Has the shutting down of Montgomery County affected any use of fields such as Lukens, Hatfield, Stover, and Cedar Hill?

At this point, Central Bucks School District and Hatfield facilities are off limits- CBSD until the 14th of April, Hatfield until further notice. I am playing this situation on a day to day basis. There is a possibility we will delay Opening Day by a week or 2, or at least until we can get toilet tissue for the port-a-pots (just kidding). In all seriousness, the Quarry ball field is now controlled by yours truly so unless Bucks County mandates a closing of all public sporting facilities, we have the choice to play or not to play. I will be reaching out to managers to get their feelings on the matter. If you as a player feel strongly one way or the other, please contact your team manager.

I will be reaching out to league managers, umpires, and scorekeepers in the not-too-distant future asking what their thoughts are on starting the softball season on time considering the Coronavirus situation. I will not force anyone to play/work under these circumstances if it their choice not to. Aside from any government mandate, the choice to start the season on time will be up to the teams in each league, along with the umpires and scorekeepers of each league.

CB School District, Hatfield Township, Telford Borough, and Horsham Township have all closed their facilities for at least 2 weeks. These closures include the ball fields we play on. While the Quarry ball field has not been mandated closed by any state or local authority, quite a few of the managers I spoke with would prefer to exercise caution and not start on 3/31. I agree. Opening Day has been postponed. A tentatively start date has been set for Monday Coed, April 6th, but this date is NOT etched in stone. We will re-evaluate on a weekly basis.

At this point, Opening Day has been tentatively set for April 13th (Monday Coed). God willing, local, state and federal government guidelines will have eased up a bit by then.

League member safety has always been and will remain at the forefront. Social distancing shouldn't be a problem playing softball. Players can use their own bats, not touch their face and disinfect their hands frequently to remain safe. In spite of all this, if league members remain leery about starting the season on the 13th, the league will re-evaluate. League members concerned about using cash can always remit their league fee online.

Old Man Winter is in the rear view mirror. The sun is setting later in the day, the weather is moderating, and people are chomping (champing) at the bit to get out and play some softball. I get all that, but we must remain vigilant. COVID-19 is not something we should take lightly. We've all made great sacrifices. Let's not throw it all away. We will take a 'wait and see' approach and hope for good news in the days ahead.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting this virus to take off the way it has. Being an eternal optimist, I really thought things would be getting back to normal by now. So not the case. If anything, it seems to be getting worse by the day. It's like a bad dream that you can't wake up from.

Being so close to the Northeast epicenter, you guys have my deepest sympathies and prayers. I'm holed up on the West Coast of Florida waiting for things to ease up. I can think of worse places to be as there are 50 COVID-19 cases in all of Sarasota County and only 9 in Port Charlotte County.

With the President placing things on hold until the end of April, the hope is we can open the season on Friday, May 1st with coed games at the Quarry and men's games at Stover. That is if Telford Borough opens the Stover ball field. We will then move to Sunday games if and only if Hatfield and Horsham Townships open their ball fields. School district ball fields are likely to be the last to open if they do at all. Running the Sunday leagues would not be a problem if we only had the 3 Horsham fields, the Hatfield ball field and the Quarry. If we had only the Quarry, the A division will be allowed to start.

Starting the spring season on May 1st will push our softball year back a solid 4 weeks. Getting the spring and summer leagues in shouldn't be a problem. Getting the fall league in will be a definite challenge. Depending upon the number of rainouts in each league, we could run an abbreviated fall season or, if teams are willing, run a full fall season using all of November and part of December. Sort of like a fall/winter league. Being we now control the Quarry ball field, playing at the Quarry into December is an option if the masses are willing. We couldn't fit all the teams into this conceptual fall/winter league as there would be no Hatfield or Stover fields and 10:15 games would not be scheduled, but we could accommodate a number of teams.

Winter ball can be fun as long as we have similar weather to the winter we just had. I ran a snowball game back in the early 2000s and we had a blast. It had snowed about 6" and within 2 days of the snowfall we had about 20 ball players show up and play. Below are a few pictures from that day.

The bottom line is we have options. If the league is ready, willing and able, I am as well.

Of course, if local municipalities open ball fields sooner than 5/1 and the Governor allows recreational facilities to operate before then, we will begin play.

Opening Day is now tentatively set for Monday, May 11th. I can't speak for individual township ball fields, but if the Governor opens things up, we will play at the Quarry. Hopefully, Hatfield and Horsham Townships follow suit. Telford Borough has just notified me that their ball fields will continue to be closed through May 18th, which is when their Borough Council will hold its next meeting.

Why wait until 11 May if we are playing at the Quarry?

If we go back to play
What about 2-10 week seasons

As much as people may want to believe softball is an essential business, unfortunately it is not. The PA Government mandate states we cannot open and we cannot play until further notice. If/when the Governor opens things up, we will open the season and play ball. While the Quarry ball field is privately owned, that does not make it immune to government regulation. Believe me, I want to open the season as much as anyone, but our hands are tied.

As far as different season types, I am keeping a very open mind... when I can find it, that is. I seem to have lost it a while ago.

So with governor lifting restrictions is may 11
Still target date

On April 27, this news item was posted at the PA.GOV website, easing the restrictions on some outdoor recreational activities:
"Governor Announces May 1 Statewide Reopening of Limited Outdoor Recreational Activities to Help Pennsylvanians Maintain Positive Physical, Mental Health"
https://www.media.pa.gov/pages/Educatio ... newsid=839

However, the industry operation guidelines still show "Other Amusement and Recreation Industries" as a no-go for operation at this time. I presume SBA would fall under this category (located on page 5 under the "Leisure and Hospitality" industry).


The news item also refers to the CDC guidance, which must be followed as long as the state disaster declaration remains in effect. That guidance specifically says "DON'T participate in organized activities or sports".
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... itors.html

I was hopeful that yesterday's news might offer some hope to those of us eager to get back to softball, but I don't see how this announcement changes anything that would cause the league to consider beginning play before May 11th. And as we've seen over the past couple of months, these target dates for various activities keep getting pushed back as the crisis continues to develop.

Personally, I also have a hard time envisioning how we can safely play softball while adhering to the 6-foot social distancing guidance. And with the more April 3 mandate to wear masks in public, I suppose we'd be playing with those on as well.
https://www.pa.gov/guides/responding-to ... salMasking

I also don't think that things in general will get back to "normal" until a sufficient population has immunity to the virus. That will either be through the availability of a vaccine or through developed immunity (by getting sick and then recovering, ugh). But as medical advancements are made (e.g., vaccines, COVID-19 treatments, effective deployment of useful tests for SARS-CoV-2 and immunity to it), perhaps we'll arrive at a "near-normal" condition that may allow us to get back to softball.

I happened to catch today's stream of the governor. First time, for me anyway, I heard the direct question of organized team recreational sports addressed. It doesn't look good. It'll only be permitted in green, not red or yellow.

Golf it is

Opening Day for the 2020 softball season has been postponed until further notice. The government needs to open the state up to organized recreational sports before we can even think about playing softball. When that will be is anyone's guess.

Are there no fields on which we may play?

Do we have an idea on an opening day or or we still not comfortable?

A comfort level has very little to do with whether we play softball or not. Yes, I'm sure there are some that will not play out of fear, but my guess is the overwhelming majority want to and will play softball as soon as possible. When Governor Wolf opens up the state to recreational team sports, we'll get out there and play. At this point, not many have any idea when that will be. I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later.

Governor Wolf has no legal or constitutional authority to shut down this league. I’m not trying to give you guys a hard time, but the 14th amendment is being violated. I know it’s only tee ball, but I feel people need this as a distraction and this is a business that’s losing revenue every day we don’t commence. A lot of people aren’t aware of this so I’m just saying.