Liverpool, Seneca River North little leagues merge

By Sarah Hall

Editor

If you build it, they will come.

But what happens if they don’t?

For the last few years, Liverpool-area Little League teams have seen their numbers decline.

“Enrollments are down in schools, and our leagues are shrinking with people moving away or aging out of the system and other sports that are competing with baseball is kind of causing the leagues to shrink,” said Chuck Blincoe, president of the Liverpool Little League.

So, effective this season, Liverpool and Seneca River North’s Little League teams are merging into one.

“Really, the whole premise behind it is to create a better experience for the kids involved,” Blincoe said. “With the pooling of resources… we have the finances to put some money into field improvements, field renovations, better uniforms, scoreboards where we need it, improved concessions and facilities… I think the biggest thing is just getting the kids to play together.”

This isn’t the first time the leagues have worked together. In 2017, Liverpool sent its Junior and Senior players to SRN for the All-Star program, and the two organizations merged for the fall ball season.

“We had a tremendous amount of positive response to that,” Blincoe said.

Combining the leagues will make them more competitive at all levels, according to Ryan Cartwright, president of the former Seneca River North (SRN) Little League.

“It’s going to give us the ability to keep the kids attracted to baseball, because we’re going to be able to produce a little bit more talent on the field,” he said.

While registration is still ongoing, Blincoe said the combined Liverpool Little League will have about 400 players for the 2018 season. Last year, Liverpool Little League — one of the oldest leagues in Upstate New York, chartered in 1951 — had about 200 players, T-ball through Majors (ages 5 to 12). SRN, meanwhile, was originally founded as the Seneca River Little League in 1959 and split into North and South in 1975 when the population in the area boomed. Their enrollment last year was approximately 165, including Juniors and Seniors (ages 13 to 16).

Cartwright said the decline in parent volunteers was just as devastating to the leagues, if not more so, as the loss of players. Kids are playing other sports year-round or joining travel leagues, and where the kids go, the parents follow.

“As the kids drop, obviously the volunteers drop,” Cartwright said. “I don’t want to say that today’s parents aren’t as involved. They’re just spread more thinly, and so they’re going amongst two or three different sports and they can only give so much of their time.”

The merger takes care of that problem.

“Now that we have enough members of each board joining together, we’re going to be able to give the kids a really nice experience and get it back to what it used to be 10 years ago,” Cartwright said.

Moreover, the combined teams can also provide a feeder system into Liverpool High School’s baseball program.

“If they have aspirations to, they’re all going to be playing modified, JV and varsity baseball through Liverpool,” Blincoe said, “so if we had one continuous and consistent message from the time they come to T-ball through the time they age out of Little League, I think it’s a good thing for not just the experience now, but the potential for them to play in the future.”

To guarantee that continuity for all of Liverpool’s players, Cartwright said the new league also hopes to merge with Seneca River South’s team. At this point, SRS’s parents and board aren’t on board with merging.

“I do think that it’s important for people to understand that we are more than willing to bring Seneca River South kids into the league and join forces,” Cartwright said. “The reason we picked Liverpool Little League as a name is because, when you write your address on your envelopes, it’s Liverpool. That’s where we live… Our goal is to make one Liverpool Little League to be as strong as possible.”