Our Minnesota Legion Blog Review

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Nebraska has been cited as one of the best organized and managed Legion Baseball programs in the country.  It is not by accident. Features include professional management with an Assistant Adjutant employed to supervise all Legion sponsored activities to a volunteer board that is elected by area coaches with four year terms to open coaches meetings and a web portal to facilitate communications. Open collaboration has been critical to Nebraska success. 

Can we learn anything from our neighbor?

Legion baseball was shut down during the Covid year 2020.  However, many individual teams kept playing ball as many coaches organized their teams and coordinated protocols and game schedules. A new state director came on with a mission to take advantage of this collaborative spirit to move North Dakota baseball forward with renewed vigor. Note that the national regional tournament is most often held in the state and the most frequent regional winner has been a North Dakota team.  With just 85 total teams, there are 4 divisions that insure competitive balance and opportunity for players, teams and communities.

Wisconsin provides clear organization success. Baseball is a direct function of the Americanism department housed in the Wisconsin Legion headquarters. They feature quarterly coaches meetings, open communication, and coaches vote on pertinent issues and policies. 

Yet many say that significant ground has been lost as competition for players with club or travel teams has growth. There are as many club teams now as there are Legion teams. As a comparison, Minnesota has about 240 senior level teams with Wisconsin had  about 100 senior teams.

Minnesota Legion boasts 360 registered teams - the most in the country. There are about 5,500 players, 1,200 coaches and some 11,000 parents plus a bunch of supporters. It is a big organizational responsibility. In Minnesota, the authority that runs the show is a group of 14 individuals that form the Minnesota American Legion Baseball Board. It is a quasi-independent group that has its own constitution. The Board is responsible to maintain the apparatus and determine what the program or any part of the program may be or may not be at their discretion. It is said to be a unique structure in the American Legion baseball universe of states.

Many in Legion Baseball have thoughts,  ideas and even opinions. Now and then a few complaints.  There has been no forum for such things. 

The Blog explores some topics that coaches and parents have raised. Many have found very little information available on what the Legion program is, how its structutred, how it is run, and what issues are being considered. Players and families have increasing options for their summer baseball experience. How will Legion baseball fit, now and for the future?

Open discussion and honest exploration can help build an even better and an even stronger Legion Baseball program.

This section provides the opportunity for  people to share a thought or an idea.