Parents, caregivers, and families are vital to the Little League experience. For the Little League Sandlot Fun Days experience, though, that involvement stops at the parking lot. As hard as it is, that means the only thing that should be coming from the bleachers are some words of encouragement for everyone on the field, no coaching, yelling, umpiring, or trying to influence what’s happening on the field. Each Little League Sandlot Fun Days event must have one approved local Little League volunteer present at the game site to oversee the activities. Those adults’ role is to help make sure the players are following proper safety guidelines.

• Things that adult supervisors should not do without player-approval:
  •  Umpire
    • • If there is an umpire, they must follow the guidelines set in the current Little League Rulebook.
  • Coach
  • Pitch
  • Cheer, Root, Yell
  • Instruct

• It’s fun. How many times have you heard children at your league ask “can I go play?” Or parents tell their children “just go play.” Providing Little League Sandlot Fun Days opportunities give families an option to have their children participate in an approved, unstructured, activity that’s sole focus is the enjoyment of the player.
• While many children thrive in a structure baseball and softball environment, there are even more life lessons that can be learned through working with your peers to solve problems, establish leadership skills, and come together to have fun.
• It can help bring more players to your league. Those kids who may not want to sign up for a whole Little League season now have an outlet to come to the ball field. Encourage new families to experience the fun and power of youth baseball and softball through a Little League Sandlot Fun Days event — they may just be on one of your league’s team’s rosters next year.

• If the players are having fun, there’s no wrong way to organize a Little League Sandlot Fun Days event. Find an open field on an open day and open it up.
  • Organize a single day of the week where they open their fields up.
  • Designate an unused field during scheduled league games and activities where children not playing in a game or practice could have an outlet to play.
  • Make a Little League Sandlot Fun Days event part of Opening Day.

The goal is to not overburden a local league’s volunteers, but rather easily integrate opportunities into a league’s schedule and activities.

• Keep money out of it. There may be facility fees associated with hosting a Little League Sandlot Fun Days event. Leagues, though, should try to cover these expenses and not pass this burden on to families if possible. Remember, these are unstructured activities, you don’t need uniforms, umpires, or banners, keep it simple and keep the costs to a minimum.

• Have the players sign-in:
  • If your league utilized the Little League group insurance program provided by AIG, these events are covered by this insurance. All we ask is that the league share the list of players who have participated that are not registered members of the league. Leagues should upload the list of participants through the Data Center within 48 hours after an event. Players must meet age requirements outlined for each division of play and the league must be chartered/insured for the proper number of teams in those divisions.
• Follow a few safety standards:
  • Batters must wear helmets.
  • Catchers (if that position is fielded) must wear appropriate catcher’s equipment as outlined in the current Little League Rulebook.
  • Pitch counts or inning restrictions must be followed as outlined in the current Little League Rulebook.
  • Proper pitching distances must be followed.
  • If using bases, they must disengage from their anchor.
  • Volunteers should be approved, with a completed volunteer application and background check.