On a continual basis, Fullerton Pony strives to make the league a better place for our children to learn to play baseball. The league does not with work without the effort provided by our volunteers.

At our board meeting last night we had six individuals step up to the plate to help better Fullerton Pony Baseball.

It is with great excitement that I announce and welcome the following new Board Members and share with you their positions:

• Liz Dunagan will be serving in the capacity of league Secretary and as member of the Executive Board. Liz has been a part of our league going on 4 years and has always been a valuable asset. Liz was instrumental in volunteering to facilitate our Score Keepers meeting. Whenever there has been a need for help at a league function, Liz has participated to ensure that we had volunteer coverage to make it happen.
• Miriam Noyola will be serving in the capacity of Foal Commissioner. Miriam has been with the league for 2 years. She has volunteered countless hours in our snack stand during our post season tournaments. She was also instrumental and a big help with League Registration this year.
• Rosie Mercado will be serving in the capacity of Snack Stand Coordinator. Rosie has been with our league for 2 years. She has volunteered on numerous occasions to help out and always shows up with a smile when asked to assist.
• Jeff Norman will be serving in the capacity of the Appeals/Review committee. Jeff has been a part of our league for 4 years. When we had a vacancy on our review committee he was brought on as an Interim Board Member to help approve the coaches to ensure our season wasn’t delayed. Jeff has decided to stay on as a permanent Board Member.
• Scott Dunagan will be serving in the capacity of Web Master. Scott has been with our league for 4 years. Scott voluntarily took over the task of re-constructing our web site. Scott designed one of the best web sites Fullerton Pony has ever seen. This site will help put Fullerton Pony in position to serve our league members in a more efficient manner.
• Alexis Norman will be serving in the capacity of Member at Large. Alexis has been a part of our league for 4 years. Alexis has volunteered on numerous occasions in our snack stand and has been instrumental in helping out with Opening Day. She has decided to step up and help out in any capacity where there is a need.

Please help me congratulate these individuals for volunteering their to time to ensure that our children are being given the best experience possible at Fullerton Pony Baseball!

Mike Silva

Why Play Fullerton PONY Baseball?

PONY is an acronym for Protect Our Nation's Youth. PONY is a baseball program designed to provide a wholesome environment for teaching baseball fundamentals, while encouraging players to exercise good sportsmanship and teamwork. Fullerton Pony Baseball is proud to say that in our league success is not measured by the number of players that advance to higher levels of the game, but to the countless numbers of young people that become outstanding citizens and leaders in their communities due in part to the skills taught in PONY Baseball.

The philosophy of PONY Baseball is that the size of the diamond should fit the size of the players. PONY Baseball also feels that the players should be grouped with others of similar age for All-Star tournaments.

Fullerton Pony Baseball offers a recreational and instructional baseball league for children ages 3 to 14 using league ages as determined by the player’s age on April 30th of the current year’s season. The program consists of divisions that are set by the player’s age group.

Our playing divisions are as follows:

• Foal - (3 yrs. Old), base path - 35 feet and hitting tee.
• Shetland - (4, 5&6 yrs. Old), base path - 50 feet, coaches pitch and hitting tee.
• Pinto - (7&8 yrs. Old), base path - 50 feet and pitching distance of 38 feet.
• Mustang - (9&10 yrs. Old), base path 60 feet and pitching distance of 44 feet.
• Bronco - (11&12 yrs. Old), base path 70 feet and pitching distance of 48 feet.
• Pony - (13&14 yrs. Old), base path 80 feet and pitching distance of 54 feet.

PONY Baseball will use the April 30th cut-off date for age groups.

All Pony division games will be played at Duane Winters Field/Amerige Park in Fullerton. This field is arguably the best field for youth baseball in California. Games are played both during the week and on weekends. Night games are also part of the schedule, but Fullerton Pony Baseball does not schedule regular season games on Sundays (Sundays are only for make-ups due to rain outs). This year Bronco games are played at the Fullerton Sports Complex. Our Shetland, Pinto, and Mustang games were played at the newly completed Richman Fields. Foal games take place in the outfield of Duane Winters Field /Amerige Park.

The quality of Duane Winters Field/Amerige Park, along with a well organized league, has allowed Fullerton Pony Baseball to be selected as host for both 13 and 14 year old PONY All-Star tournaments since 1992. This means that Fullerton Pony Baseball's All-Star teams (Pony division) are automatically seeded in the finals of the West Zone tournaments. Both teams (13&14 yr. Old) will be playing against teams from 12 Western States, including Hawaii. Additionally, our Shetland, Pinto, Mustang, and Bronco divisions also participate in All-Star Tournament competition.

Dave Torres, known to most as "Papa T", was a legendary coach who coached at Fullerton College, Long Beach State, Fullerton High School, and Anaheim High School. He was very dedicated to youth sports, giving hours of his time to working with the youth in our community. He coached in our community for Fullerton Pop Warner Football and Fullerton PONY Baseball. Papa T cared a lot about the youth in Fullerton and dedicated most of his life to coaching kids not only on how to play the sport, but also on how to better themselves and make a difference in their life. It just wasn't sports that he was teaching. He was making sure that he provided the foundation so that these kids were heading down the right path! For those who knew Papa T, we are better people because of who he was and what he taught us.

President of Fullerton Pony, Mike Silva, tells about his experience with Papa T:

I was very fortunate to coach against Papa T. It was my first year in the league and, needless to say, he out-coached me and outclassed me. He was way out of my league. As the season progressed I watched how Papa T handled those kids. They played the game the way it was supposed to be played. They were also respectful and disciplined. They loved their coach and it showed on the field. At the last game I talked to Papa T and I asked, "How have you done this for so many years?" Right away he took his hat off, his eyes lit up, and he gave me a 30 minute explanation. I quickly realized the passion that he had to not just teach them the game of baseball; he wanted to make the world a better place for these kids and to keep them off the street. The foundation that he provided turned around a lot of kid's lives. It was then that I realized how important it was to get involved in the community of Fullerton and how I could make a difference to these kids. I will always be grateful for what he did for the community, and for me.

Papa T succumbed to cancer a few years back. His son-in-law Rafael Victoria volunteers here still! He has no kids in the league, but he wants to carry on his father-in-law's legacy by trying to make this a better place for these kids. Papa T's grandson, Ryan Victoria coaches here as well and I see the same traits in him as in Papa T.

To honour the legacy of Papa T, Fullerton PONY Baseball has decided to create four registration scholarships in Papa T's name.

Criteria

Coaches will nominate players based on Sportsmanship, Hustle, Good Attitude and all around good kid. Those nominations will come to the executive board. The executive board will review the nominations and award the 4 registration scholarships.

Mama T. We will never forget what Papa T did for this league and the community of Fullerton, Thank You!