Working group gets to work; survey results are in

Will Hampton — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:36:00 GMT

The working group to set up the guidelines for a unified organization held its first meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the McConico Building. The working group is comprised of: three representatives (board president, board member and parent representative) from each youth baseball organization; three at-large, community representatives; and one non-resident representative. Tracy Watson is facilitating the working group. Tracy has over 25 years experience in complex public negotiations, problem-solving and dispute resolution and over 450 formal mediation/facilitation hours.

Members of the working group representing the organizations are John Betz, Roy Bragadeste, Rick Garza, John Hosang, Michelle Jackson, Fred Ramirez, Rick Stevens, Shane Strickland, Dawn Steele and Mike Whelen. At-large representatives are Kelly Reeves (former Round Rock ISD athletic director), Jim Loerwald (the current RRISD AD), and Faith Zimmerman of Sertoma Girls Softball.

The group plans to meet twice week. We'll post notes from meetings here on the blog to keep everyone up to speed. You should continue to use the blog to comment on the project. We'll make sure blog input gets to the working group.

Speaking of input, we've posted the results (PDF) from our online survey. Thanks to all 242 who responded. The results will provide the working group with a sense of what preferences are for number of games in a season, emphasis on recreation vs. select, etc. It's important to note the survey is not statistically valid. That said, it should be of value to the working group as one input of many into its decision making process.

The working group set a target date for the completion of the bylaws/structure of the new organization for mid-October. As for the construction side of the Sports Complex Improvement project, bids will go out in September, with the City Council awarding contracts later in the year. If you're wondering what the physical improvements will look like, wonder no more. We just got a really cool, 3-D animation video that shows the improvements from a bird's eye view. Have a look and be reminded of what we're working toward: first class facilities operated to the maximum benefit of the entire community, particularly our children.

Give us your scouting report

Will Hampton — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:48:00 GMT

We have just posted a survey on the City's web site for ballfield users. Please take a few moments to complete it. We think the survey results will provide some valuable input to the working group that is being formed to help create a unified organization for youth baseball. By the way, thanks to the 11 folks who submitted applications to serve on the working group. We very much appreciate your willingness to give of your time and talent.

We plan on running the survey for about two weeks, so you have until Aug. 15 to complete it. When it's done, we'll post the results here.

In other project news, we have met with the league treasurers, and are in the process of getting records and documents from them. Again, our goal is to get a working knowledge of the leagues' finances so we can make the right decisions as the project progresses.

Will Hampton
Communication Director

Old Settlers Park Sports Complex Improvement Project : ballfield survey

Working group gets to work; survey results are in

Give us your scouting report