Peekskill Little League Canceled For Lack Of Interest

PEEKSKILL, NY — The Peekskill Lapolla Little League will not have a spring 202o season. All scheduled events have been canceled, its board of directors announced.

"For the first time in its 56-year history, the Peekskill Lapolla Little League (PLLL) Board of Directors, with great sadness, announces the suspension of our operations and the cancellation of the 2020 season, effective March 2, 2020, due to insufficient numbers of registered players and adult volunteers to field the minimum number of teams," they wrote on the website Friday.

The Peekskill Little League had made the decision to partner with Cortlandt National Little League, thinking to have registered 9 to 12-year-old players be placed on CNLL teams, and to have least 3 AA Minor (ages 6-8) and 4 T-Ball (ages 4 & 5) teams, based on the number of last season's players eligible to return.

"Yet despite our best efforts to register players over the last 6 weeks - info posted in the City’s Parks & Recreation brochure; numerous emails sent out to our returning player's families and others on our mailing list; shared posts from the PLLL Facebook page, and; over 1,000 registration flyers distributed to the schools, only 22 of the minimum 60 players required for AA/Minor B and T-Ball registered - enough to form only 1 AA Minor team and 1 T-Ball team," they wrote. "What makes this announcement most difficult is that many of last season's players eligible to return did not register. Furthermore, there were not enough adults willing to volunteer as managers and coaches for the teams."

Thanks to the partnership with CNLL, in addition to the 17 players ages 9-12 that will be playing, the 22 players that registered can also play baseball with CNLL or, if they choose to, receive a refund of their registration fees.

The PLLL Board could not wait any longer, because that would have risked having the 22 registered players not be included with CNLL and not play.

"In addition, we could not wait to hope that enough players sign up, then not have enough, plus run out of time to get set up – form teams, have team sponsors, order uniforms and equipment, set game schedules and interleague play, etc. - for the start of the season," they said. "On behalf of those that preceded us, we wish to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone that has supported PLLL over the years - the players and their families; all the adults, young and old, who volunteered their time to the league in any way; our loyal sponsors for their dedication and financial support; the City of Peekskill and Peekskill City School District for their collaboration and; all of the elected officials and the community at large."

For the Peekskill Lapolla Little League to come back, new leadership will be needed, they said. Contact them at [email protected] or through the Facebook page if you are interested.