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Recent Class E (17-18 Year Olds) News

Welcome!

By Pat Anderson 05/18/2015, 3:45pm EDT

Rays 2015 Season Information

Families,

    Welcome to the 2015 North Ridgeville Rays Class E team! It looks to be a great year ahead so I wanted to take care of a few housekeeping items as we get rolling. First, our schedule is done and posted online. We have a new website this year and with that, you can integrate the schedule and events into your phone or calendar. There is also a free, Sports Ngin app for Android and Apple. Once you install them, the team ID is 726507. You can also search by name to locate the team. Our team website can be found HERE.  For standings, etc., you can go to HERE.

    Our regular season runs the entire month of June. Our first game was scheduled for Tuesday, 6/2, at Spencer (Black River High School) but with graduation, I changed it to 6/3. All weekday games start at 6:30 and I would like the team to try to be there 45 minutes early. I realize that work may prevent that, so please just communicate with the coaches, so we know what to expect. In addition, we have double headers scheduled for the first 4 Saturdays in June. We are home to Firelands the first week, at Firestone Park (Akron area) on 6/13, at Buckeye High School on 6/20 and home for Rootstown on 6/27. The Rootstown games are the last regular season games scheduled. I stayed away from the week of July 4th all together, so feel free to relax, etc. We can then start the State Tournament on 7/8. It will then continue for the next couple of weekends only, 7/11-12, 7/18-19 and State Championships in Alliance 7/25-26.

    Some players have already let me know about vacations, so please let me know if you will miss any dates. We have a large roster and can afford to miss a few players but in fairness, I want to play everyone that shows up each game. If I know ahead that someone is going to miss, I can adjust.

    The good news is that the only fee that will need to be paid this year is the $150 registration fee. I have uniforms, etc. covered with that. No fundraisers or additional money required! I told the players that I understand that many of them are responsible for their own fees, but I would like to have those paid to me no later than 6/27. I can also take partial payments or work with individuals to come up with other ways to pay their fees (such as maybe working them off at Palmer.) In other words, I don’t want money to prevent anyone from playing! That said, if you can get me the fees sooner, rather than later, that would help out a great deal.

    We do have 2 dates assigned to us in the stand this year, Friday, June 19 and Thursday, July 2. We need to have 4 adults work the stand each night. I would prefer parents but if we need a player or 2 (age 18) we can get by. I will already be up there, so please email me the date you wish to work. If I don’t get volunteers, I will just assign parents. Our shift is from 5:30ish to 9:30ish. It’s easy work and also BYOB (over 21 only!)

    Our coaching staff is made up of myself, Pat Anderson, as the head coach, Gorden Goodman and Jim Armaro as assistants. While those are our positions on paper, we all share the coaching role equally. I’m just the dummy that goes to the meetings! Our basic philosophy is to let the boys work on what they need to in the summer in preparation for their next team. While we would love to win every game, we will never make that the measure of success or failure. All teams make the post season, so if we can get everyone on a roll as the season goes, we can peak at tournament time. That might mean sacrificing a regular season victory in order to work on some things but we feel it will all pay off in the long run.

    A few last notes… I did order uniforms for those who needed them, but they may not be ready for the first week of the season. In that case, for those who don’t have one, please wear some sort of jersey that has a number on it. Also, as far as pants, each player provides their own. I would prefer white, but grey is fine. I also purchased new hats for everyone. Last, I am attaching a team roster (and schedule.) Please check your phone numbers and email addresses, as I may have some very dated information. Please let me know what changes need to be made. I will then update the OneCallNow service we use with that information. Also let me know if you have any issues opening it.

    Once again, welcome! I can’t wait to get started!!

 

Pat Anderson

216.225.8177

Patand3@oh.rr.com