Hardball organizers to meet Saturday

With the closing of the Little League World Series and the return of the players to their respective homes, the organizers of the Saipan Little League Baseball Association have been busy putting the final touches on a year in which they continued to improve the quality of the local sporting community.

SLLBA president Joseph Salas said that the games maybe over, but the time for planning for the future of the program is now. He then reminded all of the board of directors meeting this Saturday at the Golden Lobster on Chalan Pale Arnold at 8:30am.

Only two and a half weeks remain before Jess Wabol assumes the role of chairperson of the coming season’s board of director’s election, and Salas said while the organization experienced success, the SLLBA can only gain from getting the process done earlier than last year.

“It went well with the entire board working to achieve expansion. Keep in mind that we started in January and accomplished a lot. I’m proud that we expanded the program to tee ball and there’s a lot of parents that made it happen,” he said.

While he still has plenty of ideas to further improve the local scene, Salas said that he doesn’t want to lose track of a sport which he believes will be popular among some of the CNMI’s forgotten players.

“I would like to see that we continue the expansion to girls’ softball. If we want it, I am sure that we can work together to make it happen. There are a lot of girls interested, so that’s the challenge to the new board,” he said.

As with any team effort, a number of people have spent the past few months working together to make the program what it has become, and Salas offered some advice to the next president of the SLLBA by saying that it takes more than one person to be successful in the world of baseball.

“You can’t micro manage. You have to trust your appointed commissioners to do what needs to be done, and let them do it. That’s why we were so successful this year,” he said.

A week after the meeting the entire Little League community is invited to the Minatchom Atdao for the end of season awards ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 10am, where players, coaches, and supporters will receive their due for jobs well done.

The march into the future continues a week later as the SLLBA convenes in the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 8, for the election of its board of directors at 9am.

For more information about the SLLBA or any of its upcoming events, contact Salas by calling 322-3445, Mike Borja at 322-9888, Wabol at 288-1129, or Annie Flores by calling 287-4844.