Dear Little League families, 

We hope you are all staying well in these trying times. We have missed seeing the kids on the fields this spring and are now planning for a summer Little League season! This plan is contingent on the City of Boston permitting us to use the fields, which hopefully will occur when we enter Phase 3 of Reopening.  Our summer season would hopefully begin the week of July 6 and run through the end of August, and it would be for the AAA and Majors levels only. We do not feel that it is possible to implement the necessary safety and social distancing measures for the Rookie ball and Tee ball levels. This makes us very sad, and we hope to see the younger kids again in 2021!

We plan to open registration for our summer program next week.  We will also send out a survey regarding refund/credit/donation options as we finalize our plans.  If you can volunteer to help coach/bench monitor, please do so during registration. The summer season will be a relaxed and fun season with some organized games, some sandlot-type pickup games, and some skills clinics. Each level will play two nights a week (Mon/Wed for Majors, Tue/Thur for AAA) from 6-8pm. We also plan to host a Home Run Derby and a skills competition. There will be no District All-Star teams or games with other communities per the recommendations of Little League International. 

We understand that people may travel during the summer, so you do not need to commit to every game/practice to participate. This is intended to be fun and flexible, and we hope you will join us! 

Safety measures that will be in place include:

• Players must not participate if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 (temp 100.4 or greater, cough, respiratory symptoms) or have had known exposure to a person with COVID-19.
• Players must bring their own drinks/water. None will be provided. The concession stand will NOT be open.
• There will be no handshakes, spitting, gum, sunflower seeds, high fives.
• Players must use their own equipment (helmet, glove, bat) or sign out equipment from the clubhouse to be used exclusively for that player for the season and then returned to us.
• Players must keep their equipment bag with their family, not on the bench, and their equipment must be kept 6’ from their teammates’ equipment.
• Players will use the dugout bench as well as the bleachers on their side of the field so that they may practice social distancing when not on defense.
• Players will wear a cloth face mask when on the bench. It is optional for them to also wear one when on the field. Players will bring their own cloth mask. 
• Players will use hand sanitizer prior to going on defense each inning. Hand sanitizer will be provided by Charlestown Little League.
• Each team will have at least one bench coach designated to enforcing these safety measures, in addition to the base coaches.
• Spectators will be seated in the outfield behind the painted lines and will practice social distancing as well as wear cloth masks if social distancing is not possible.
• Families should limit the number of spectators to immediate family. 
• Game-use baseballs will be changed out every inning and sanitized. 
• Foul balls will be retrieved by players on the bench and not by spectators to limit who is contacting the baseballs.
• Umpires will stand behind the pitcher’s mound, wear a face mask and gloves and practice social distancing from the players where possible.
• Bathrooms and high-touch areas (door knobs, fence gate handles, benches) will be sanitized before and after each game/practice. 
• Bathrooms will be one in/one out with no congregating (unless parents need to assist their child).

Don’t hesitate to email us if you have any questions!  Thank you for your support during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

The Charlestown Little League Board of Directors