Current Section
Field Fund
Field Fund Update
Make your donation to the Field Fund Endowment to improve the fields we use for our Spring and Fall Seasons.
To all OBA families –
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Field Fund. Through the tireless efforts of Jeff Schwarz and the cooperation from the OUSD Facilities Director, Ed Silvas, and his OUSD field maintenance staff, we were able to coordinate the complete rebuilding of the Wagner Ranch Mustang field this past weekend. The Wagner Ranch Bronco field will be completed next followed by the 2 Del Rey diamonds. Weather permitting, we will have all the work completed by the end of the February Presidents' weekend.
If you have not yet contributed to the Field Fund, we still need your help. The suggested contribution(fully tax deductible) is $200 per family, but any amount will help us. We currently have received contributions from about 40 families, but would like to see this number get to 100. An anonymous donor has generously offered to match all contributions up to $10,000. This will give us all the money we need to complete these projects and provide a cushion to allow us to upgrade our 2 tractors, provide for additional surface material in subsequent years, replace some worn out equipment, acquire more efficient water management tools, etc.
This is all designed to provide a safer and more professional playing experience for your kids. Your continued support is appreciated. Please go to the Field Fund link below to make your contribution via Pay Pal. If you would prefer to make your contribution by check, please contact Mollie Ricksen at mhricksen@yahoo.com
Thank you again for all your support.
David Reed
Baseball Operations Director
With our largest registration numbers ever, OBA is looking forward to an exciting 2011 season with upwards of 27 teams, spanning four divisions. However, with 26 years of providing competitive youth baseball, OBA is facing the challenge of deteriorating fields and increasing OUSD usage fees. While OBA receives some field support from the Orinda Unified School District (OUSD), it’s not enough to keep up with the ever increasing usage. With the amount of wear & tear these fields have withstood over the years, they are in dire need of refurbishment. Improvements in the quality of the fields will provide a safer, more enriched baseball experience for all our players for generations to come.
To address this need, OBA is kicking off the FIELD FUND to provide an endowment to specifically address the improvement and maintenance of the playing fields. Upon completion, you will see 4 diamonds with surfaces that mirror those found at the best youth fields in the area. They will be safer, less dusty, require less water and be a dramatic improvement to the playing experience.
While any donation we can generate from the OBA community will help, it's interesting to note that it costs about $40 a year per player to maintain the fields. With most families averaging 5 years in OBA, we are hoping for $200 per family to support the Field Fund. We have an anonymous benefactor who has generously offered to match any amount up to $10,000. We can't stress enough that any tax deductable amount, large or small, will help us achieve our goal. We are excited to complete these upgrades in time for the 2011 Spring season!
How you can donate:
Donate* via credit card or PayPal via the link above
If you would like to submit a check, please do so to:" Orinda Baseball Association" c/o Mollie Ricksen 55 Lombardy lane
Orinda Ca 94563
If you would like to donate on behalf of your business, please contact Lisa Hoskins (lisa@hoskinsmarketing.com)
* Note: Some businesses will match employees’ donations to charitable organizations so please check with the HR department of your business to determine if your employer offers such a program.
The entire OBA community, past, present and future, appreciates your support.
Here is a partial summary of what we are planning for the 4 fields at Del Rey and Wagner Ranch:
- Remove existing material around home plate areas and replace with ‘plate area specific’ baseball material and a batters’ box clay base. This will promote a more consistent surface at the plate.
- Extensively roto-till the existing field surfaces and repack them to form the foundation for the installation of ‘baseball specific’ infield top dressing. As part of this process, each diamond will be slightly ‘crowned’ to promote quick and proper drainage. Each field will get 15-18 yards of top dressing. This represents the major portion of the cost of the work.
- Remove approx 3-4 feet of the existing grass edge to each diamond, excavate ‘build up’ of field material that has migrated over the years to form the dangerous lips. Replace with new sod to form a clean transition from the infield to the grass.
- Reinstall home plates, reset all the bases at the proper distances. Add 50’ pegs on Del Rey Mustang field so Pinto games can be played there. Add 60’ base pegs on the Wagner Bronco field to allow for Mustang and all-age softball to be played with pegged bases.
- Excavate and rebuild each mound at the Mustang and Bronco diamonds. Mounds will be built with Turface mound building blocks and Turface professional packing mound clay. This will provide a much more consistent pitching rubber surface area at each field. Use surplus mound material to renovate ‘bull pen’ mound areas at the Wagner Ranch fields.
- Upon completion, you will see 4 diamonds with surfaces that mirror those found at the best youth fields in the area. They will be safer, less dusty, require less water, and be a dramatic improvement to the playing experience.
For more information on the Field Operations, please contact David Reed at davidreed94@comcast.net
