Message from the President

Opening Day Remarks
March 04, 2006

Welcome to Opening Day of the 2006 season of PONY Baseball at Los Amigos. For the first time in recent memory we have a fully operational snack bar, and fully operational bathrooms, and a new pitching machine.

At our older teams’ field at John Adams Middle School we have a new pitching mound and a new backstop, as well as 25 tons of new dirt that our league donated to the school district.

In addition to working on these physical improvements, your board of directors and league officers have been setting down our league policies so that they can be posted on our website. So if you want to know how the AllStars teams are chosen, or how you get to play in a fall ball league, you can go to our website and look at the policies, and while you’re there, you can check out what was going on in this league in the distant past, and even see photos of some of our coaches when they were players.

I’m reading a book by Thomas Oliphant called “Praying for Gil Hodges”. The book is about the 7th game of the 1955 World Series, when the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series for the first time in memory. Can you imagine a whole book about a baseball game?

Tom Oliphant lived in New York when he was a kid, and he and his family loved the Dodgers. He writes, “the Dodgers symbolized hope, disappointment, triumph and tragedy, and they all fit together. Effort is more important than result; WE is more important than I; and the only things that truly matter are whether your word is any good, and how you treat others.”

With that in mind, we are here to have fun.

We will enjoy the spring evenings and weekends; we will welcome daylight savings time; we’ll listen to the crack of the bat, and the thump of a well-caught ball; we’ll smell the hotdogs and popcorn!

And we’ll all go to a Dodger game together against the Angels on Friday, May 19. We’ll have a day of fun and contests and get our team photos taken on Sunday, April 30. And all the grownups will have a party with dancing and food and an auction on Saturday night, April 1.

Baseball is about hanging around with your friends,and making new friends.
Being out in the fresh air; playing hard and playing fair; having a good time and being loyal to your team, even when you play your friend’s team.

Nothing feels like making that play, or stealing that base, or hitting that line drive deep into center field for a double.

Have a great season!

Abby Arnold

President, Los Amigos Baseball

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January 1, 2006

Welcome to the 2006 season of PONY Baseball at Los Amigos Park. We expect all our facilities to be open and in use this season. The City of Santa Monica promises that our snack bar, announcer’s booth, and restrooms will be in full operation by opening day.

This year we have worked to get written policies in place, and to set up new procedures so that all families will have the same access to information. As policies are approved, they will be posted on the website. It’s important that everyone know what parts of the players’ uniforms they will have to purchase, the volunteering requirements for each family, and the process used to choose the all-star teams at the end of the season. We are committed to putting all this and more on paper and on the web.

Baseball in the U.S. is more than a sport; it is a structure for learning values of cooperation, respect, teamwork, and responsibility. Aside from school, PONY baseball should be each child’s priority during the season. Don’t let your team down by missing practices and games. All adults should plan to spend some time staffing the snack bar this year. If you’d rather watch your child’s game, or if you are coaching, keeping score, or at work, you can take a snack bar shift during a game in which your child isn’t playing, or at a time when you are off work. In our small but mighty league, every player is an important member of the team, and every adult is essential to the smooth running of our all-volunteer organization.

I’m looking forward to those spring days and evenings at Los Amigos ballpark, our trip to the Dodgers v. Angels game on Friday, May 19, and the annual Dance and Silent Auction on Saturday, April 1. See you on Saturday, March 4 for our Opening Day ceremonies.

Have a great season!

Abby Arnold

President, Los Amigos Baseball

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April 16, 2005

Well we’re off to a great start. It was great watching the kid’s crash through their team banners on Opening Day. The kids are having fun, learning teamwork, sportsmanship, dedication, and the fundamentals of baseball. I want to thank the Athletic Director, Commissioners, and the Coaching Staff for their time and dedication to the youth of our PONY community. You are truly the backbone of our Program.

I also would like to thank the Board of Directors and League Officers for their hard work and dedication to making our PONY program a success. It takes a lot of sacrifice to make it all happen, and believe me; this could not happen without the work of our Board and League Officers.

The Team Parents are doing an excellent job. Thank you to all the Team Parents. I know we ask all lot of you, but it all benefits the children of our program. The candy drive money continues to come in. The snack bar is going smoothly. It could not happen without all of you putting in your time and work.

A special thanks to our SPONSORS. It is because of you and your financial assistance that we can offer this program to our children. Your money goes directly to benefit the children. We buy uniforms, equipment, pay umpires, and fix our fields, pay insurance and much more. On behalf of our PONY Baseball community, I sincerely thank you for your help.

Dodger Day went well considering our bus broke down. Luckily, we had some calm parents in charge and they made it to the game anyways. The trip home from Dodger Stadium was fine, because we had new buses. The best thing was that the Dodgers won, and the kids all had fun. They each received a complimentary Bobble Head and ate plenty of hot dogs and chips at Los Amigos prior to boarding the buses.

Picture Day/ Fun Day are just around the corner. I know all the kids will have fun. They will have an opportunity to win prizes, eat great food and play lots of fun games. And of course they will be looking sharp for the pictures. Team Parents will be in the photos again this year, they deserve it. I will be getting in the dunk tank. Hopefully I’ll stay dry, but I seriously doubt it. I’ll be ready with a warm towel.

Our Third Annual League Dinner/Dance and Silent Auction is May 14 th. at the Moose Lodge located on 16 th and Ocean Park. Tickets are only $15 dollars each. This includes dinner, dancing or you can just listen to the great tunes of Coastal Soul and Rob Lowe, and of course enjoy bidding on some great things at our Silent Auction. What a deal!!!

The proceeds go right back into our children. Please see your Team Parent for tickets.

The construction of our park continues. The field looks great. Everyone likes our dugouts now that we have plenty of room and cement in them to keep the dust down. The snack bar and bathrooms are almost complete. Unfortunately it does not look like they will be done until the end of June. I can guarantee it was not do to lack of effort on behalf of your Board or League Officers. As a matter of fact, we are still working hard to try to get this project done. Next year will be a really exciting year. Please continue to be patient with us on this project. In the meantime, the most important thing is that we stay positive especially in front of our children. So long as they have a great field to play on and they have a snack bar to get some treats, they are fine. Stay positive.

We have also built a new storage shed at John Adams for our 13 and 14 year old program. As well as bought a new pitching mound. These kids are the leaders of our program. They are doing very well and having lots of fun. We have lots of visions for our program. We will continue to work hard to make our visions become a reality. I know we can make our program a field of dreams for our kids and we won’t stop working till this becomes a reality.

Many of you may have heard about the deadly incident that occurred in the Palmdale Pony Program. A 15 year old boy was killed by a 13 year old boy with a bat. They apparently had an argument while in line at the snack bar and the 13 year old got extremely upset and got his bat and hit the 15 year old boy. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the members of that community, especially the families that were immediately affected.

It is our responsibility as parents to be proactive in these types of situations. If you see something that is not right, please let one of our Board Members or League Officers know immediately. Our Board and League Officers have been instructed to take immediate corrective measure to insure we don’t have a similar incident. Let’s remember why we’re here. We are here to teach our children good values such as teamwork, sportsmanship and dedication.

PONY stands for Protect Our Nations Youth. Let us always keep that in our minds and hearts. Remember it is Pony’s philosophy to focus on family first, then education and then baseball. In that order.

I am looking forward to the rest of our season. It should prove to be exciting and fun.

If you would like to get more involved as far as becoming a League Officer, Coach or Team Parent, please e-mail me at PadillaFamily1@msn.com.

I wish you all a safe and happy baseball season. Play ball!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely, Fernando Padilla, President, SMPL

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June 23, 2004

We did it! What a great season. We survived through the temporary snack bar, porta-potties, no water, temporary electrical, gravel, construction holes, no home team bull pen, home team and visiting teams sitting on the same side of the field on one bleacher to top it off. The best part of it all was our children never noticed the difference. We accomplished our goal of making it fun for our children and not ever complaining about field conditions (well maybe once in awhile).

Opening day was perfect. The field looked great. The kids blasted through their homemade banners and lined the field. We had a great trumpet player, singer, SMFD and SMPD, Mayor, Dodger and great music provided by Rob Lowe. The snack bar and BBQ were busy. We were treated to a few great baseball games, starring our children. What else could we ask for? .

We had a very fun and successful Fun Day/Picture Day. We kept the kids busy at the dunk tank again. The kids won great prizes.

Dodger Day was also a great success. The hot dogs were good and hot and plenty to go around. The buses were on time and they were packed. Everyone had a great time and the Dodgers won.

The "Scratcher" fundraiser was also a success. Two families won great prizes for the dedication to this fundraiser.

Our Second Annual Dinner/Dance and Silent Auction raised approximately $5,000 and it was a ton of fun. The dance floor was hopping again. The food was great. It was catered by Pacos Restaurant. The band was great; our thanks to Marcos and his band Mixed Company for donating their time and talent. The silent auction was a blast.

We started our 13/14-year-old Pony program at John Adams. We put about $ 4,000 into renovating the Southwest field. Both of our teams came in 1^st and 2^nd place in the playoff championships against four teams from Cheviot Hills. It was great our teams played against each other in the championship game.

Closing Day Ceremonies went off real well to top everything off. The All-stars were announced, all children and their coaches received trophies. The Perpetual Trophies were awarded. All enjoyed the FREE BBQ.

Yes, it was a great season overall.

My sincere thanks go out to all of our Board of Directors, League Officers, Managers and Coaches, volunteers, Team Parents, and of course of Sponsors. We showed the children that by utilizing team work anything can be accomplished. This year more than any other year in our history it was so important to lead by example and show our children what teamwork is all about. I appreciate your commitment and dedication to the youth of our community. I know how hard it is to attend meetings and practices. I know the time involved in committee work. I know it all takes you away from your families. But, one day I am confident we and our children will look back on the fond memories we all had at Los Amigos Park where we play baseball by the sea. Believe me, the lessons we teach our children today, will come back to us ten fold in the future. I truly appreciate all the hard TEAMwork you all did. TEAM stands for Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

I think we’ve done that. Thank you.

Next year should be even more exciting. The construction continues. I will stay on top of it. Already they have begun to renovate our filed. The snack bar is being built. We will have running water, electricity, bathrooms, bleachers on both sides and an announcer’s booth.

As always, we need volunteers in all aspects. If you can help, please contact me directly at fernando-padilla@santa-monica.org.

Thank you all for your patience. We look forward to seeing you all next year.

Sincerely; Fernando Padilla

President, Santa Monica, Pony Baseball

PONY stands for: PROTECT OUR NATIONS YOUTH

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