Participation decline poses problems for PCLL

Justin Kline

9 years ago

Plant City Little League President Ben Smith had been hoping that the league could fix its participation problems this year.

Now that the final rosters have been set and play has begun, it appears that there’s even more work to be done now.

Smith reports that the league has seen an overall drop in participation rates from last year. The decline — which hit softball especially hard — presents several problems for the league.

SOFTBALL

Smith says that the softball league is down from seven to five teams, and he has reason to believe that the cost to play is directly affecting PCLL’s participation numbers.

“Christina Girls Softball (in south Lakeland) charges $65 to $85 per head to play there, and they took some of our participation this year,” Smith says. “A few of our girls went over there. We charge $135 for boys and girls, and then the city fee drives it up to $165.”

Smith, on the suggestion of Plant City Recreation and Parks head Jack Holland, wrote a letter several weeks ago to city commissioners, asking them to do away with the mandatory $30 city fee that was implemented in 2007. Commissioners have yet to examine the letter and address these concerns, and this will likely happen after City Manager Mike Herr is able to review it.

“I’d have to take a look at it, see the pros and cons,” City Commissioner Mike Sparkman says. “We don’t want to charge any youth programs any more than we have to but, in the same token, we want to be able to build and take care of the facilities that these programs are using.”

HOWS BASEBALL FARING?

For the moment, it appears that baseball has weathered the storm.

There are eight tee-ball and minors, seven machine pitch, six majors and three juniors baseball teams in the league.

There have been some losses, but nothing that spells doom for the boys’ programs, especially since next year has the potential to give the league its first participation increase in a while.

“Next year, 30 kids are aging out,” Smith says. “But there are also 42 kids that will be aging up.”

Because of this, the league had to get creative in some areas.

For majors baseball, this meant getting a waiver from Little League to field 11 kids per team instead of the required 12. This move will allow the 2016 teams to stick together in 2017, for the most part.

“That’s why we requested a waiver — if we lost a team, we would have had to do an expansion draft next year,” Smith says.

And, had the waiver request been denied, PCLL would have had to do a retraction draft this year. That would have meant cutting one team out of the picture and distributing its players evenly among the remaining five squads.

Also, the juniors and seniors baseball teams had to combine. These three squads now feature a mix of players ages 13 to 15, rather than the traditional 13 to 14 juniors and 14 to 15 seniors squads.

OTHER COSTS

Another reason PCLL hopes the fee will be abolished? Smith says that the boardroom building, which is the only part of Mike Sansone Park that PCLL owns, needs a new roof. It could cost nearly $10,000.

“We could do the roof if we didn’t have to pay the city fee,” Smith says. “And, we’d probably have higher attendance rates.”

At the moment, PCLL does not see a solution if the city fee is not waived. If PCLL lowered its fees, it would boost participation, but it would also hurt the league’s ability to cover its costs to operate. At $45 per umpire and $3 to $5 per ball, among other things, America’s original pastime can get expensive.

NUMBERS GAME

Plant City Little League must make enough money to cover what president Ben Smith calls “more costs than people think.”

With good participation rates, charging $135 per head can get an organization a long way. But that isn’t the case for PCLL, which now has to budget creatively to stay financially sound.

Expenses

The league has to pay the City of Plant City

$30 for every registered player,

$45 per umpire,

$3 per baseball and

$5 per softball.

The league also covers the cost of new equipment in some cases, such as catcher’s gear, to ensure that players are never using old, worn-down equipment.

Whenever possible, the league also helps players that cannot afford costs but want to play. In the face of a potential tight budget, it may become difficult for PCLL to keep doing so.

On top of everything, the league wishes to repair the roof of its boardroom. Not counting city fees, the league would need around 75 players to register at $135 to cover the cost — and that’s assuming every cent of their registration money goes to the roof, rather than the league’s other recurring costs.

And, if PCLL doesn’t want to be priced out of its own existence, something will have to change sooner than later.

“We have to explore, as a league, what can we do,” Smith says. “How far can we lower our pricing and still be able to cover our costs? I’m really not sure, there. Between all of our costs, they add up pretty quickly.”

Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.