From the Prez. . .

As you are receiving this e-mail you have realized that Suburban has moved out of the dark ages. The board decided in the interest of modernizing and also as a cost savings to go to an e-mail newsletter and to allow our members to download the forms from our website and send them to us. The cost savings is significant and hopefully so is the convenience. However, we are afraid that we will miss some folks so we are also sending out a postcard. Please help us out and start talking about the registration among your Suburban friends.

All good things must come to an end and after 14 years on the Suburban Board of Directors and eight years as President I have decided to make this year my last. I have my last Suburban player, playing his last year. Suburban has been a big part of my family’s life for close to 20 years, I will miss it. But because it is important to me, I believe that it’s time for a change. I have run out of good ideas and energy. We have had a good run and made some major changes to the park such as: agri-lime on seven of our eight fields; irrigation through out the park; the Pavilion and tables. But the thing that I am most proud of is that Lamp Park has become a place for families to come and enjoy a game. Suburban is an organization that teaches children that sportsmanship and friendship is the best part of athletics.

There are way too many people to thank. Board members, coaches, parents, friends that have helped me through the years; I will miss you the most.  I would like to thank my five boys and my wife, Eileen for the countless hours that they have put into Suburban and their support over the years.

Let’s make 2010 a great year; I look forward to seeing you at the ballpark.

Mark Ramsey
President
Omaha Suburban Athletic Association

Volunteers Always Welcome!

Volunteering . . . it’s a great feeling. There are many ways to get more involved at Suburban. If you would like to help we can sure use you. A commissioner’s job is very rewarding. They help put the teams together for their league, support the coaches, arrange makeup games, and ensure the season is running smoothly. There are plenty of experienced commissioners on the Suburban board to help new commissioners out as they learn the ropes. You do not have to have a child in a particular league to be its commissioner.

If being a commissioner is not for you, we have other jobs. Did you know that there are thirty spots on the board and less then half of them are baseball or softball commissioners. We need help with equipment, field services and so much more. If you do not want to get that involved coach, be an assistant coach, help with practices, help at games, keep score, be a team mom, or find one of many other ways to help. Just get involved.

If you have an idea that I have not mentioned please send it to me. Go to the website and click on the president button and email me your idea. But be careful, getting involved is contagious and you just might like it.

What’s New at Lamp Park?

New Sidewalks: The Suburban board has been very busy with off-season projects. If and when the snow clears you will see that there are new sidewalks. With the help of our friends at Pay Pal we were able to put sidewalks leading from the snack shack to field #6 and also from the parking lot to field #7, including two new handicap parking spaces. Every field at Lamp Park is now accessible by wheelchair.

New Batting Cage: With only one batting cage at Lamp, the line of kids waiting to hit is at times very long. The board felt that a new cage was important for the development of our younger players. A new cage has been put in on the west side of the park, next to field #6. The cage was build smaller on purpose; it is designed for the younger boys and girls. This should take some of the pressure off the older cage.

New Sod on Field Five: If you have had the chance to see your kids play on field #5 or have seen the field, you might have noticed a very small outfield. When we put agri-lime on that field we had hoped the grass would come back, as it did on other fields, but it did not. So with the help of some volunteers the old clumps of grass were scraped off and new sod was installed. This should improve the outfield on field #5 one hundred percent!

Expanding Field One: With the explosion in numbers in the high school boy’s league, field #1 gets used a great deal. The field is too small for this age group – it is hard to hit a double and nearly impossible to hit a triple. This spring the fence will be moved back twenty feet in some areas and the height of the fence in right center will be doubled. This should make for more interesting games.

Special Thanks

A big Suburban thank you to Tim Martin of Martin’s Counter Tops and to Larry Vierregger of Vierregger Electric Company for donating material and time to improve the Snack Shack. Thanks!

Umpires Needed

If you are 13 years old by May 1, of 2010 you are eligible to umpire at Suburban. If you are responsible, dependable and flexible and have a basic understanding of baseball/softball we want you. Initial Training classes start in March and on-going support provided throughout the season. It’s a great way to earn extra money.  Contact the Suburban office to get signed up for training classes.

Suburban’s Zero Tolerance and Recruiting Policy

The Omaha Suburban Athletic Association has adopted a “Zero” Tolerance policy. All coaches, players, parents and fans must abide by the new policy or will be asked to leave the program. OSAA will no longer tolerate any unsportsmanlike behavior from coaches, players, parents or fans toward other coaches, players, parents, fans, league officials, or umpires. Click here to view the complete policy.

Suburban’s success finances many improvements

2009 was another good year on the “Financial Diamond” for the Omaha Suburban Athletic Association. We had 961 boys playing Baseball, 376 girls enjoying Softball, 111 boys donning Football pads, and 330 girls spiking the Volleyball, which is the most girls we have had in recent history. A big “Thank You” to all the coaches, commissioners, and other volunteers who organize the leagues and teams to keep everything running smoothly. And speaking of volunteers, a big “Thank You” is also due to the over 600 parents who volunteer their time either in the Snack Shack, on the field, or in the office to help keep OSAA a premier youth organization!

The Snack Shack continues to be an important source of revenue for us and 2009 was another good year in spite of numerous rainouts on Saturdays and Sundays last summer. I know it’s hard to think of last summer when the ground is covered by snow, but we did have warm weather and lots of rain! With sales of $62,007.63 and net income of $20,727.69, we were able to finance many field improvements and equipment purchases. Thank you to all the teams who put the smiles on the players face as they redeem their snack shack tickets. Win or lose, there’s always treats!

We generated $209,913.00 in player fee revenue in 2009 and will end the year with approximately $52,000.00 in the bank, keeping OSAA on solid financial footing for the future. We made several improvements to Lamp Park this year including the finalization of sprinklers and agri-lime on fields #6 and #7, replacement of the storage shed garage door damaged by vandals, alarm system and metal grates for the snack shack, and over $5000.00 in new equipment purchases.

Thank You to all the families who continue to support the Omaha Suburban Athletic Association. As we strive to provide a fun learning experience for all the participants at a reasonable cost, we know we couldn’t do it without you!

Play Ball!

Mike Morris
Treasurer

Suburban Recycling Efforts

Suburban is evaluating a program to provide recycling of paper and plastic at the fields this year. Under the program, new two-sided trash bins would be provided by an outside firm at the fields, with the specially designed can allowing for simpler recycling of materials used frequently at the fields. As part of the program, advertisers lined up by the recycling firm would be noted on the trash receptacles at each field and Suburban would receive ongoing revenues from the recycler for collecting the trash. The operator of the program is currently negotiating with the City of Omaha to provide similar services at many of the city-owned parks.

An additional benefit of the special trash cans is that they would have lids that would keep trash from blowing around or falling out of the cans. The cans are also easier to move and empty than the existing city supplied cans. 
Hopefully, the program will begin and you will see the new cans at the field this summer. Suburban would love to be doing its part to “go green”! 
If you are interested in being one of the advertisers, please let the Suburban office know.

2010 Omaha Suburban Volleyball Season!

Suburban volleyball is a fun league that strives to provide the players with the basic fundamentals of volleyball to help improve their skill level. The $75.00 registration fee provides each player with a t-shirt, team and individual photo, and 3 plus months of volleyball!

For the fifth year, in addition to our regular season, we will be offering teams an opportunity to continue playing in a 4 weeks of Saturday round robin tournaments. This experience will be a great way for teams to continue to play, improve their skill and have a more intense and focused taste of tournament play.

This year’s season kicked off January 2nd & 9th with organizational team practices. The regular season games began on Saturday, January 16th at Beveridge Magnet School. We appreciate the use of Beveridge and their great custodial staff! Team and individual pictures will be taken on January 30th.

Suburban volleyball is available to 5th – 8th graders. This year our 5th and 6th grade league has 18 teams and our 7th and 8th grade league has 14 teams! This is the highest number of girls we have ever had register. Our league has grown to 32 teams! The games are on Saturdays from 8 am – 4 p.m. We are excited and proud of the growth in numbers and skill in our volleyball program. Every year the 5th & 6th grade level improves in skill and ability and the 7th & 8th grade league continues to play competitive ball. A huge thanks goes out to our dedicated volunteer coaches! Thanks to their hard work and desire to help girls become better volleyball players we consistently see girls continuing to play following their Suburban experience. We also are grateful for a great group of refs that keep our games running smoothly every week. And finally a special thanks goes to our great OSAA secretary…Megan! If you are high school or college volleyball player and interested in being a ref…let the Suburban office know. Thanks!!!

At the end of the season league champions will be honored with trophies and there is also an end of the season tournament which culminates in tournament champion trophies and medals for second place teams.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the volleyball program please contact Kristin at kristinf@westwoodchurch.net.

Our season has started off with a bang and anticipate this to be one of our best yet! Thanks for your support and interest in Omaha Suburban Volleyball!

Kristin Fuhs
Volleyball Commissioner

Suburban Stampede News

The Omaha Suburban Athletic Association offers a Boys Select Baseball Program for age groups 10-14. We are called the Suburban Stampede. The select program consists of one team of 11-12 players per age group. Tryouts for these teams are held in July. These open tryouts are posted in the newspaper, website and on the dugouts at the fields. We encourage any young man who plays in our in-house program to come and tryout.

Last season the 10 and 12 yr old teams finished strong and competed in the AA Nebraska state tournament. Our 13 and 14 yr old teams competed in the AAA Nebraska state tournament. The Stampede 11’s ended their season taking 2nd place in the AA Nebraska state tournament. Each of these teams has supportive parents and coaching staff with emphasis on solid fundamentals as well as good sportsmanship. If you have any questions regarding the select boys program, please contact Pete Maschka, the Director of Travel Baseball, at 578-1208.

Suburban Pride Girls Fast Pitch

2009 will be remembered as the year that long-time Director and Coach Joe Chalen stepped down as Suburban Pride Fast Pitch Travel Program Director. Joe has been involved with the program for the past 15 years. It was also the last year of a 21-year coaching career. Joe finished the season coaching his last daughter Jesi on his 18U Team and we thank him for his dedication and service to our organization.

Thank you to the Baseball Hilltoppers

Many of our current coaches were able to take part in a free coaching clinic that was offered three different times this winter by the Baseball Hilltoppers.  They featured Creighton Head Baseball Coach Ed Servais, Pitching Coach Rob Smith and Assistant Coach Brent Alwine. They provided some very valuable coaching insights and tips to help our coaches develop future successful baseball players. Their consistent message of repeating the fundamentals of the game was a message that was well received and very appreciated!