05/08/2026
First off I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jonathon Sema. I was elected president of the grand bay athletic association this past fall. I would like address a few comments/concerns that have been made about our park recently. Starting with the participation trophies. If it were up to me the complaint would’ve been why didn’t my child receive a medal. But as a board we voted to order medallions. After using a local small business to order medallions what we received was not what we were expecting. But lesson learned. The park did award rings to the first and second place teams in all leagues, which I’ve heard no complaints from. When it’s come to the “closing ceremonies” we tried to provide an end of the year tournament that was not provided last year. Due to a tremendous amount of rain we assessed the fields first thing Saturday morning and decided that the fields were not playable. Before making that call we did attempt to manually dry the fields but ultimately decided to call it. While attempting to dry the fields we had 2 coaches/parents call and offer assistance if needed. That number was two. Figured I would spell it out so some of you wouldn’t think it was a typo. As for rescheduling to a later date. With all stars coming up and our “volunteers schedules” we didn’t have time. All stars are chosen around mid season due to the fact that uniforms need to be ordered, commitments need to be verified, and individual team fundraising needs to be started. All Stars were chosen the week of April 6th and uniforms fittings were done by April 10th. We received uniforms yesterday May 7th with the hats arriving on May 15th. The season starts on May 16th. As for the ones upset about who makes All Stars and who doesn’t. That’s a coaches decision. League coaches. All coaches nominate kids off their team and once those kids names are turned in a ballot is created. From that ballot “all coaches” from that league choose the kids that make all stars. Not sure if y’all are aware but we are begging for coaches every year. How about volunteer, coach, and have a vote on who makes it or not. Is it a perfect process, no but we do the best we can with what we got. Pictures. Where do we start. Dang if you do. Dang if you don’t. The lashings we received last year from the quality and process of team pictures we assumed teams would want to do their own thing. But now we know. On top of scheduling games, umpires, opening ceremonies, makeup games and countless request of “my child can’t play on Tuesday because yada yda yada. Can we alter the whole park schedule because the countless hours you put into that schedule doesn’t work for me” we’ll figure it back out. Also just an fyi if you would like volunteer for the board and would like to head up picture day. Know you will need to be able to pass a background check. IYKYK.
Onto the stacking teams. The draft is done as fairly as possible. Is it a perfect system obviously not but I would encourage you to volunteer, be a part of that draft process, and get involved in coaching. Your coaches are all in the same draft room at the same time where if any deviations are made ALL coaches have to agree. Having said that there are circumstances where kids quit which in turn drops the roster size and puts teams at a disadvantage. I’m not sure how to fix that once the season kicks off.
Everyone that knows me knows I’m an open book just like the parks financials. If you have a question ask I’ll give you an honest answer. Come to the board meeting where the financials are discussed on how much was spent and what it was spent on. The plans we have for the next season etc. The park is county maintained. They cut the grass and w**d eat. They did not purchase the new batting cages, they did not purchase the new John Deere field rake, they did not purchase the field conditioner that was put on the infields. The funds that were brought in through the park are used to improve the park and to suggest that the funds are being used for nefarious reason are an insult to the people that sacrifice so much. There are a total of 14 board members. Some of the best people you’ll meet in the community that work tirelessly to keep that park running. 14 people that pickup trash every night, 14 people that have a normal job during the week, 14 people that sacrifice time with their families during ball season. All while being dragged in the mud online for not being perfect.
I’ll end by saying this. Being on the board is a volunteer “job”. As well as a thankless position. If you think you can do better by all means come to a meeting, volunteer, put the time in, be part of the change. Speaking from experience there’s more to it than most think. Maybe start with one of the volunteer work days, fill some potholes, moves some dirt, sweat a little. Don’t expect 14 people people to do all the work and be perfect.
Jonathon Sema
Park President
