Coeur d’Alene’s 2018 Little League World Series team gives back

It was a long hot summer but one that paid off big for both the local baseball community as well as the area sports fields.

As the Coeur d’Alene Little League Majors team drove back after winning the 2018 Idaho State Championship the real work began.

Not just getting ready to play proverbial powerhouse Washington in the opening round of the Northwest Region Championship ... but getting all the players, coaches, parents and equipment to Southern California was also going to be a big challenge. Not just logistically but financially.

Most anyone from North Idaho that follows baseball knows how that part of the adventure turned out — a trip to Williamsport to play in the Little League World Series.

But behind the effort on the field there was a small army of parents, grandparents and community leaders that worked tirelessly to help raise the funds to support the team.

Once everything was said and done, the medals handed out and the return trip home, there remained a balance of funds that were raised through the team’s efforts. What to do with the remaining money?

We sat down as a team and discussed options of what the remaining money should go toward. There were a limited amount of options as the proceeds were raised under Coeur d’Alene Little League’s non-profit status. The league has always talked about installing new scoreboards at the Canfield Sports Complex where the league plays.

The league was able to get fields 1 and 2 done in time for tournament play in 2017. So we decided to put the money toward a permanent scoreboard on Field 3. The money was raised from people and businesses in the area, so it was important we kept it here in the community. We had over half the money needed, but with help from local businesses we were able to complete the project. It was done last fall about the time school started and we had been discussing with the current board of Coeur d’Alene Little League about doing a dedication at either opening day or the “Family Fun” fundraising day. Of course with everything going on, that did not happen.

The team wants to make sure we are able to acknowledge the businesses and people that made this possible:

• Coeur d’Alene Little League

• Idaho Central Credit Union

• Bill Greenwood and his awesome staff at the Coeur d’Alene Parks Department

• City of Coeur d’Alene for helping us through the permit process

• TRM Electrical

• Pacific Steel

• IBC Signs

• Dan the Sign Man

The vast majority of players from the 2018 team are now playing in the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen program, while others are still playing with various club teams in Spokane. All are slated to begin high school at either Lake City or Coeur d’Alene in the fall.

All of the players from the 2019 Coeur d’Alene Little League team that qualified for the Northwest Regionals in San Bernardino are in Lumbermen 13U program.