Mill Creek Little League receives national safety award

A sports field used by Mill Creek Little League will be receiving new lights after winning an annual national safety award from Little League International.

The prize, expected to be in excess of $20,000, will fully cover installation of a lighting system at a to-be-determined field, according to Mill Creek LL president Tina Ryan. The league will meet with officials from the Everett School District, the city of Mill Creek and Snohomish County to determine which field gets the lights, she added.

Ryan and Robert Allen, Mill Creek LL’s vice president of operations, will travel to Williamsport, Pa., for the annual Little League World Series, where the award will be formally presented.

Little League International requires all leagues to submit a safety plan every year, and Mill Creek’s plan was thorough, Ryan said. “We make sure the backstops do not have wires poking out, that there aren’t a bunch of holes in the outfield, that the actual grounds are safe, and then we go through the gear to make sure it’s safe. Anything that’s not safe, we toss and get new.”

In addition, she said, the league does a background check on anyone who volunteers in the league. “It’s intensive, there’s no other word for it,” said Ryan, who personally did more than 500 background checks.

The plan also includes first-aid training and procedures, and even issues related to concessions. The bottom line, Ryan said, “is that parents know their kids are going to be safe.”

Ed Lundberg, the District 1 administrator for Washington State Little League and a past president of Mill Creek Little League, said he was unaware of any league in the state ever receiving this award. “It’s a national award, so it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

Mill Creek Little League has more than 800 players in baseball and softball, ages 4-18, plus a Challenger program for kids with disabilities. The league’s primary field, Mill Creek Sports Park, already has lights, so the new lights will be going to one of the other fields used by the league.

Ryan said the board hopes to make a decision about the field to be lighted by the end of the year, and then have the lights in place by the start of the 2016 fall season.