MEMO    TO: All Players, Parents, Coaches, League Staff, District Staff, and our Community

Welcome to Little League Florida District 6 !

For decades, Little League Florida District 6 has provided the Greater Tampa area with quality youth athletic programs in the sports of baseball and softball. We are proud to be Chartered and affiliated with Little League Baseball & Softball, headquartered in Williamsport, PA. Little League is the largest youth baseball & softball sports organization in the world with participants in over 100 countries worldwide.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Fortunately for the children in our community, boys and girls, ages 5 to 18, have a neighborhood park in which to play baseball or softball. Our 12 member Leagues cover most of Tampa, from MacDill AFB to Davis Island, from West Tampa to North of Citrus Park. From youngsters in T-Ball to teenagers in Big League, we have you covered. We even host "Challenger" division teams here in District 6 for the physically-challenged members of our community.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Little League is structured to develop and give opportunity to all players. Through programs that begin at age 5, the Regular Season (Spring), the Training & Development Season (Fall), and Little League's "minimum-play rules", even the beginning and less-skilled players are given a chance to participate in team sports. While no parent thinks their child plays enough (we are parents, after-all), all children are required to play according to Little League's mandated rules.

DISTRICT OF WORLD CHAMPIONS
The leagues of Florida District 6 have been providing top-quality programs and play for many decades. In that time, our leagues have produced an astounding twelve (12) World Series Championships ! This is not to mention an even greater number of US National, US Regional, State of Florida, and State Sectional tournament championships.

Little League has addressed "competitive play" through the Little League International Tournament (All-Stars). While the Regular Season (Spring) and Training & Development Season (Fall) are for overall player participation and development, All-Stars provides League-selected players an opportunity to experience competitive play. From the District to the World Series, All-Star teams advance only if they "strive to win". Needless to say, we have had our share of winners. If it's quality play you are looking for, you have found the right District.

UNPAID VOLUNTEERS
District 6 baseball & softball programs are served by over one thousand volunteers within our 12 member leagues and on District Staff. That's quite a commitment and accomplishment, considering all managers, coaches, League Board members, and District Staff are unpaid volunteers who all pull-together for the common goal of providing our children with a quality youth athletic experience. These individuals are backed-up by dozens of unpaid volunteer umpires who call the balls & strikes at many park and in our post-season tournaments.

Before you complain about how things are being run at your league, please remember that we are all unpaid volunteers donating our time for the benefit of the children. Then ask yourself what you have done to help your league.



RULES & REGULATIONS OF LITTLE LEAGUE
Our District and our Leagues operate under a Charter from Little League each year and we are held accountable for compliance with all Little League Rules, Regulations, and Policies. In signing and sending-in our Charter every year, each league is agreeing to comply with Little League Rules & Regulations.

Keep in mind that we do not write the rules, we are just charged with enforcing them. There will be times when a rule or regulation does not go your way... please be understanding and know that it's nothing personal, we are just enforcing the rules and regulations of Little League.

SPORTSMANSHIP
Good sportsmanship is the name of the game here at Little League Florida District 6. Whether you are a player, parent, manager, coach, League official, umpire, or District Staff member, all individuals participating in our District are expected to exhibit appropriate behavior and language at all times. We have a "zero-tolerance" policy for inappropriate behavior and/or language around our children. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation with this policy.

COMMUNICATION
The District Staff has gone to great lengths to improve the level of communication to-and-from our member leagues.
We have a useful email newsletter subscription system and convenient District Staff email scheme.

DISTRICT STAFF
The District Staff is here to serve the 12 member leagues of District 6. Our goal is to continually improve our level of service to the Leagues and their constituents. It takes an incredible amount of volunteer-hours by dozens of District Staff volunteers to manage pre-season preparation, league compliance, regular season interleague operations, District Umpires, D6 Tournament of Champions, and All-Star Tournaments. To facilitate our efforts, we would appreciate full cooperation from our member Leagues and their officers, board members, managers, coaches, parents, and players.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION
With over a thousand volunteers and thousands of parents and players, we are bound to encounter situations where we do not all meet eye-to-eye. As such, we would greatly appreciate if you would follow the appropriate "chain-of-command" in our youth sports organization.

If you experience a problem, please observe the following protocol:
- In your League, talk with your manager or coaches.
- In your League, talk with your division's Player Agent.
- In your League, talk with your League President and Board of Directors.
- If you do not come to resolution at the League level, contact your division's District ADA.
- If you still have no resolution, please contact me, the District Administrator ( I will ask you for the names of who you spoke with in the previous steps and the details of what happened ).

We are passionate about sports and even more passionate about our children, however, we expect all individuals to conduct themselves in a respectful and considerate manner.

NON-PROFIT FUNDING
The District and our member leagues are non-profit entities and must raise or earn 100% of our operating costs and needs through District & League sponsors, registration fees, charitable contributions, advertising sales, and other various fund-raisers. Your business / professional & personal support, contributions, and sponsorships to our District and our member Leagues is greatly appreciated.

It takes significant funding to keep thousands of children in our community involved in the youth athletic programs of baseball and softball each year. It costs even more to run District-wide tournaments every year, as well as State of Florida Sectional and State of Florida Championship tournaments on the state-wide District-rotation.

If you have not sponsored a League or team, or contributed to a League or our District, please consider doing so.
Your financial support helps over a thousand local volunteers help thousands of our community's children.

SPONSORSHIPS & ADVERTISING
There are opportunities at both the District and League level to gain exposure for your business. Your sponsorships and/or advertising help raise valuable funds to help Florida District 6 cover operating costs, run the end of season LTR Tournament of Champions, and District All-Star Tournaments.

Thank you for your participation and support of Little League Florida District 6.

All the best,
Terry Thompson
District Administrator
LITTLE LEAGUE / FLORIDA DISTRICT 6
866-235-3536 - Fax