Krause: Lynn Little League programs face ongoing question over whether to restructure

Retiring Pine Hill president Dan Gisonno is the latest in a long line of Little League officials who have called for restructuring of the city?s organizations.It?s not a new issue … and not a new thought.The theory goes — and has always gone — that Lynn?s organizations, individually, cannot compete with the larger leagues from the other communities that make up District 16. And to a degree, that?s true. Lynn has five separate charters (at one time it had seven) and outside of East Lynn and Wyoma, none of the others have won the district title in recent or distant memory … if at all. And when East Lynn won in 2000, it snapped a nine-year run by Swampscott.The situation is compounded with the addition of Peabody and Salem into the District 16 mix, with Peabody West winning three of four all-star tournaments moving from 15. That even makes it tougher for the smaller leagues to stack up against the larger ones.But Gisonno brings up another point. The difficulties these smaller leagues face go far beyond competitive balance … or lack of thereof.Smaller leagues have a harder time finding volunteers to do the important behind-the-scenes work that keeps them running. It?s a given that any of us who have ever been involved in running these leagues (myself among them, having done so at both Pine Hill and Lynn Babe Ruth) are mere stewards entrusted with keeping them solvent and viable during our tenures. We don?t own them. It?s merely our turn to run them.But this year, at Pine Hill, Gisonno is stepping down (fortunately, Jill Avery is stepping up), but so is the director of the concession stand, which, as anyone who?s ever been involved with this can tell you, is the single most important position in any Little League hierarchy.When you consider even the larger leagues have trouble finding volunteers to commit to time-consuming and energy-sapping duties such as director of concession stand or head of field maintenance, you see Gisonno?s point a little better. It?s not just at the Little League age level that the talent pool dwindles. It?s at the adult volunteer level too. And Gisonno just feels that the merger of a few of the leagues would create a bigger pool from which to corral volunteers as well as a better pool of players.Gisonno?s points are well taken. But if leagues merge, that also increases the number of fields to be maintained and concession stands to run … and there?s no guarantee there will be any more of a groundswell of adults helping out under a new system than there has ever been. If you?ve had the experience, you know it always ends up with the same people doing all the work while the majority of parents sit, watch, and, quite often, complain.And even with new rules and an increasing number of offshoot tournaments, fall ball, and whatever else individual leagues might offer, there?s still the fear that mega-leagues such as the ones we may be left with when all this merging is done might be even more inclined to separate the wheat from the chaff at earlier ages. This would, in turn, relegate the rest to also-ran status. They may still play well into the summer, but they wouldn?t be getting the same attention, and the same coaching, the stars get … even if the stars are only nine.A league such as Pine Hill might never, ever have a shot at getting out of District 16, let alone Williamsport. But at least now, there are 12 Pine Hill kids every season who get to play in the tournament … 12 from West Lynn … 12 from Lynn Shore … and 12 from East Lynn and Wyoma. That is a big deal, even if you go two-and-barbeque.I?d hate to see that end for the sake of trying to beat Peabody West or some other larger league. I?d rather see the whole concept of a World Series be ended before I?d like to see kids cheated out of the opportunity to go through these experiences because of some insatiable, uber-competitive adults who place winning these things above the simple joy of teaching kids how to play, and love, baseball.