Dear SCAA Community Member,
 
Happy New Year! We wanted to take this opportunity to review 2017, and to express our appreciation to all of you for helping to make our 50th year a success.
 
In 2017, SCAA hosted, sponsored and supported 14 different teams playing in 8 different leagues. Our facility hosted 114 home games and our teams played in an equal number of away games at facilities as far north as Upper Mount Bethel and as far south as Warminster. In a return to a former tradition, The Palisades High School Baseball Team used Field #1 for several home games in late March and early April while the High School Field’s renovations were being completed.
 
Our Spring Carnival’s Second Year was a Success and our Father’s Day Car Show continues to be an outstanding family event. Please join us for both events as attendees and volunteers. Also, let us know if you have suggestions for music or entertainment.
 
Picnic Grove Rentals were very strong in 2017, kicking off in May and running through October. SCAA is an unsubsidized, private facility that relies on renters who return year after year. We appreciate them and their business!
 
Improvements to the facility that were completed in 2017 include:
 
*Prep and Painting of Grove Buildings including the kitchen and restrooms
*Re-siding the Beverage Cooler Pavilion
*Purchase of Yellow Fence Topper for Field #1’s Perimeter
*Aeration of all Outfields and Sidelines to improve grass and evaporation
*Year End purchase of 48 tons of Infield Mix
 
Items that are continuing to be worked on include:
 
*Increased Signage to identify the facility-the new fence topper will help to make the facility more visible form the road when we install it in the Spring, and we’re evaluating different sign options too.
*Installation of 2 restored park benches at the playground
 
Declining School Enrollment is a continued challenge that faces Youth Athletics, Palisades and other area school districts. There are fewer kids living in the area, and we work hard to connect with as many as we can to deliver a quality experience. Please spread the word about SCAA and our leagues so that we can continue to field teams at all ages. Online Player Registration for this Spring can be found on our website.
 
There are some important volunteer positions that we need to identify for the 2018 Spring Season. We need shoppers/suppliers for both snacks stands and a coordinator for team pictures. Please reach out to us if you can help with these important tasks. Additionally, we need all of our player’s parents to recognize that shifts in the snack stand are how we pay umpires and drive facility development.
 
2018’s Major Volunteer and Development Events are:
 
Spring Carnival 5/16-5/19
*Wednesday, May 16, 2018 6-10pm  
*Thursday, May 17, 2018 6-10pm  
*Friday, May 18, 2018 6-10pm – Fireworks
*Saturday, May 19, 2018 4-10pm  
 
16th Annual Father’s Day Car Show is Sunday 6/17/18
*Sunday, June 17, 2018 8-3pm
 
Under consideration for 2018 pending finances and volunteers:
 
*Continued Replacement and Refitting of Fencing at Field #1
*Siding and re-shingling Field #1’s Dugouts
*Improvements to the Electrical Service in the Picnic Grove
*More Prep and Painting around the facility
*Both our drag tractor- the 2000 John Deere 445 and the Gator continue to run, but we’ll begin budgeting for their eventual replacement and or major repairs
*New Field Drags and Prep Equipment
*The Garage’s roof is something that we need to plan on replacing in the near term
 
Please contact us with general questions at silvercreekaa@gmail.com to discuss how you might want to help with these projects. We also have Lucky Lottery Calendars for $25 and Field Banners to advertise your business for $150 to help subsidize our plans.
 
The SCAA Board meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month. We’re looking forward to the next 50 years of Silver Creek, and we’re hoping you and your family will be a part of it.
 
SCAA Officers, Trustees and Coaches
--
Silver Creek Athletic Association
2943 Route 212                                 GPS:  Please use Hellertown, PA 18055
P.O. Box 165                                      silvercreekaa@gmail.com
Springtown, PA 18081                       www.silvercreekathleticassociation.com
610/346-6840

 ​Dear Silver Creek Community Member,
 
Happy New Year! We wanted to take this opportunity to review 2016, and to invite each of you to keep up with us by visiting our website, www.silvercreekathleticassociation.com and our Facebook Page.
 
In 2016, SCAA hosted, sponsored and supported 14 different teams playing in 7 different leagues- Penn Jersey, Palisades Area Girls Softball, Bushkill Valley, Connie Mack, the National Club Baseball Association, Eastern Lehigh Valley and the Lehigh Valley MSBL.  Our facility hosted 114 home games, our teams played in at least the same number of away games and many practices were hosted in Springtown.  Our teams included players ranging from 5 years old to 45 and over.
 
Our Picnic Grove was the site of 24 events hosted by private and community members including Springfield Township’s Community Day, our 14th Annual Father's Day Car Show and the return to a former Silver Creek tradition, the Spring Carnival.
 
SCAA was accepted by Palisades School District as an Authorized Agency in their Volunteer Service Experience Program. Our location and volunteer projects can be submitted by students to satisfy the school district’s graduate service requirements.
 
In addition to many hours spent coaching and planning, our volunteers hosted breakfasts, made hoagies, sold Lucky Lottery Calendars and worked our snack stands and central kitchen.
 
Improvements to the facility that were completed in 2016 include:
 
*Improvements to Fields #2 and #3 to improve drainage and infields
*New Dugout Benches for #1 and #2
*Painting and Restoration of our swing set to complement our new playground-finished in 2015
*Installation of 320 feet of split rail fence to serve as parking guides during
large events such as car shows and the carnival
*Installation of 620 feet of outfield fence on Field #1, “the Legion Field”
*Purchase and restoration of 2 new park benches during the UBCTS auction-to be installed this spring
 
In 2017, we will celebrate our “Official” 50th Anniversary. If you ask a hundred Silver Creek folks about the beginning, you will not only be thoroughly entertained, but you will also get a thousand answers about who, what, where, when, why and how it all started. Most importantly, you will hear about generous donations of time, expertise, money and hard work by generations of area families who made “a place for the kids and for our families” a priority during the last 50+ years.
 
2017’s Major Volunteer and Development Events are:
 
Spring Carnival 5/17-5/20
*Wednesday, May 17, 2017 6:00-10:00 pm  
*Thursday, May 18, 2017 6:00-10:00 pm
*Friday, May 19, 2017 6:00-10:00 pm – Fireworks Night
*Saturday, May 20, 2017 4:00-10:00 pm
 
15th Annual Father’s Day Car Show is Sunday 6/18/17
*Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:00-3:00 pm
 
Under consideration for 2017 pending finances and volunteers:
 
*Reinforcing 334 feet of posts and rails of Field #1’s Left Field Line, painting and installation of new anodized fencing
*Purchase of Yellow Fence Topper for the new outfield fence on Field 1
*Prep and Painting of Grove Buildings including the kitchen and restrooms
*Re-siding the Beverage Cooler Building and Pavilion
*Aeration of all Outfields and Sidelines to improve grass and evaporation
*Increased Signage to identify the facility
 
Please contact us with general questions at silvercreekaa@gmail.com to discuss how you might want to help with these projects. We also have Lucky Lottery Calendars for $25 and Field Banners to advertise your business for $150 to help subsidize our plans.
 
The SCAA Board meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month. Here is to a Bright New Year in 2017 and thank you for your family’s hard work-in the past, during the present and to serve the future.
 
SCAA Officers, Trustees and Coaches
 
--
Silver Creek Athletic Association
2943 Route 212                                 GPS:  Please use Hellertown, PA 18055
P.O. Box 165                                     silvercreekaa@gmail.com
Springtown, PA 18081                        www.silvercreekathleticassociation.com
610/346-6840
 

​Home games-I buy a cheeseburger. Away games-cheeseburger. If I’m coaching, a cheeseburger. If I’m watching a game-you guessed it, a cheeseburger from the snack shack of wherever I am is what I eat for dinner many evenings between April and June.
 
And it’s certainly not because it’s healthy or my physique can stand all that red meat, dairy and white bread. It’s because of the memories.
 
Two years ago, following a game that I can’t remember if we won or lost, my cell phone rang while we were dragging the field. It was someone who I knew just well enough that he had my cell phone number. “Hey, are there any burgers and dogs left from tonight’s game?” said the voice on the other end of the line. I peeked over and sure enough 2 parents were shutting down the grill and had a small stack of food wrapped in tinfoil under the warming lights. “Sure, c’mon up to Field #2, and get some” I told my phone call.
 
So this friend of mine, pulls down the lane at SC, parks and comes up the hill past the departing parents who are trying to carry their chairs, gather their kids and preparing to leave.  He gets to the stand, puts his money down and sits on the bleachers to watch the sun go down while he enjoys his 2 cheeseburgers. Just sitting there, watching us drag the field-the happiest guy you could imagine-smiling.
 
We finished up, and I asked him how his dinner was. He proceeded to tell me how much he likes a burger from the stand, not because it’s good for him either, but because somebody’s Mom or Dad made it. Somebody’s Mom or Dad shopped for it. And the money goes to benefit the Athletic Association where the game is played.
 
This past Summer, this same guy-our “got anything left at the stand"-guy volunteered during 4 of the hottest weekends in the Summer to help build Silver Creek’s new playground. Not because he has any kids playing in the program or because he’s got nothing else to do over the weekend. Not because there were burgers, but because he wanted to help. Because he likes to eat a burger or a dog while the sun sets. Because he knows that by hitting the snack stand instead of McDonald’s he’s helping. When he’s pouring concrete and shooting elevations from a tripod, he’s helping.  At the moment when we’re laughing at how NOT handy some of us working on the project are, he’s helping. He’s a local business owner too-always buys a banner for the field. And when he swings by for dinner on his way home, he’s helping.
 
I lied. It’s not always a cheeseburger. I remember one year that Bridgeton had someone who made Sloppy Joes that were awesome. Another year, walking tacos were all the rage. Sometimes, it’s cold and they have coffee or breakfast sandwiches in Riegelsville for a 10:00  game.  Another year in Tinicum, we ate pizza while we waited for a rain storm to blow over so that we could play a game.
 
There are a lot of reasons why I get something at the stand. But it’s mostly because of great memories and even better people.

sFirst question: We may or may not know who’s going to be coaching your child's team at this time. What we do know are some of the challenges that face that person, whoever they may be.

• They may be spending the first quarter of the year working extra hours, stacking their business travel, sitting in League Meetings after 7:00 PM, and booking extra jobs now and preparing for losing 4 hours of Spring daylight to work, when the season starts.
• They may already be coaching a Winter Sport while Planning for a Spring.
• They commute to work in New Jersey, Philly and KofP too.
• They may be a small business owner or an independent contractor who makes their own schedule but their work depends on good weather, and optimal outdoor conditions-so does Baseball.
• They very likely let some stuff at their house go until “after the season” because they need to make sure the fields are ready in April.
• They spend more time raking, dragging and liming fields than they do on their lawn.
• They have co-workers who wonder why they get special privileges to leave early, but who don’t realize that the "Coach in the Office" gets to work early, hosts evening conference calls and sends work email after 9:00 PM when everyone has left the field.
• They very likely have a spouse who is tired of hearing them talk about Baseball/Softball or Tee-Ball and the plan to perfect the 4-3 Putout and the 6-4-3 Double Play for the kids on their team.
• They know all the kids’ names in their child’s grade, who their kid hangs out with, who their kid doesn’t and they hope all of them come out for Spring Sports no matter what their situation is.
• They very likely have second and third kids who have activities of their own that happen away from the ballfield
• They do their best. And they can always use help.
• They’re volunteers and they are among the highest quality people you will meet and know in your life. But they're not perfect.

Second question: This has more to do with the weather, scheduling and the business side of youth sports.

• The leagues we participate in always need to know how many teams they can count on us for-because they have a schedule to make, and resources to secure too.
• Ever see dry ground in Southeastern PA before Tax Day-April 15th? Sometimes it works that way, most years it doesn’t.
• The facilities and the leagues have both spectator and player insurance that needs to be secured, renewed and calculated based upon the projected # of kids and therefor families who are participating.
• Uniforms are sometimes drawn from inventory and in other cases need to be ordered, paid for, printed and distributed.
• Indoor Practice Space is secured in January so that the kids can get some practice after Valentine’s Day and before April 15th.
• Some kids leave Basketballl or Wrestling and head to Baseball ready to hit homeruns and dazzle you on the mound. Most don’t. They need to practice.
• Some kids above 7th Grade play for Middle School or High School teams and that participation limits their eligibility to pitch for a Rec League. Pitching takes time to develop, especially if you're drafted into service so your team can play.
• Leagues work very hard to establish game schedules and facilities work even harder to accommodate those schedules once they are completed. And they’re usually late, because it too is a big job done by volunteers.
• The optimal size for a Baseball team for everyone to get playing time and to develop is 12-14 dedicated players who come to every practice or game.
• Some teams have 16 kids on them, because there’s little chance of getting 8 more kids to make two 12 person teams in Suburban Sprawl afflicted by declining school-age enrollment. Some kids sign up, and you see them only some of the time. Some teams will only have 10, and those kids show up every day and you dread it when someone gets the stomach bug and you have to forfeit.
• Sometimes it rains and the best laid plans are thrown into disarray and the fear is that the season will extend beyond the school year and the kids will leave on vacations their parents planned and then the team won’t be playing anyway because there are not enough kids.
• We open the window for registering very early, and close it very late because we're trying to form age- and skill-appropriate teams. It also helps us to determine how many Coaches, Assistants and Field Resources that we'll need. SCAA and our leagues always appreciate early bird registrations.

Finally, you will likely notice that the same families who coach Spring are there in the Fall, Winter and Summer-Soccer, Field Hockey, Football, Basketball, Wrestling, Tennis, Fire Co., EMS, The Band, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, 4-H, School Board, Classroom Parent, municipal responsibilities etc. They’re volunteers. They’re not paid and they’ll very likely be there next season too. And we appreciate everything they do for their kid and for all the kids.

An SCAA Community Member