Fruitland Little League struggling after city council decision

FRUITLAND, Md. – Fruitland Little League is struggling financially, and they say the city council’s recent decision has only made matters worse.

This past week the council voted against allowing the Eastern Shore Force to host a tournament on Fruitland’s fields. With no tournament, that means concession stands at the fields run by the city’s little league will remain closed. An estimated $3,000 to $4,000 loss for a league that says it’s already struggling amidst a nationwide pandemic.

“They’ve done everything they were supposed to do with the concession, they went through the health department, followed all the guidelines, they gave them the approval, so losing that three to four thousand, is a big hit to little league in general,” said Kevin Lindsay, a parent of little leaguer.

What makes matters worse is that there’s no certainty that Little League in Fruitland will return this summer. So their only form of income, for now, is the concession stand and while that remains closed, the bills continue to pile.

“We’re in trouble”

“We’re in trouble,” said Jamie Webster, a member of the board of directors for Fruitland Little League. “We have spent a lot of money in the spring to prepare for this season. We committed 10,000 dollars just in field preparations.”

On top of that, Webster says they pay roughly $2,500 a month for loans to put lights on the fields, to keep the grass cut, and to keep the fields in good shape.

However, Fruitland Little League isn’t oblivious to the fact that many of their families are struggling.

With the league in limbo, Websters says they’ve offered refunds to parents as well as options to donate their fee to the league or use it as credit for next year.  But even that has presented problems.

“As we stand right now if we had to refund the families who would like a refund our bank account will be empty,” Webster said.

“It just doesn’t really seem fair”

Meanwhile, parents 47 ABC spoke expressed their confusion and concern with the city council’s decision.

“It would be one thing if the rest of the state and the county was even still closed and making those kinds of decisions, but deciding just for the city of Fruitland for everybody in it, that to me it just doesn’t really seem fair,” said Tara Kearns, a little league parent.

Kearns has two sons who use the fields. One who plays for the Eastern Shore Force, the other who plays in Fruitland Little League.

“Parents should be given the opportunity that if they feel safe enough for their kids to go out there and they know that the coaches and the teams and the organizations are doing everything that they can for their children’s safety I think that families should be able to make those decisions on their own,” Kearns said.

Lindsay agrees.

“Just to say hey, no we’re not going to do it when everybody else us doing it makes it seem to me like they (the council)  really weren’t connected to what reality is right now,” Lindsay said.

Friday the city council backed their decision not to host the tournament in a press release sent to 47 ABC.

In part, it reads, “The Council’s goal is to resume normal activities, however, in an abundance of caution and safety, there is no immediate change in the restrictions on Fruitland City Fields.”

“That could mean there is no future of Fruitland Little League”

But without change soon, Webster says, the future of Fruitland Little League may be in jeopardy. And when asked directly if the council votes to not allow the next tournament scheduled for June 27th, that could be the nail in the coffin.

“That could mean there is no future of Fruitland Little League,” Webster said. “And that’s sad because this is one of the strongest little leagues in this entire area.”