Parents & Coaches, 

Rosters and the practice schedule are now online. Please be sure to contact us at teaparkandrec@iw.net if you can not find your child on a team. 10U & 12U Baseball will be found on the Prairie Grass League page found under “Home” at the top of the webpage. The practice schedule is also online now. Please check for any changes to practice times. 

Coaches: If you do not see yourself listed on the roster as a coach, be sure to complete the coaches registration found here: https://teaparkandrecreation.sportngin.com/register/form/313775289.
-Baseball equipment pick up will be at the Tea Athletic Complex starting at 6:30 pm on Thursday, May 28th. If you cannot make it at that time, please contact Jeff Portner at jmportner21@iw.net for an alternative pick up time.
-Softball equipment pick up will take place at the Tea Athletic Complex on Saturday, May 30th from 12pm-1pm. If you cannot make it at that time, please contact John Ganschow at jganschow3@gmail.com to schedule an alternate time.
-Please review Phase I of the COVID Action Plan found on our website and return a signed copy to City Hall.
-Also make sure that your scheduled practice time will work. Please contact your team with the practice time on SportsEngine. We will be putting together contact information for teams and sending that to you in the next couple of days. If you need to reschedule, please email teaparkandrec@iw.net.

Reminder to everyone in Baseball & Softball: Fill out the waivers found at the top of the homepage on our website before practice begins!

Click on the spreadsheet below to see when your team is scheduled for practice.

Baseball, Softball, & Tball Participants,

On Monday, May 18th the Tea City Council approved Phase I of our On-Field Operation for Practice Plan. This means that we have been approved to begin practices for Tea Park & Recreation teams beginning Saturday, May 30th. We are still asking that parents that do not feel comfortable with their child participating in this environment, please contact teaparkandrec@iw.net to have your child withdrawn before May 26th. This will help us with any reshuffling of rosters before practices begin.

The practice schedule and rosters will be posted on Tea Park & Recreation’s website by 5 p.m. on May 27th. All parents will be required to sign a waiver that will be emailed to them, available on Tea Park & Recreation’s website, and on our Facebook page. Those signed waivers will have to be sent by email, dropped off at Tea City Hall (600 E 1st St, Tea, SD), or sent by mail to: Tea Park & Recreation, PO Box 128, Tea, SD 57064. Your child will be allowed to begin practice after receiving a signed waiver. Anyone unwilling to sign that waiver will be given a full refund for their registration. Coaches will have to sign a copy of Phase I of the On-Field Operation for Practice Plan acknowledging that they know what is expected of them.

Phase I of the plan will be sent to all participants, placed on our website, and on our Facebook page. If we all pitch in and follow the rules in place for Phase I, we will be presenting Phase II of our plan to the Tea City Council. Phase II will include interleague play of all Tea teams playing games against each other. Phase III would follow with our proposal to play home and away games against opponents from surrounding communities. Due to the fluid nature of COVID-19, Tea Park & Recreation can make no guarantees as to how long we will be in any one Phase of our COVID Action Plan, nor can we anticipate the decisions to make it all the way to Phase III. We are confident in our plan and our participants adherence to what is outlined and will be shared as we move along.

SOFTBALL

We are aware that SEFSA has cancelled their 2020 softball season. This means that 10U, 12U, & 14U softball teams are without a league. If we accomplish our goals and we are eventually approved for Phase III of our plan, we will do our best to schedule games with teams in the surrounding area. However, given the fluidity of this situation, we may not get beyond Phase II for this season.

BASEBALL

7/8 Coach Pitch – Format remains similar but will include COVID-19 phases and plans. Phase II would be similar to previous years for this age group.

9/10 Year Olds – Several Tea teams to follow phased approach with potential of scheduling out of town games with area communities if/when we get to Phase III. There will be no weekend league tournament this season.

11/12 Year Olds – Two to three Tea teams to follow phased approached with potential of scheduling out of town games with area communities if/when we get to Phase III. There will be no weekend league tournament this season. There will be no 12U Tournament Team this season and no tryouts to be held.

13/14 Year Olds – Two Tea teams to follow phased approach with potential of scheduling out of town games with area communities if/when we get to Phase III.

15/16 Year Olds – No Tea teams due to lack of registrations.

TBALL
Tball is still open for registration until May 29th. That season is still on as scheduled, and we will evaluate that season at the next Park & Rec Board meeting on June 16th.

2020 Baseball/Softball Registrants,

We are glad to report that Tea Park and Recreation is moving forward with making plans for a 2020 season.  While there are several hurdles to clear to make it happen, we are requesting some action from all participants as we make plans to move forward.  Currently we are in a situation where the fields are closed to any of our Park and Recreation activities through June 1, 2020, and here are the steps we are taking to move ahead:

• Presenting a 3 Phase approach to get access to the fields.  These phases will be presented to the Tea City Council for their consideration at a future date.  The phases are listed below:
  • Phase I – Make fields accessible to Tea Park and Recreation teams to administer practices for roughly a 2-week period
  • Phase II – Allow games to begin to be played with emphasis on Tea vs Tea games exclusively.  This phase could continue all season, or it could be bypassed pending the decisions of some of the leagues that our teams participate in.
  • Phase III- Open game options to include competitions against area community teams.
• Movement between phases will require adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines that outline coach/player/parent/spectator responsibilities.
• Season dates tentatively would run from 6/1-7/23 with limited or no weekend play in the outline.

Guidelines for participation and field use will be provided upon approval from Tea City Council.  Below are actions that we want all participants to consider carefully:

• Participation in Tea Park and Recreation is the personal choice of all participants.  If you choose to withdraw your registration, please do so by May 26th, 2020. Those who elect to participate will need to complete a COVID-19 waiver before being allowed to participate in Tea Park & Recreation Activities.  This waiver will be sent out to all registrants by email.  Upon completion, waivers can be: emailed to teaparkandrec@iw.net; sent to Tea Park & Recreation, PO Box 128, Tea, SD 57064; or dropped off at Tea City Hall.  Participants without access to a working printer can request to complete a waiver during City Hall’s normal hours of operation.  Please call 498-5194 to arrange that time.  If you do not elect to fill out this waiver, your child will not be able to participate in Tea Park & Recreation activities this season.
• We previously provided June 1st, 2020 as the refund deadline.  We have moved that up to allow for any roster adjustments to be made prior to practices beginning.
• Please note that if we do not get approval to have a season, all registrants will be given a full refund.
• Rosters to be released upon approval of Phase I from the Tea City Council; practice dates and rules will be sent out at that same time.
• Guidelines will be in place to allow for social distancing and to address sanitation of all equipment used.  We are encouraging all players that participate to provide their own helmet, gloves, batting gloves, and bats.  While this may not be possible in all situations, we are trying to provide the safest environment possible for our participants.
• Due to the possibility of traveling restrictions for Tea Park & Recreation activities, we will not have a 12U Tournament team for baseball this year. No tryouts will be held.

It is the goal of Tea Park and Recreation to provide as much information as possible.  While many decisions need to be made locally and with our area leagues, we will certainly provide updates as decisions get made, or the situation changes.  We look forward to providing a safe environment for our programs to launch this summer.

Spring Soccer:

The 2020 Spring Soccer season has been cancelled. All registrants U5-U12 will be provided full refunds. U5-U6 children will still receive the shirt and soccer ball ordered for them. U8 children will still be provided with the shirt ordered for them this season. We will be providing more details on how you will be able to collect those items in the near future.

U5-U8 Soccer Coaches: Please bring your team’s shirts to City Hall. Keep the coach’s shirt and your child’s shirt. We will be distributing those to the registrants.

Softball:

From USA Softball of South Dakota (governing board of SEFSA): “USA Softball of South Dakota is planning for a season, although at this time we are not sure when that will start. We do think some cities will be able to start earlier than others, possibly as early as mid-May to June 1st. Our state tournaments are scheduled to start in mid-July for youth and women with men playing their states in August and Co-ed in September. We are hopeful that those dates remain intact. If we get pushed back to a later start, such as mid-June or even the 1st of July, we will consider moving state events to a later date on the calendar. We are hoping our players and fans can have some normalcy and to save the season, even if shortened.” USA Softball of South Dakota will be meeting weekly to discuss the season. You can find the notes from their most meetings at their website: http://www.usasoftballofsouthdakota.com/content/. The Tea Park & Recreation Board will evaluate the softball season as the situation progresses. The next scheduled meeting is May 12th. U10-U12 coaches will be receiving emails with instructions for the SEFSA coaches registration. Our refund deadline is currently June 1st. Please remember, all Tea Park & Recreation activities are suspended through May 31st. No organized practices are to be held. The parks are still open for you to work on your skills with your child. Bathrooms are closed and playground equipment and picnic shelters are off limits.

Baseball:

From the I-29 League (14U & 16U): “It is our plan to hold off on any decision to continue with or cancel the 2020 season until Monday, May 4th… we will hopefully know more about the flattening of the Covid Curve as well as other things such as our governor’s stance, social distancing guidelines, etc.” The Tea Park & Recreation Board will be evaluating the season as the situation progresses. No decision on the season will be made until May 4th or shortly after. The next scheduled Tea Park & Rec Board meeting is scheduled for May 12th. Our refund deadline is currently scheduled for June 1st. Please remember, all Tea Park & Recreation activities are suspended through May 31st. No organized practices are to be held. The parks are still open for you to work on your skills with your child. Bathrooms are closed and playground equipment and picnic shelters are off limits.

Tball:

The Tea Park & Recreation Board will be meeting on May 12th to evaluate the season. Registration is currently open until May 29th. Season updates will be provided as they become available.

Summer Rec:

The Tea Park & Recreation Board met on April 14th, and decided to cancel the 2020 Summer Rec Program held at Tea Community Hall.

As of May 19, 2020 the following restrictions are in effect for all parks within city limits:

• Group sizes are still limited.
• All practices are to be scheduled with Tea Park & Recreation.
• All playground equipment is open for use. Use at your own risk!
• Bathrooms are closed, but will eventually be reopened.

Click on the links below to register your child for the 2020 Tball season.

Please contact (605) 498-5194 if you have any questions or issues with these registrations.

Tball Deadline: May 29th

If you plan on volunteering as a coach for the 2020 season, please complete the following registration:
https://teaparkandrecreation.sportngin.com/register/form/313775289

This summer Dakota Alliance will be hosting a soccer camp at the Tea Athletic Complex July 14th-16th. The camp will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (players under 5 will have a 60 minute session) Tuesday through Thursday. Ages 3-14 are welcome to register. The first 70 kids registered will have their fees covered by Tea Park & Recreation. Any additional questions about the camps can be answered by Jud Conner of Dakota Alliance Soccer Group at coordinator@dakotaalliancesoccer.com.

The camp registration can be found at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjm0HZRpLaQ1qFClFVRGty5k_ATjaguPcNFmjJOkOd3Xzeuw/viewform

Additional training for identifying and reporting abuse can be found at the following page: https://athletesafety.org/training/index. The training is free of charge to anyone wishing to complete it.