Q: Why is it necessary for Santa Teresa Little League to have a volunteering requirement?
A: To date, STLL has relied on an informal program for getting the broader community to assist in the running of the league. Unfortunately, this is not sustainable for the long-term health and success of the league. Overall field conditions have deteriorated, important and necessary board and committee positions continually go unfilled, and large numbers of volunteer shifts for league-wide events are not being covered. The sole purpose of the new required volunteering program is to receive more help from all families in the STLL community to cover league operations, field improvements and maintenance, and events.

Q: How does the new volunteering program work?
A: The volunteering program is a points-based system, with each registered family required to complete a set number of points per registered season. Requirements for the Fall and Spring seasons will differ based on the overall needs of those specific seasons. Families will have the option to participate in the volunteering points program or a seasonal buy out.

Q When will this required volunteering program begin?
A: Per league-wide communications starting in May 2023, Santa Teresa Little League began implementing the program starting with the opening of registration for the Fall 2023/Spring 2024 seasons on June 2, 2023.

Q: How many points per season are required?
A: Families are required to earn 11 volunteering points in the Spring season and three (3) volunteering points in the Fall season. Families with players only Single A ball and below will be credited 3 points for the Spring seasons.

Q: What are the time frames during which volunteering hours must be completed?
A: As we have two seasons, we will have two volunteering windows as outlined below:
·       Fall Season – August 1 through December 31
·       Spring Season – January 1 through July 31

Q: How is the Volunteering program tied to registration?
A: During registration of your children, you will be prompted to select a volunteering role. In the past, this was not a required field. Now, all families must select something on the volunteering page. You will only have to select this once if you have multiple children in the league. If you have already selected this, it will show under “Volunteer Requirement Program” and you can skip this page. If you select no volunteering role, you will then be prompted to accept the buyout offer.

Q: What if I have more than one child in the league?
A: Great question. We are only tracking the volunteering points on a per-family basis. Regardless of how many children you have in the league, your family will only have one requirement per season. If you have selected “Volunteering” or “Buyout” for one child and register a second or third, it will show that you have already selected an option. Volunteering and buyouts will be tied to the registration of your oldest child in the league.

Q: How do I earn points to fulfill my volunteering requirement?
A: Points are earned through participation in a wide variety of activities needed to successfully run the league. This includes taking on league and team wide roles, participating in scheduled activities and events such as field clean up days and Opening Day, or through other activities that help support the business of running the league. The league has created a set of activities for which points can be earned which you can see here and on our website.

Points Chart 

Q: How will STLL keep track of points earned by families?
A: We will be using a new App for the Volunteering program called “Track It Forward” which you can download on your Android or iPhone here at https://www.trackitforward.com/site/santa-teresa-little-league.

Q: What if I was told I had earned points for an activity but am not seeing them in my account?
A: For most activities, we have a log of who signed up for what activity, and who completed them. While we will do our best to keep things updated in real time, please understand there may sometimes be a delay in hours being logged. As an example, we are still going through all of the volunteering that was done in the post season for summer of 2023. We have a log of those hours, and they WILL be credited to your account.

Q: Will there be other opportunities added to the points list in the future?
A: Yes!!! This is a living list. While items on here are fixed, our program is intended to be flexible and inclusive. We created an initial list of points as a means of addressing the most pressing issues we’ve identified over the past two years. This list will be continuously updated to present more opportunities for volunteering as needs arise throughout the year. Please reach out to Roger Fortier, Community Engagement Director at [email protected] if you have any questions or ideas.

Q: Where can I see a list of events or activities for which I can sign up?
A: Events will be posted in our new Track It Forward app here and also online on our Volunteering page here .

Q: Can I recommend projects or share skills and resources I have that might benefit STLL for which I could receive points?
A: YES!!! We are always interested in feedback on potential ways to leverage the skills and talent from the STLL community to address critical needs. Please fill out our form here if you believe you have a skill or resource that would benefit the league. You can send recommendations for projects you feel may be of use to the league to [email protected]  

Q: What happens if I do not fulfill my volunteering obligation for a given season?
A: Points not completed by the end of year cutoff date will be charged to registration for the following season at a cost of $30 per point. For example, three (3) points not completed by end of year cut off will equal $90 added to following year’s registration fee.

Q: How does the volunteering program buyout work?
A: To provide flexibility in how the volunteering requirement can be fulfilled, families may buyout the volunteer requirement in the Fall Season for $70 and in the Spring Season for $250. Buyouts can only be done at the time of registration.  Anyone electing the buyout will have this reflected in Track It Forward, and points credited for the season in which the buyout is paid.

Q: What does the buyout actually cover?
A: There are two sets of volunteering in STLL. First there are league/team duties which include operations, field improvements and maintenance, events, and any of the league or team specific roles we need filled every season and every year (Managers, Coaches, Team Parents, Board members). Then there are game day activities which includes snack shack, score keeping (GameChanger), pitch counting and scoreboard operating. The buyout covers the first set of volunteering activities above in the the league/team wide category as the buyout covers the league's ability to replace a family's volunteer hours.

Q: How will I know I have been credited for my buyout?
A: Anyone electing the buyout will have it reflected in Track It Forward as a credit for volunteering points in the season in which the buyout is paid.

Q: What if I signed up for the buyout and  need to switch to the volunteering program for some reason?
A: There will be instances where this occurs, such as paying the buyout only to take on a league or team role after the buyout was paid. In year one, we can either offer you a full refund of the buyout fee or we can credit your account. Starting in Fall 2024, we will only be offering an account credit if you need to change from the buyout to the volunteering program after the buyout is elected and paid.

Q: Is there a cut off for switching between the buyout and the volunteering program?
A: Yes. We will not be able to make changes to your selection after the first game of the season.

Q: How will STLL use the money it receives either through the buyout process or through fees collected as a result of non-fulfilled volunteering requirements?
A: All funds collected either through pre-registration buyout or through “not completed” fees will be earmarked specifically to cover replacement for volunteer hours (ex: Additional resources for field maintenance or staffing for opening day shifts),and tracked in the STLL annual budget as such. The Volunteer Committee will be responsible for the identification of organizations with whom STLL may want to partner to cover staffing needs. These organizations will be vetted and proposed to the board for approval. Examples include Local HS Baseball and Softball teams, or Local school organizations.

Q: Why aren’t you including Snack Shack, Game Changer, Pitch Counting and Scoreboard duties in the buyout or volunteer points program?
A: This is a natural question, and we understand that these activities do take time. In the first year of the program, we are focusing on addressing the shortfalls we are experiencing in participation in helping with league-wide duties. Because we are not filling these broader league-wide requirements, the league is beginning to suffer. The business of the league will not get done if we don't get more participation in league-wide volunteer positions, our fields will deteriorate if we're not able to get more people out on a consistent basis for major clean up and repair days, and the quality of our events will start to go down. We are committed to continual evaluation of the program on an annual basis to determine what is working, what is not, and what changes we may want to implement moving forward.

Q: Can you specifically elaborate on Snack Shack which other leagues allow buyouts for?
A: Certainly, as this is one volunteering role we will continue to evaluate. Unlike other smaller leagues that may only have a single snack shack at one field to operate, STLL manages four different locations. We’re not in a position to create schedules and manage operations of all four Snack Shacks on league-wide basis at this time. To that end, we must continue to rely on the teams that are onsite on game days to support running the snack shacks. The snack shacks are critical to generating revenue that helps STLL in maintaining leagues costs which we believe makes STLL accessible to the broadest possible community of families.

Q: What if I am unable to fulfill the volunteering requirement, either through participation or a buyout?
A: STLL will try our best to work with families who have hardships because of unique situations. Requests for a hardship exemption should be emailed [email protected] for consideration by the STLL Board.