February 18, 2013

To the Members of the New Castle Baseball and Softball Association:

You are invited to attend the NCBSA annual meeting on Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 7:30 PM in Room 206 at the Robert Bell School . We will elect a new Board of Directors, report on our program for 2013, and answer any questions you may have. If you do not plan to attend the meeting in person, we ask that you vote for our Board members by returning the enclosed proxy by email or mail.

The NCBSA Board meets monthly to oversee all aspects of our program, including field use, schedules, insurance, coaches training, player clinics, equipment, uniforms, our website, sponsorships, special events, registration, budgeting, summer and fall travel teams and coordination with the various travel team programs in which we participate, including the Westchester Putnam Baseball Association, Westchester Baseball Association & NY Elite Baseball Association.

We had another successful season in 2012, with almost 900 players participating in our spring recreational league programs, including over 250 boys and girls playing in our Kindergarten and 1st grade tee-ball divisions.

Teams for the 2013 season will be selected in early March, at which time players will be contacted by their coaches. The season will begin in early April, field conditions and weather permitting, and we hope that you will join our kick-off parade through town, which we expect will take place on April 27, 2013 - details to follow. Players who have not registered yet for the 2013 spring program should register on-line as soon as possible at the NCBSA website: www.ncbsa.com. Registrations received after the teams are selected will not be assured a place on a team, as players will be added to rosters on an as needed basis.

For the approximately 90 teams that we form for our spring recreational season, we try to obtain sponsorships of $250 per team to help defray costs. Sponsors names are printed on the back of players’ jerseys. If you or your business can help support our programs by sponsoring a team, it would be greatly appreciated. Sponsor forms can also be obtained from our website.

Announcements and other information about our baseball and softball programs are regularly posted on the NCBSA website at www.ncbsa.com. Information about coaches and players clinics at Pro Swing will be posted later in the winter. If you are interested in coaching a team, you can print out a coach’s application form from our website, or email us at the address below. Any questions about our programs can be emailed to us at Registar@NCBSA.com

Enclosed is a slate of nominees for the NCBSA Board of Directors.

Please take a minute to vote and mail or email the proxy back to us if you are not planning to join us at the annual meeting on February 28th.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Hildenbrand

President, NCBSA

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NCBSA PROXY February, 2013

The undersigned hereby appoints Chris Renzulli proxy, with full power of substitution, to vote on behalf of the undersigned at the NCBSA Annual Meeting of Members to be held on February 28,2013 and at any adjournments or postponements thereof, as instructed below.

The NCBSA Board of Directors nominates the following candidates for six (6) open positions to be elected at the Annual Meeting on February 28, 2013. Members now being elected to the Board will serve terms expiring in December 2014.

Please indicate your vote for the individuals named below by marking the appropriate spaces.

Candidates	Yes/No
*Vote for All below-->
Chris Hildenbrand
David Katz
Michael Jbara
Catherine Hoffman
Seth Cohen
Mitchell Goldstein
Write In

Returning Board members whose terms have not expired include: Dan Damon, Chris Renzulli, Michael Rosenberg, Paul Eiden, and Robert Levine.

Member Signature: ______________________________: Name ____________________________

This Proxy should be returned ASAP, by email to: Registar@NCBSA.com or by mail to:

NCBSA, P.O. Box 402
Chappaqua, N.Y. 10514

Thank you for your support !

NCBSA

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The NCBSA Board has voted to make this the new policy for all our programs, so that full composite bats are no longer allowed in any NCBSA program. Please read the full texts of our previous notes and go to the links below as needed for additional information.

Please read the below announcement from Little League International (“LL), issued a few weeks ago. In short, LL has placed a moratorium on the use of most “composite” bats (for example, most DeMarini CF4 bats). Per the initial Moratorium, LL indicated that it would consider granting waivers on a case by case basis and from time to time, upon application. This link will direct you to the LL website, which includes a current list of “approved” composite bats:
http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2011/Jan-Apr/TestingResultson2-_1_4InchCompositeBats.htm

There are two lists – one for 2 1/4 inch bats (those typically used for ages 12 and under on regulation LL fields) and one for 2 5/8 inch bats (those typically used for age 13 on so-called 50/70 fields). As you will see, the list is not very long. The NCBSA Board is currently considering the Moratorium and will communicate its decision to you in the near term. But we have already been informed by a number of local area travel baseball leagues that they intend to adopt the LL rule in its entirety – so any bat that is NOT on the approved list will NOT be usable. We wanted to communicate this information to you now so you can consider it before making any new bat purchases.

**NOTE THAT THE MORATORIUM DOES NOT IN ANY WAY LIMIT the use of wood bats, metal bats, or bats that have composite materials in the handle only. A composite bat is one that has a metal shell, but a woven composite of fibers on the inside of the barrel portion of the bat. The following link includes a list of many of the approved NON-COMPOSITE bats:
http://www.littleleague.org/Assets/forms_pubs/2011ApprovedNonWoodBatList.pdf

If you have any questions regarding the bat your child will be using in the coming year, please do contact us at

Thank you.
New Castle Baseball and Softball Association Board of Directors
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Little League International Issues Update Regarding Composite Bats: Moratorium Imposed Immediately

By Communications Division
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
December 30, 2010
Little League International has placed a moratorium on the use of composite bats in the Little League (Majors) Division and all other baseball divisions of Little League, effective immediately.

“Today’s decision of the Little League International Board of Directors Executive Committee is based on scientific research data from the University of Massachusetts (Lowell), which was contracted by Little League Baseball,” Stephen D. Keener, President and Chief Executive Officer of Little League Baseball and Softball, said. “The maximum performance standard for non-wood bats in the divisions for 12-year-olds and below is a Bat Performance Factor (BPF) of 1.15. The research found that composite bats, while they may meet the standard when new, can exceed that standard after a break-in process.”
Local Little Leagues were first informed of the research last September.

“From the beginning, and throughout this process, we wanted to keep everyone informed,” Patrick W. Wilson, Vice President of Operations at Little League International, said. “Our intent was to provide local league constituents clear direction regarding composite bats. There is a process through which manufacturers can submit individual models for a possible waiver if they wish to seek it. Going forward, we will let our leagues know which ones meet the standards for the Little League Baseball (Majors) 12-and-under divisions, if any.”

On Sept. 1, Little League International placed a moratorium on composite bats in the Junior, Senior, and Big League Baseball Divisions of Little League. Subsequent to that moratorium, some composite bat models have received a waiver and may be used in those divisions. Information on the composite bats that have received waivers for the Junior, Senior, and Big League Baseball Divisions of Little League may be found here:

http://www.littleleague.org/learn/equipment/approvedcompbats.htm

At present, no composite bats for the Little League (Majors) Division and below have received a waiver. If and when any models do receive a waiver, Little League International will inform its leagues of that decision.
The moratorium on composite bats, which now applies to all baseball divisions of Little League, does not apply to any softball divisions of Little League.

Note: The moratorium on composite bats only applies to composite-barreled bats. Bats that have only a metal/alloy in the barrel (and no other material, unless it is in the end cap of the bat) are not subject to the moratorium, regardless of the composition of the handle.

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Former Presidents

Frank Francese, Lew Rubin, Peter Frankel & Chris Hildenbrand

NCBSA 2013 Annual Meeting Notice

Prior NCBSA Board letters

To all NCBSA Members, February 15, 2011

The NCBSA Board has voted to make this the new policy for all our programs, so that full composite bats are no longer allowed in any NCBSA program. Please read the full texts of our previous notes and go to the links below as needed for additional information.

Little League International Issues Update Regarding Composite Bats: Moratorium Imposed Immediately