The arrival of autumn usually marks the beginning of a fall ball season for youth baseball teams, leagues and young athletes. However, some youth baseball leagues are still feeling the effects from shutting down their business operations for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baseball leagues across California, especially ones within PONY Baseball, continue to navigate the pandemic in hopes of a holding fall season.

Some leagues are back in action, training and practicing, while others are awaiting approvals to return, and some postponed their fall season and turned their attention towards spring.

For the leagues seeing action right now, returning to the field allows players to emerge from their Zoom/home environment. "It's not so much the sport," said Scott Champagne, president of the South Bay Pony League in Manhattan Beach. "It's that social interaction. To finally be back with their peers and then running around doing stuff has been big for their mental well-being."

In April, a coalition of over 400 youth sports organizations asked Congress to provide economic stabilization in the form of a $8.5 billion relief fund for the youth sports industry.

Out of these 400-plus organizations, PONY Baseball and other youth baseball groups, such as travel baseball teams and Little League Baseball also signed off on the letter.

Little League Baseball is a global organization with leagues in every state in the U.S. Within a Little League division, the age gap can be as many as three years.

PONY Baseball originally provided 13 and 14-year-olds the opportunity to transition to the regulation size diamond in preparation for high school baseball. As popularity increased, PONY Baseball began adding more divisions, which usually consists of two age groups. This makes the games more competitive and beneficial as players are closer in age, maturity level and ability. PONY stands for Protect Our Nation's Youth; In California, more than 150 PONY leagues play ball.

Youth travel baseball does not fall under an organization like Little League or PONY. Anyone can start a travel ball team as long as they meet the requirements. Thousands of travel baseball teams play across the country.

In August, the California Department of Public Health announced new guidelines and changes on how sports can resume during the coronavirus pandemic. These changes limited the number of people and the length of time at a location, social distancing and avoiding equipment sharing. Organized competition and tournaments are not allowed, but practices, training and conditioning are permitted.

When it comes to these baseball leagues in Los Angeles County, the circumstances surrounding their return to the field varies, whether it’s geographically or financially.

South Bay PONY League

The South Bay PONY League based in Manhattan Beach was able to get back on the field and hold a fall season. The league scrambled after hearing the new guidelines. "Normally we take three or four months to organize a baseball season," Champagne, the league president, said. "And we tried to pull it off in about three or four weeks."

Champagne and other board members decided to begin their fall season and to keep things as inexpensive as possible. "We kept the price down to $100, which is less than half our normal price," said Champagne. "[It was] basically enough to cover our costs for the fields and safety equipment, hand sanitizer, masks and things like that to help the kids be safe while they're playing." The league officially began their fall season on Sept. 10.

Champagne acknowledges the financial challenges that families may face when it comes to signing up and how it can affect the league. "It might be harder for parents to afford the same registration this coming year than they did last year. Even if we kept the registration fees the same, our revenue for the year would be down."

MPK Pony League

While some leagues like South Bay PONY practice and return to the field, others are not as fortunate. The Monterey Park (MPK) PONY Baseball will not be holding a fall season this year due to the impact of the pandemic. The president and founder of MPK PONY Baseball, Gerald Yee, said his organization came close to shutting down permanently.

After purchasing equipment, supplies and snacks for the spring season, Yee had to shut down the league’s operations with the arrival of pandemic. As a result, the league was unable to hold their annual Dodger fundraiser, where the kids would sell Dodger tickets which usually offsets their other expenses. "[That’s] around eight to ten thousand dollars that we would benefit from...and we use that money to run the rest of the season," said Yee. "Because we didn't get our fundraiser, [it] really put us in a bind where we had invested all this money, but we weren't getting any of it back at this point."

In the past, MPK PONY League would sell Dodgers tickets as part of their fundraising efforts, like here in 2019. This would not be the case in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Gerald Yee)

With little money left over and the league operating in the red, Yee called on the community for help to try and save the league. A call to action was sent out by Yee, asking for donations to help keep the league alive. A day was planned where Yee would meet the parents and they would pick up their kids’ team photo and an $11 refund. When the day came, many parents refused the refund and donated to the league.

According to Yee, the league received $2,500 in donations from 208 families and supporters that day. "That was a key piece to our survival, our existence, because the parents in the community really stepped up and helped us from a cost perspective," said Yee. "We explained to them that this is their league too, [and] we want to try to get as much assistance as we can."

Since there is no fall season for MPK PONY, their focus is to plan for a spring season next year. "We're at a point where we don't have to worry too much about finances because we'll be able to at least get our marketing going and once the checks start coming in for [spring] registration, that will help sustain us," said Yee.

East Valley Baseball

East Valley Baseball, a PONY League located in North Hollywood, is still waiting on permits from the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to allow them to resume baseball activities. According to league president, Frank Miceli, his league is also lowering fees for returning families by $100 to make it more affordable during these tough times. But despite bringing the league fees down, Miceli is still losing a significant amount of money. "We actually had 251 kids register for fall at $75 each, and if you think about that, it was basically $40 thousand, we were giving up."

Even though the league is operating in the middle of an unstable economy, Miceli and East Valley Baseball are finding ways to recoup the money but also make baseball affordable for the community. "We'll give kids a good value but we will get less expensive items to help offset those costs," said Miceli.

East Valley Baseball president, Frank Miceli takes some time to talk to the young athletes of his league (Photo courtesy of Frank Miceli).

COVID-19 not only affected leagues’ finances, but family expenses as well. With leagues discouraging equipment sharing, this forces parents to purchase and provide their own equipment such as bats and catchers’ gear for their kids.

"We've been asked for kids not to share equipment. Kids are now responsible for those, and [the] equipment bag that we always give teams is about a five to six hundred dollar package," said Miceli. "The unfortunate thing is the families are going to have to spend a little bit more."

The Costs and Expenses

Dolores Lomeli is the parent of a youth baseball athlete and her son Matt plays on two teams: the North Valley Titans and the Sherman Oaks BATRS. When it comes to equipment, Lomeli acknowledges how costly it can be. "We just bought a $500 bat and he’s starting in high school so he wants a wooden bat, and we bought three $30 bats which adds up to nearly $100 and two of them broke," said Lomeli.

Even though the COVID-19 has affected people’s financial stability in different ways, Lomeli has been able to get help from her family and even the coaches to ensure her son has the opportunity to play. Lomeli’s brother went out of his way and bought Matt a new $250 glove.

"We are really blessed that we have family that helps us," said Lomeli. "And the coaches, if we can't pay it right now, they’re like don't worry about it. Bring your son. They see how he wants to play and they don't let the financial part pull him back or keep him away."

With the ongoing pandemic, baseball leagues, directors and parents continue to navigate through these uncertain times, while also taking in consideration safety and financial concerns.

Common expenses during a traditional baseball season are equipment, food and beverages for the concession stand, umpire fees and permits for field usage.

Now leagues face other costs such as masks, hand sanitizers, disinfecting sprays and other cleaning supplies to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone.

But despite certain financial constraints, the goal remains the same: to provide a place for these young athletes to develop, grow and play ball.