FYI ... I shared this with just about state legion commissioners in the United States that I could find an e-mail address on the Nat'l legion website.
I also shared this will all the VA Legion coaches whom the majority are in favor of this idea that I shared back during the 1st week of September.
Proposal to increase American Legion Roster to 20 or 22 men and money raised could “prepay” the Regional and World Series tournaments
My proposal to Nat'l Headquarters 2yrs ago ... as National Headquarters stated, could not ADD any more kids to roster ... they are already $500k or $600k in the RED ... I replied ... OK ... I have solution :
Based on 2006 registered teams = 5,074 teams $5per player = $100 or $110 per team and would generate $507,400 for 20 man roster OR $558,140 for 22 man roster
Now ... $10 per kids for Nat'l Kitty Fund ... $200 per team or $220 ... at $10 per player ... that would generate $1,014,800 million for 20 man roster OR $1,116,280 million for 22 man roster ... boys ... I think I have just gotten Nat'l Legion Headquarters out of the RED and into the BLACK.
Does anyone agree ?
Seriously ... If Nat'l Headquarters does NOT expand ROSTER to 20 or 22 men ... Legion ball is going to continue to lose to "travel" ball.
Again, this money would go into Nat'l Kitty fund for the Reg'l and World Series Funds and really ... this could AID the Reg'l host teams, do u agree or not ?
$15,000 x 8 Reg’ls @ $120k ... NO more bidding and local areas could garner ALL the proceeds from "hosting" vs. paying the bid fee
If this method is pursued by Nat'l ... then it will only attract more players back into legion baseball !
Again ... only talking $100 or $110 for 20 man roster ... OR $200 or $220 for 22 man roster PER TEAM, that's not much at all.
Even the WORLD SERIES could be “pre-paid” with this Nat’l Kitty Fund and then the LOCAL HOSTS could harvest ALL of the benefits of HOSTING.
If you like this “proposal”, then forward this onto your “State Chairman” stating you support of this idea.
Respectfully Submitted, Jeff Milburn Winchester, VA coachmilburn@gmail.com
Posts: 159 | Location: Virginia | Registered: August 06, 2006
-----Original Message----- From: John Pinkman [mailto:john22@pinkmanbaseball.com] Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 11:07 AM To: 'JEFF MILBURN' Cc: *********** Subject: RE: Nat'l Proposal to increase Rosters to 20 OR 22 men
Jeff,
I completely agree with the proposal to expand the Legion Rosters to include more players. But not for the monetary reason alone. I left the coaching ranks of Legion ball many years ago in frustration over the following points.
Quality of play should always supersede the quantity of play. The minimum roster always left teams searching, specifically for pitchers at the end of the week. As a professional pitching instructor I was concerned with the overuse of tired arms in the summer, especially with the lack of a time commitment made by both players and coaches to in-season (summer) conditioning. Further the volleyball approach of “rotate to serve” style of pitching rotation late in the week reduced the competitive level of play, to not much more than a HS gym class. Not to mention serious damage to position players arms who are not conditioned for that endurance throwing. Teams should also expect a number of players to miss some games due to college visits and valid collegiate exposure camps (which in the past Legion failed to do).
The abundance of travel teams are also placing a serious financial burden and family fatigue on both the players and their parents. Many are merely “sold” a uniform. Many of those players are unnecessarily delusional about their competitive ability to play college baseball at any level. When in reality there are so many more potential student athletes prepared to compete at the college level. But it has become a task similar to herding cats. I’m sure that most all of the college coaches listed in this email, are equally exhausted from the diluted array of the ever expanding recruiting tournaments.
I realize that Legion programs have different challenges in various locations. The reduction in the sponsoring American Legion Posts and their aging membership is also a contributing factor.
In northern Virginia quality coaching will always pursue quality program management. Frustrations of political or inept program management are significant reasons for the creation of independent teams. The lack of quality Legion teams, have in the past forced college recruiters to follow the talent to other competitions. Your alternative is very timely.
Coaching a team should not be a right of passage or given the most available volunteer. It should be earned on the basis on teaching ability - not monitoring ability. Quality is not always convenient and often disturbs the status quo. The Legion program, as you have noted, must make changes in their programming to accommodate current athletic realties or stagnate as many national programs recently have. In any case, Legion programs must re-evaluate their competitive mission and clearly and consistently communicate whatever they decide to the public.
John
John Pinkman President
Pinkman Baseball Academies www.PinkmanBaseball.com 703.440.8824 Springfield 703.661.8586 Dulles
Posts: 159 | Location: Virginia | Registered: August 06, 2006
Another thing that needs to be addressed is the addition of players after the form 1 deadline.
The only two reasons you can replace a player is for death or active duty.
While I completely understand this and agree with the philosophy, it is a major flaw in the system and causes yet another loss of good coaches and players to more "open" select, travel, and showcase teams.
Case in point we lost two players the week the form 1's went in. Both to season ending injuries...The first needed major labrum surgery, the second has to have minor surgery on his elbow.
One was our top pitcher, the other our top catcher. Both led our team in all batting categories....
There should be some further exemption for "catostrophic injuries" not to allow teams to load up but help in these situations.
Why not allow at least one or two injury exemptions that the state could "approve" with required notice from doctors, etc...
This, along with expanded rosters, could take some of the pressure off of some of the coaches and kids...
Posts: 19 | Location: Pasadena | Registered: March 15, 2009
FYI ... to ALL coaches and ALB officials from each respective state.
In order for rules changes in ALB to take place, it’s the coaches and/or the district officials that must submit rules changes to your respective State Chairman who is suppose to take those proposed changes to the annual National Convention and the 51 State Chairman will review and vote on.
That is the “chain of command”, any other avenues of trying to makes changes will not be heard by these folks.
Unfortunately, the Nat’l Headquarter guy who is just one fulltime person (Jim Quinlan) who has a PT secretary who CANNOT do anything unless it comes thru the STATE chairmen at the Nat’l convention.
For coaches that submit rule changes to their respective state chairman, might not be a bad idea to CC the Nat'l program coordinator as well to ensure Nat'l is aware of rule changes being submitted for consideration.
In closing, IF any changes are going to take place with ALB, it must come from the Coaches who must submit the rule changes to their state chairman for consideration at the Nat'l annual convention.
Posts: 159 | Location: Virginia | Registered: August 06, 2006
Another possible funding solution would be to increase the annual dues that legion members pay by one dollar. This, in addition to a small payment per team, would likely achieve the desired level of funding for regional and world series tournaments.
I agree completely with expanding the roster size. In South Carolina we are able to carry 20 players but have to be down to 18 for the state playoffs. The tournament play is where you really need the extra pitching, so why not keep it at 20 (or better yet, 22) for the entire season?
Another change I'd like to see is exclusive use of wood bats. In some cases you have teams of college Freshmen playing on smaller HS fields and you end up with homerun derby - especially as you start to deplete the pitching rotation of an 18-man roster late in the week. This would also help solve some of the pitching depth problems associated with a heavy summer schedule of 9-inning games.
Posts: 24 | Location: SC | Registered: August 17, 2008
