide Web
(Novemver, 1999) Since you are here it's not really news. Web Master Andy Feldman would appreciate comments, suggestions or corrections you may have about this site. Go to "About WESAC/E-mail WESAC" to send a note. Andy provided his services gratis in return for this plug. If you want help with your web site for a reasonable fee, send Andy an e-mail.

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Minneapolis Delays Action on Guthrie Move
The Star Tribune articles on November 24 & November 25 provide all the details.

What does this mean for WESAC? It's a mixed bag. On one hand the Parade fields, easily the best in the city, would be removed. Even though these are in our back yard, WESAC teams do not get to use those unless they advance to the city or Aquatennial championship games. On the other hand, the fields at Bryn Mawr would be significantly upgraded and hopefully a few premier fields would be added, some of which would be used by WESAC for home games. On the third hand the proposal for Bryn Mawr Meadows includes a railroad track through the middle of the park with park land built on a swamp containing industrial waste. On yet another hand, the undesirable areas of the new Bryn Mawr would be used for adult softball as opposed to youth baseball and there would be more space for soccer fields (with corresponding less use of our outfield space for soccer).

If you have a strong opinion on this matter, contact your city council member or the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.

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Notes from the Annual Board Meeting
(November, 1999) Tom Dunn retired from the Board as he has moved out of the area. The other incumbent Board members (Jim Feldman, Brad Hanson, Ed Pluimer, Bill Bowen and Clark Griffith) were reelected. Tom Owens was also elected as a new member of the Board. Titles and duties of the Board members can be found in the About WESAC section under Contacts.

The program ran a small surplus in 1999 thanks to a genereous level of donations. We purchased some new lightweight bats with the surplus. The Board again committed to make a small financial contribution to Whittier Park if they can get some volunteers to organize a program. The Board voted to play some Friday night Machine Pitch games at field #12 in Bryn Mawr Meadows to take advantage of the bleachers and home run fence on that field. The Board also recommended pursuing the installation of a baseball backstop (to replace the current softball backstop) at field #12 provided that the grant money the Minnesota Twins dedicated to improve youth baseball facilities can be used. We would also like the city to contribute to this project.

There will be no material changes to the programs for 2000. Fees for the extended season and fast pitch softball programs have been reduced from $60 to $50 as the incremental costs of those programs has not been as large as expected. All other fees remain the same as 1999.

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Every Parent's Nightmare


(September, 1999) Sports Illustrated published in its September 13, 1999 issue, a disturbing special report about sexual predators who are youth sports coaches. WESAC and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board require annual police background checks for all head coaches and any other person who would be left alone with the children. Almost all WESAC coaches are parents of children in the program. Even with those two safe guards we all need to be careful to protect our children. Any report of misconduct of any kind to the WESAC Board of Directors (go to About WESAC / Contacts and find Complaint Resolution) will be quickly and thoroughly investigated. The SI article is not yet available on line, however there is a companion article by the author and a discussion site available from SI for Kids.

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Welcome Margaret Jaeger
(September, 1999) Margaret Jaeger has been appointed as the new park director at Kenwood replacing the retired Jerry Urbaniak. Margaret was most recently director at Bryant Square and has been a strong supporter of youth sports. Please stop by and welcome her to the area.

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