Volunteer Opportunities
Being a Team Manager or Coach
Being a manager or coach requires time, patience, and basic knowledge of the game. You may be required to attend meetings, instructional sessions, or seminars. You will communicate with the parents/guardians of your players to inform them of any schedule changes, rainouts, and Little League events and activities.
The manager is the head coach and is ultimately responsible for the team. The manager drafts the team (in tryout divisions), schedules and plans the practices, organizes team volunteers (coaches, parent helpers, scorekeepers, etc.), coaches the team, and is the primary contact between the league and the team.
A coach helps the manager coach the team and performs any other duties assigned by the manager. A manager can recruit as many coaches as needed but there may only be two coaches with the manager in the dugout during a game.
Being a Parent Helper
A parent helper is someone who wants to help out with the team any way he/she can. They help out during practices, volunteer to umpire the field when necessary, coordinates treat ticket schedules, etc.
Being a Park Volunteer
A park volunteer is someone that wants to help out during the season but the job description does not fall under any of the other descriptions. If you want to help with Field Maintenance during the season in addition to the normal Spring and Fall programs, select this option. Or maybe you want to help as a cross-walk person between the Friendship Chapel parking area and the North Drive. Do you have a "green thumb" and want to keep our flower beds beautiful? Use this volunteer description to let us know how you want to serve the League!
Helping with Field Maintenance
As a part of the field maintenance crew, your skills and abilities may be used to mow grass, line fields, rake dirt, and execute minor repairs on fences, benches, and bleachers. If you are interested in helping all summer, please register as a Park Volunteer on the Volunteer Registration and note what you'd like to help with. In addition, MLL typically has two major maintenance programs we invite our Little League family to join in:
- Spring Cleanup - The first two Saturdays before the season starts. MLL invites all players and their families to come and spruce up their fields and the grounds to get them ready for the opener. We also encourage managers to build team unity by bringing their whole team to work together. Projects involve raking leaves, cleaning dugouts, preparing flower beds, spreading wood chips, raking the fields, hanging sponsorship banners, etc.
- Fall Maintenance - After the season is completed, there is always work that needs to be done to repair the fields and get them ready for the winter. This is also a time for special projects to be completed. Examples would be fixing fences, covering pitching mounds, etc.
Being an Umpire
Aside from calling ball or strike, safe or out, umpires are responsible for teaching players good sportsmanship and the rules of the game. Umpires are also called upon to interpret rules and help settle minor disputes that may occur during games.
While home plate umpires are scheduled well in advance for games, field umpires for Majors and below are often determined minutes before the game begins. As you arrive at your child's game, your coach or the home plate umpire may ask you to be the field umpire. When you agree, your main responsibilities are to call plays on the bases, determine if balls are fair or foul, and assist the home plate umpire with other calls.
MLL utilizes trained high school students and adults to be umpires for many of the upper divisions and does pay a fair wage for their time. For Teeball and Machine Pitch divisions, coaches call the outs. Following is a breakdown of the umpires for the older divisions.