Dear Countryside Little League,   Sadly, the Board has come to the decision to end the 2020 Spring Season. This decision was based on information we received from the City of Clearwater this week regarding opening the fields for play.  Unfortunately, the city is not allowing more than 10 people on the fields at this time and no games or scrimmages.  Despite our best efforts, the city has not given us a timeframe as to when games may resume.  Therefore, we felt it was in the best interest of our players and families to make the call to cancel the season.  We do not feel we could provide the best experience for our players by limiting groups at practice.   There is some good news!!!  If the fields are available for play in the coming weeks, the league will look to host clinics and sandlot baseball  games to help all players continue to build their skills.   We know there will be a lot of questions in the coming weeks.  We would like to take a minute and answer what we can in terms of ending the 2020 Spring Season and how we plan to move forward.  There are still a lot of details to work through.      TEAM EQUIPMENT:   All Managers will need to return team equipment. Board Members will be at the fields on the following dates to collect the equipment: Saturday June 6th 9am-11am  Wednesday June 10th 6pm-8pm  Saturday June 13th 9am-11am REFUNDS:  Parents will be able to choose to receive a partial refund or have their refund applied (as a credit on their account) for the 2020 Fall Season or any clinics that we may offer over the summer.  The league has incurred costs such as uniforms, insurance, equipment etc. for the Spring season.  The refund/credit will be calculated by division.  Stay tuned for an email early next week on how to indicate your preference and further details.  UNIFORMS: We ask all parents to hold onto the uniforms their child was issued during the 2020 Spring Season.  Please see below for further details.    CHANGES FOR THE 2020 FALL SEASON:  BASEBALL:  The board voted to approve keeping the Spring teams together for the Fall season (teams will remain unchanged for fall to the best of our ability and return participation).   Skills assessments will be held for any new registered players and drafted accordingly (AA divisions on up).  So it is very important that your player holds onto their uniform if they plan to play in the Fall.   With guidance from Little League International (LLI) and District 12, the board also voted to approve not aging up baseball players for the upcoming fall season as we have traditionally done in the past.  All players missed out on the opportunity to fully develop and strengthen their skills in their current division this Spring.  We also sympathize and understand the frustration the 12 year olds maybe feeling, losing out on a full Major's season and a chance at All Stars.  This will also give those players, as well as all older age players, the opportunity to come back in the Fall.  As of January 1, 2021, all players will age up under the traditional LLI rules.     SOFTBALL:  Our softball program is structured differently as teams include players from surrounding leagues.  Any decision to retain teams will need to be discussed with District 12 and the surrounding leagues.  We know there are many more questions.  Please be assured we will continue to work through this unique situation and update our members as new information becomes available.  We will be sending out an email blast on our plans for a June board meeting and instructions on how to access the meeting virtually.  Also, we will be holding our Annual Membership meeting in July.  We welcome all feedback and hope to see many of you in attendance (virtually).  Thank you for your continued support for Countryside Little League.  We hope everyone has a great summer if we do not get a chance to see you before the Fall season.      Sincerely,    Countryside Little League Board Members