Newark Little League

Newark Little League
For the past 53 years, Newark National (NNLL) and Newark American (NALL) Little Leagues have existed as two separate Little Leagues within the City of Newark. For the past several years, both Leagues have seen a reduction in baseball registrations. Last November, the two League Presidents, Manny Padilla (NNLL) and Oz Jimenez (NALL) and California Little League District 14 District Administrator, Bruce Marcellus, began to discuss the possibility of a merger for the 2020 season.

During the month of December both leagues began the discussion of merging. The first undertaking in merging was making sure that both Boards of Directors thought it was best to merge leagues and to see if we had the same goals moving forward. As both Boards meet separately, both unanimously agreed for a merger and it was determined that both Boards had the same goals in mind. The main motivation was for the betterment of the community and the sustainability of Little League Baseball in Newark. The merger of the two leagues was believed to be a logical move as both leagues feed the Junior High and Newark Memorial. The merger will also help create more lifelong friendships for all children in Newark by having everyone grow in baseball together.

Around mid-January as the group continued its conversations and preparing all mandatory reports required by Little League International to review and consider the merger, both leagues felt that merging the leagues for the 2020 season was not soon enough. The Boards decided to accelerate the process and hope for a 2019 merger due to the lack of registration for this upcoming season. The Vice Presidents from both leagues, Deborah Pedro (NNLL) and Fess Santiago (NALL), were instrumental in finalizing all the requirements for Little League along with Bruce Marcellus. The Vice Presidents work closely with Bruce who helped establish communications channels with Little League Western Region in San Bernadino and Little League Headquarters in Williamsport, PA for an expedited merger request this year.

On Wednesday, February 6th during the Little League Charter Committee meeting, the committee approved the merger and Newark Little League (NLL) was established. In the past weeks, NLL has established a new Board of Directors, a new League Constitution, and new League By-Laws. The new league still has some work to do to finalize the merger.

On March 9th, the Newark Little League will have its Inaugural Opening Day with the community coming together to celebrate its rich baseball history.

Please like our NEW Facebook page, Newark Little League, to get future league updates. The Leagues new email is: newarkcalittleleague@gmail.com.