Tea Park and Recreation moving forward with plans for 2020 summer ball season

On Friday, May 15 the Tea Park and Recreation Board took to their website to state that they are moving forward with making plans for a 2020 summer ball 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,” the statement read.

Tea Park and Recreation has made the following proposal to the Council to move forward:

Presenting a 3 Phase approach to get access to the fields. 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.

The City of Tea will get signage at the fields helping to direct people on where to go. The council said Tea Park and Recreation could start phase 1 on May 26.

Guidelines for participation and field use will be provided upon approval from Tea City Council.

Tea Park and Recreation would like all participants to carefully consider the following, as listed on their website:

“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 26, 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 in the utilities drop box located at the entrance of Tea City Hall’s parking lot. 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.”

Tea Park and Recreation is trying 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,” Tea Park and Recreation Board added. “We look forward to providing a safe environment for our programs to launch this summer.”