It might be hard to imagine in the middle of a cold, New England January, but in the blink of an eye it will be April and the North End Athletic Association (NEAA) will be in full baseball mode!
The fields at Langone and Puopolo Parks are currently undergoing major renovations, and the best case scenario for completion is late September/early October. Therefore, the 2020 NEAA season will be played on temporary fields that we will be using for just this spring.
Our Clinic/T-Ball program will run for the nine Saturdays in May and June. This program is for 4 and 5 years old (age as of 4/30/2020). We will start May 2 and finish June 27. The program will start at 9 a.m. and end around 10:30 a.m. depending on the youngsters engagement. This season our program will take place on the Greenway. It will be on the parcel across the street from Mother Anna’s restaurant. It will be a bit more challenging, but it should be a fun spot for the kids and get them more “fans” as people walk by.
We will continue to run our minor and major leagues which cover players age 6-12 (age as of 4/30/2020). Last year our minors were ages 6-8 and majors 9-12. That seems like the most likely scenario; however, the final decision will be made after all registrations are received. We will be using “The Barry” field in Charlestown. The field has lights so starting games at 6 p.m. shouldn’t be an issue. NEAA is also in talks with the city and Hill House to use the fields at Boston Common for a day or two during the week. If this goes through, NEAA will use all three fields. If not, “The Barry” will be our home for all games. As in the past, NEAA will try to avoid Saturday and Sunday games to not impact family vacations.
Please register by March 1, 2020 so we know how many players we will have and can order uniforms, etc.
We will be entering one Dodgers team in the Lou Tompkins All-Star baseball league this season. That team will be a 15 and under team and consist of players ages 13-15. LTA opening day is June 22 and the championship game is August 9. This team will also represent us at our 30th annual LaFesta Baseball Exchange with our dear friends from North Adams.
NEAA will also have their first traveling girls softball team called the North End Execution. This team is run by Chuck Bilikas and has actually begun indoor workouts already. If you have a girl who is interested in softball, please sign her up. Chuck’s team will probably be for some of our older girls; however, any girl who is too old for the minor league and wants to play softball should register and we will figure it out based on registration numbers.
To register, go to neaabaseball.org. We will NOT be doing online payments this year so please make your $50 check out to the NEAA and drop it off at the Nazzaro Center or mail it to Nazzaro Center, c/o John Romano, 30 North Bennet St, Boston MA 02113. Late fee of $20 will be assessed if registration fee not paid by April 1, 2020.
“Looking forward to another fun year and a great prep year as we get ready to play on our brand new fields in 2021,” says NEAA Commissioner Ralph Martignetti. “Players who play with the NEAA in 2020 will get preference in 2021 when our new fields are open and we get registrations from far and wide!”
