Saipan Tribune

Monday, May 20, 2013

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Membership fees due on Jan. 19

Saipan Little League Baseball, Inc is holding its general membership meeting on Jan. 19 starting at 9am at the pavilion behind the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium in the Oleai Sports Complex.

The meeting also serves as the deadline to pay any outstanding membership dues; only registered members will get to vote on the topics in the agenda.

In addition, during an open door meeting held by six members of the board of directors last Friday, the group announced plans to adopt a new charter and the renewal of its non-profit organization business license under its current name, SLLBI.

They are also working on obtaining additional federal grants and other outside funding sources.

The board also discussed the need of appointing a new safety officer as current safety officer Roman Reyes recently turned in his resignation. Reyes served as league treasurer last year.

Managers' agent Patrick Tenorio also volunteered to serve as acting players' agent due to Peding Tenorio being off-island. She is expected to return to her post during the season.

Opening day is still set for Feb. 9, 5:30pm at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield, though the league may hold some sneak preview matches a few days prior to the official opening ceremony.

Two additional Kagman teams-Ford Rangers and Laolao Bay Golf Resort-have also been added to the Major division field last week, bringing its total to 13 and the overall tally of teams to 28 this season.

Next Tuesday, Jan. 15, is the deadline to register a team.

Some topics of discussion during the upcoming general membership meeting includes the safety officer vacancy, fundraising, possible amendments of local by-laws, and drug testing, which was by far was the hot issue last Friday.

A member suggested that all board members be subjected to a drug test during the Dec. 18 open door meeting and the board responded last week, saying they would not be opposed to such tests provided the managers and coaches would also be included in the agreement. The board was not opposed to paying out of pocket, however upon hearing the rebuttal, the managers and coaches claimed that they might not be able to afford such a fee, which costs $35-$40 per test.

Though SLLBI president Ray Yumul expressed support for requiring mandatory drug tests for both the board and the managers and coaches alike, he acknowledged the difficulty others may have covering the added expense and motioned to discuss the issue further during the general membership meeting.

On a brighter note, the SLLBI would like to thank Bridge Capital whose recent $1,000 donation helped get the group's fundraising efforts started.

Yumul, manager/acting player agent Tenorio, vice president Annie Deleon-Guerrero-Flores, league secretary Lynn Duenas, league treasurer Yvonne Tarope, statistician Remy Celis, and three coaches attended last Friday's meeting.

For more information about the local Little League program, contact Yumul at 664-8826 or email Duenas at lynn.duenas@gmail.com.