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19

Jan, 2022

North Leominster and Leominster American LL plan merger

For the last seven decades, Little League has been a part of the lives of the many boys and girls that have grown up in North Leominster. While that continues to be true, the unfortunate reality is, due to a variety of circumstances, Little League is part of fewer young lives than it was even ten years ago. The rise of other sports that were not prominent years ago, or sports that play year-round rather than seasonally have significantly impacted Little League enrollment. As a result, ensuring kids are playing at the correct level each season has been increasingly difficult.

After thoughtful and careful consideration, the Boards of Directors for both North Leominster Little League (NLLL) and Leominster American Little League (LALL) have officially requested a boundary change to merge our two programs into one cooperative league. This will help us ensure sustainable youth baseball in Leominster by increasing the pool of available players for each division (Majors, Minors, Instructional, and TBall), which helps align players of similar talent and age.

Merger of the leagues also allows a combination of resources (i.e. funds, volunteers, facilities, etc) to better manage and hopefully grow baseball in Leominster. Both facilities at NLLL and LALL will continue to operate.

Some Key facts to know about the merger:

Current Status
The request to merge leagues has been submitted to Little League. Approval has not been received at the time of this notification. We anticipate approval of the request by the end of December, or early in 2022.

Timing
The merger will take place in phases. Merger of the majors division teams will occur for the 2022 season. The minors, instructional, and tball divisions will operate independently for the 2022 season, with a merger of all divisions anticipated for the 2023 season.

Player Registration
-Players within the former NLLL boundary/school will register with NLLL for the 2022 season as in previous years.
-Players within the former LALL boundary/school will register with LALL for the 2022 season as in previous years.
-Players within the former Leominster National boundary/school can register with either LALL or NLLL for the 2022 season.
-Players that register for NLLL at the minors, instructional, and tball divisions will play out of the NLLL facility.
-Players that register for LALL at the minors, instructional, and tball divisions will play out of the LALL facility.
-For the majors division, regardless of what league you register with, players will be placed on any of the merged teams with games/practices split between both facilities.

Majors Division - 2022 Season

(1) For the 2022 regular season
a. LALL and NLLL major divisions teams will be combined in efforts to maximize opportunity for players in Leominster to play at the majors division level. Teams will be formed with the intent to maximize playing time and player development.
b. A minimum of one tryout and team selection will be held for all players registered for the majors division.
c. The teams will be selected in a manner to allow for as many level and competitive teams as possible.
d. Teams will practice and play games at both facilities (NLLL and LALL). The games and practices may not be equally distributed between the two facilities, depending on coaches primary location.

(2) A city championship will be held between the major division teams prior to all-star tournament play. Consideration will be made in expanding this tournament, and/or having an alternate fundraising tournament to include other towns as appropriate.

(3) For the 2022 postseason
a. The all-star tournament team will be selected from the majors division players that play in a qualifying number of regular season games.
b. Coaching staff for the majors division all-star team will be agreed upon by LALL and NLLL presidents and vice presidents.
c. The player selection process will be based on having representation from each majors division team and input from all majors division coaches using a player ranking system.

Minors, Instructional, and TeeBall

(1) For the 2022 regular season
a. LALL and NLLL will register and operate their own programs at this level.
b. Games will be played within the division across both LALL and NLLL, similar to prior years.

(2) For the 2022 postseason a. All-star tournament teams may be selected from kids 9-11 years of age to compete in tournaments offered by Little League.

I am sure many of you have, or will have questions regarding the merger. Please reach out to any members of the NLLL Board of Directors with questions you may have. We will do our best to answer questions as the merger process continues to develop.

We thank all of you for being part of North Leominster baseball and hope you continue to be a part as we transition to one league, Leominster Little League.

Regards,
North Leominster Board of Directors

Leominster Little League

News Detail

19

Jan, 2022

North Leominster and Leominster American LL plan merger

Local Sponsors

Leominster Little League

LITTLE LEAGUE_® International

Leominster Little League

News Detail

19

Jan, 2022

North Leominster and Leominster American LL plan merger

Local Sponsors

Leominster Little League

LITTLE LEAGUE® International

LITTLE LEAGUE_® International