2/29/2020
DPLL announces the formation of a new Challengers Community Task Team and the return of Challengers baseball for 2020
Dos Pueblos Little League is excited to announce the formation of a community-based Challengers Division Task Team and the return of Challengers baseball for the 2020 season!
DPLL apologizes to all of the families that have felt negatively impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the Challengers division. We know how much this program means to the entire community. The decision to follow the guidance we received from District 63, and take the time necessary to restructure the division, was not made lightly. The DPLL Board remains unanimous in working to ensure that there will be a Little League®-compliant Challengers division at DPLL.
We want you to know that, while threats of legal action have prevented us from making public statements about the status of the Challengers division, we have been hard at work in the community to build a positive future. To that end, DPLL is pleased to announce that we have formed a Challengers Division Task Team, composed of DPLL Challengers parents, community members active in working with special needs children, and DPLL board members.
Our Task Team members are:
Community at Large: Marc Gamberdella, Chail Norton, Josh Weitzman
DPLL Board: Richard Low, John Hajda, John Ginder
The Task Team has been busy working on a community-based solution that will create an optimized Little League-compliant Challengers division that honors the DPLL objective of serving the children of the community. In addition to focusing on the future, the Team has worked diligently to seek a solution that allows for baseball to be played this season. After significant dialogue and coordination, the Task Team is pleased to announce the following:
- Dos Pueblos Little League will offer a Challengers division for the 2020 season
- The division is designed for boys and girls with a Little League age range of 4 to 14 years old, matching the same age range offered across all of the DPLL baseball divisions.
- Volunteer recruitment begins immediately at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JT7G86W
- Registration will open at 11am on 2/29/2020 @ www.dpll.net
- League play is targeted to start April 4th, allowing time for new volunteer recruitment
We want to hear from you! By clicking the link above, you can raise your hand to be considered as a Challengers volunteer. In the coming weeks, the Task Team will use online surveys to gather community feedback on our progress towards improving the Challengers experience for players and parents.
We have been reassured that both the DPLL and Challengers communities are robust and diverse, and we respect all opinions from people of good will in our community. We strongly believe that community challenges require broad dialogue. We have begun that discussion with our Task Team, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
We would like to specifically thank our Community Task Team members who continue to volunteer their collective time and experience to help us to create a Challengers division that will meet the needs of the DPLL community. We hope more community members will come forward and share constructive thoughts for the work ahead.
Lastly, THANK YOU for the overwhelming support from our community as we prepare to start the 2020 season. The community itself--our volunteers, parents and players--are the engine that keeps DPLL moving forward, and your encouragement and participation have never been as important as they are today.
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January 2020
For over a decade, Dos Pueblos Little League has chartered the region’s first and only Little League program designed specifically for children with special needs, so that boys and girls of all abilities would be able to play baseball.
This fall, the all-volunteer DPLL Board of Directors was asked by CA District 63 to not charter a Challenger Division for the 2020 season. The action was taken to address several Little League compliance issues that emerged specifically in the Challengers program and put the entire league charter at risk (allowing unregistered players to participate, repeated violations of Little League safety rules, harassment of DPLL volunteers, Little League trademark infringement and unauthorized use of the DPLL name to raise funds for a third party). Since many issues remained unresolved going into the 2020 season, DPLL put the program on hiatus pending a comprehensive restructuring of the program and recruitment of new volunteers.
DPLL has committed to the following:
1. DPLL intends to bring back a restructured and fully compliant Little League Challenger program for the 2021 season.
2. For the 2020 season, District 63 invited all local Challenger players to participate in one of their other District Challenger programs offered at Carpinteria Valley Little League or Montalvo Little League.
3. All funds that have been raised through DPLL and earmarked for the DPLL Challenger program remain intact and continue to be earmarked for the return of the new DPLL Challenger division.
Dos Pueblos Little League, an all-volunteer, 501c3 non-profit organization still has the same goal of creating opportunities for all kids to play baseball and will continue to pursue that goal in a way that provides a safe and compliant baseball environment for all of their participants. DPLL acknowledges and understands how much the program means to the community and is asking for some patience as we work towards that goal.
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October 2019
2020 Season
District 63 is offering Challengers baseball at the following local leagues:
Carpinteria Valley Little League
Montalvo Little League
Please reach out to these leagues and/or District 63 @ www.cad63llb.org for more information or any questions.
