Hello Edgewood, Forestville and McCabe-Waters Little League Families,
We hope that this finds all of you and your families doing well. We are reaching out to you jointly to share some exciting news regarding the future of Little League Baseball in Bristol.
There have been many challenges facing our leagues recently. The challenges haven’t been limited to this past year. Over the past few years, little league enrollment has gone down citywide; leading to record low enrollment. In an effort to have enough games played per Little League recommendations, we have been participating in citywide interleague play at the majority of levels. That was something previously unheard of but, ultimately proven necessary. The challenges of declining enrollment have led to one conclusion that we were reluctant to acknowledge for a long time.
After careful consideration along with support and guidance from the Eastern Regional Office and approval from Little League International, we jointly announce that we will no longer be three individual little leagues. The leagues of Edgewood, Forestville and McCabe-Waters will combine to become Bristol Little League beginning in the 2021 season.
This is not a decision that was entered into lightly. We know and recognize that this news will come with many mixed emotions. Please know that we feel it too. We all respect and cherish the history and community of our individual leagues. These leagues collectively have been around for over 70 years. Moving in a new direction is something that was hard on all of us. However, we move forward with the belief that this merger will be in the best interest of Bristol’s children now and in the future.
What will be changing is our name. What isn’t changing is our commitment to the families of our league. We will not forget our collective history and will look to recognize and retain that in some manner going forward. We will also still retain and utilize all three little league facilities. Bristol Little League will be run by a new board of directors that will be a combined equal part of all three previous leagues to underscore that we are aligned towards a common goal.
Your NEW Bristol Little League Board of Directors will be working feverishly in the coming months to get ready for a launch in the spring of 2021. We know there will be many questions. Please stay tuned. There will be updates shared through our respective current league pages and ultimately in a new Bristol Little League website and social media.
Thank you,
Bristol Little League