Monster Spawns New Little League?
- Updated: October 21, 2020
(Little League’s famous and ferocious “three-headed monster“, which resides within California District 42, prepares to spawn a new league. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)
And then there were 10. Yes, this marks my 10th straight weekly article covering Little League. Thank you very much. But wait. There is more. California District 42, which serves as home to Little League’s famous “three-headed monster“, this month reported big news for CaliSports News to share. A newly-forming league reportedly may join that highly-competitive district. If that happens, the additional league will mark the district’s 10th. Get it? “And then there were 10”.
But, why add one when District 42 already contains nine? That constitutes a high number. The answer is that the monster’s memberships ballooned. The solution is to remove portions from within the overcrowded leagues’ residential boundaries. Then, designate the removed areas to create a 10th. In essence, the giant monster will give way to, or rather, spawn, a new league.
Giant monster.
Youth baseball seemingly grew too popular in the monster’s turf. That news should not cause surprise. As CSN reported, District 42 is home to the Little League Capital of America. In it, tons of children play that sport. The staggering numbers grow rapidly. Baseball fever more than permeated that South San Diego County region. There, baseball fever became an epidemic.
Chula Vista’s Eastlake and Park View Little Leagues, and Bonita’s Sweetwater Valley Little League, form the beast’s three heads. Each proved to be extremely competitive. Since 2013, each sent an all-star team to the Little League World Series. Eastlake’s captured a United States championship. When we go back to 2009, Park View sent two teams, with one winning the entire world championship. The three leagues neighbor each other. In addition, memberships at each grew exponentially. That created a problem. Little League enforces membership maximums.
Those limits apply for each league worldwide. The monster is reaching its capacity. Its heads are almost ready to explode. Officials hope to reduce the pressure by creating a potentially-fourth head. The new one will draw its members from other leagues. Doing so will hopefully reduce membership sizes within District 42. That district’s top official, Ernie Lucero, explained the plan.
New location.
“District 42 will be getting a group together in the near future to look at where the new growth is, and how that will impact the adjacent leagues,” Lucero, the district administrator, told CaliSports News. “We know that Eastlake, Park View, and possibly Luckie Waller may be affected.” The northern border belonging to South San Diego’s Luckie Waller Little League neighbors the southern-most boundaries of Eastlake and Park View. Please see the map below of District 42:
(California District 42’s league boundaries. Map courtesy of Park View Little League.)
“The potential new boundary may encompass the area near Otay Ranch Town Center, south to the Aquatica San Diego water park,” Lucero said. “We will do our due diligence in working with the city and developers to identify locations for a possible sports park, as well as practice sites.”
Real estate development boom.
Otay Ranch Town Center is a Chula Vista mall situated within Eastlake’s turf, near that league’s western border. Park View shares that border. A 10th league’s proposed boundary extends from that mall, and moving west, the new territory would grab a southern portion of Park View’s turf.
Aquatica sits in Chula Vista, technically within the boundaries of that city’s South Bay Little League. However, Little Leaguers do not actually reside inside that water park. Although, perhaps some might prefer living in it. Rather, the area encompassing that amusement park includes housing where young ballplayers do reside. That residential region extends into Luckie Waller’s territory, near that league’s borders with South Bay and Park View. The targeted area in recent years has experienced a development boom. Many new homes, commercial buildings, and other properties are under construction in that new-development region. That area serves as where Little League hopes to acquire real estate. Opening a new site may cause quite a splash.
(Photo courtesy of Aquatica San Diego.)
“Construction is ongoing in that area north of the water park, along Heritage Road north from the end of Otay Valley Road,” an unnamed longtime Chula Vista resident told CaliSports News. “I drove by there a couple of months ago, and I could not believe all of the building going on.”
Otay This and Otay That.
The new league’s proposed name will reportedly be Otay Ranch Little League. A fitting name. The word “Otay” appears in many places in that region. Otay Lakes, Otay Mesa, Otay Open Space Preserve, Otay Ranch, Otay River, and Otay Valley. Same story on Mexico’s side of the border. Garita de Otay, Otay Constituyentes, and Otay Vista. To name a few. Basically, almost everything takes the name Otay in that area, regardless to which country it belongs. So, yeah. Choosing Otay to name a new league there makes sense. Incidentally, San Diego County’s government web site identifies a large chunk of the proposed development area as simply Otay.
Wherever officials determine its site, one thing stands for certain. The new league will open in a well-established youth baseball stronghold. Otay Ranch’s all-stars very quickly could conceivably give District 42’s monster a run for its money. And, officials are closely monitoring the situation.
“We will be in touch with Little League International to put our request together,” Lucero said.
My two shekels.
Opening a new league provides a viable solution. At least for the near future. However, the problem of over-crowding memberships will never go away entirely, so long as a youth baseball epidemic persists while new housing brings more families to that region. That is because many new families in turn create additional young ballplayers. As a result, membership numbers could very likely increase faster than officials can possibly create additional leagues to accommodate their potential customers. Between baseball fever and a housing development boom, District 42 may have become an exception to Little League’s norm. For that extremely-competitive baseball district, a permanent solution may sadly not even exist. But, no one needs to pay attention to me. Because, what do I know? I am just a crazy rabbi that surfs. And, those are my two shekels.
(Crazy rabbi surfing at Doheny State Beach. Photo courtesy of Robin Gray Photography.)
Finally, CSN extends thoughts and prayers to Lucero as he recovers from a recent illness.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Once again, CaliSports News thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work. On that note, CSN thanks Eastlake and District 42, for sharing last week’s Where Are They Not? on Facebook. And with that, we conclude Rabbi Rabbs’ 10th straight weekly article covering Little League. Yes, and then there were 10. Let us make that 11 next week. Stay tuned !! Until then, Go Otay Ranch Little League and the rest of District 42 !! Let’s Go SoCal !!
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