"Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too."  - Yogi Berra

Parents / Volunteers / Participants / Supporters:

KMLL Board’s sole purpose is to provide the best baseball program to the kids of Kearny. This is not an easy task as a non-profit and volunteer-run organization. This past Fall and Spring ball, your board discussed how to provide better baseball to our families. We rely heavily on volunteers for several operational functions, including fundraising, training, field maintenance, event coordination, equipment management, and most importantly, coaching. With small registration numbers, the volunteer base is low and our baseball program is limited.

As your current Board, we are so proud of the work the board, coaches, team parents, and other volunteers have put in this Spring. There is a lot of love that goes into our program for the kiddos and field. We are small and mighty - Kearny Mesa is by far the smallest league in the district. While this small size means we are a tight-knit community, it has significant downsides for the quality of services we can provide to players, families, and volunteers.

At our last Spring season, the board discussed our future as an organization and what is needed to provide you and your player(s) with the best baseball program. This includes:

●      Healthy registration #s- which brings better competitive balance, more teams, more home games, and more volunteers.

●      A healthy and sustainable league runs at 200 + kids. Many leagues have over 300. Our fall registration was under 40 and our spring is under 70. We could not field a full Majors team this spring.

●     Board member participation- next year (October 24 - Sept 25), we will have more openings than filled due to family needs, moves, etc. This is on top of the many vacancies we have not filled this current year. Board Positions to fill for Fall 2024:

●      Beginning in 2025, players league ages 4 to 7 may register with any Little League program without respect to geography or school-related eligibility requirements. This will mean that our very small numbers will certainly diminish further.

The board determined that it would be best for Kearny Mesa to discuss merging with another league. The biggest winners from a merger are our players and their families. There will be more teams in each age group and a better opportunity for all kids to play with and against their friends at home games. This was a challenging decision to make and was made out of love for our community. It is important to note, that our board is comprised of four (4) former Presidents who worked hard and long days to provide baseball for years and they too agreed that a change is necessary to overcome the above-listed challenges and provide the best baseball programs to families in 92111.

We are not the only league dealing with similar pressures - many leagues, in other districts too, are exploring similar strategies for their future.

Next Steps-What’s To Come

Serra Mesa has open their arms and fields with love and have decided to merge with KMLL. We are currently working through this with the District. Specifically, we decided to merge with our sister-league Serra Mesa as they are already our home fields in the Fall and are an easy drive for Kearny families. Our Majors-age (12) players have played Spring ball with Serra Mesa as well.

Combining forces for the upcoming 2024 Fall and 2025 Spring season will benefit the entire Kearny Mesa community by providing greater opportunities with access to a larger volunteer support organization, more and stronger baseball programs, and expanded development opportunities.

There are many unknowns but mostly great opportunities with this merge. More field space, more families, more baseball. Fall Ball registration is open with Serra Mesa, please click here. 

Yours,
KMLL Board of Directors