With the State of Illinois progressing to Phase 3 last Friday and after multiple conversations with local village, school, and health officials, we are excited to announce that we WILL be playing house ball this summer!  We hope you all are as excited as we are that we are finally able to get back on the field.  It has been too long.

The plan is to begin team practices late next week or next weekend, June 12th-13th and begin games when we move into Phase 4, which we believe will be the last week of June.  (Barring any changes to the proposed Phase 4 re-opening, teams will play games an average of 2-3 times a week, therefore, we do not anticipate offering any refund or discount.) 

We are currently finalizing rosters for softball and the younger age baseball divisions and will be sending out additional communications to the older baseball divisions (10u,12u, Pony) very soon.  We will be reaching out to coaches by the end of the week.

Once we get back onto the field next week, our top priority will be player safety.  With that, we have established the below safety guidelines and best practices for this season:

• ALL PLAYERS AND COACHES WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN AN ADDITIONAL WAIVER PRIOR TO THE FIRST PRACTICE.  THE WAIVER CAN BE DOWNLOADED OFF THE DUNLAP REC HOME PAGE AT WWW.DUNLAPREC.COM.  NO EXCEPTIONS!
• ALL PLAYERS AT EVERY LEVEL WILL BE REQUIRED TO SUPPLY THEIR OWN BATTING HELMET, BAT, AND GLOVE.  THE REC WILL PROVIDE EACH PLAYER A TEAM SHIRT AND HAT ONLY
• WHILE IN PHASE 3, WE ASK THAT ONLY PARENTS OR GUARDIANS ESCORT THEIR PLAYER TO THE FIELD AND REMAIN AT LEAST 6 FEET APART AT ALL TIMES.  (We encourage parents/guardians of older ages to drop off their players and not stay at the field during the practice)
• Arrive no more than 10 minutes ahead of time and please leave the field promptly after practice.
• We ask that parents do daily temperature checks prior to arriving at the field for practices or games.
• Any coach or player with a fever will need to forgo all baseball activities until fever free for 72 hours.
• If a player or coach is sick (cough, cold, runny nose, lethargic, etc.) they should forgo all baseball activities until symptoms subside
• No sharing of food or drinks, this includes “team” water bottles and NO sunflower seeds.
• Each player will need to have their own personal water bottle
• Shared catcher’s masks must be sanitized after each player’s use. The REC will supply each team with 2 catcher’s masks.
• Maintain social distance where appropriate, when not obtainable please attempt to cover mouth and nose.
• No team handshakes, fist bumps, etc.
• The REC will provide coaches with disinfectant wipes and or spray, but we ask that parents provide their player with hand sanitizer when possible.
• There will be NO concessions during Phase 3.  Concessions during Phase 4 is still undecided.

While we understand that some may feel these guidelines are unnecessary and others may feel they are not enough, we have been assured that they are the right thing to do for the safety of the kids.  And we are excited to bring some form of “normalcy” back.  We all need it!

FYI.  We have a few openings for T BALL.  If you haven’t registered for T-Ball yet but want to, please go to our home page and click on the T-BALL registration link.  The link will close on June 5th. 

SPONSORSHIPS – While we will not have time to get uniform shirt sponsors this season, we still have outfield sign sponsorships available.  The sponsorship money helps cover the cost of the uniforms and upkeep of the baseball diamonds.  If you or someone you know would like to have their business on an outfield fence banner, please complete the sponsorship form found on our homepage.

Lastly, we would like everyone to know that if they do not feel comfortable playing for any reason or if they will miss a portion of the season due to other commitments, they can opt out now and get a full refund.  To opt out, please reply to this email to request a refund by JUNE 5th.   We also have a limited number of helmets for loan for families in need. 

Thank you all very much for your patience.  This has been a very strange time, very fluid situation.  The safety of the kids has been and always will be our top priority.  As we get back onto the field, we all have a role in keeping the kids safe.  Please do your best to follow the guidelines provided.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

DRA