Parents Rallied Community To Replace Lost Equipment for Rosetown Legion Team

Players from the Rosetown Legion baseball team received their new uniforms barely in time this past season – minutes before their first game on June 11.

“They were getting their uniforms in the parking lot within minutes of our first game,” first-year Rosetown coach Jesse Lopez said.

Lopez became the Rosetown coach within two weeks of start of the season, and he had to recruit many of the players for the team nearly last minute. He filled out a roster of 12 players, but a sewage leak in the equipment room at the legion hall put a quick damper on the start of the season.

“We started with nothing,” Rosetown player Ryan Busch said. “We discovered it two weeks before the season.”

Busch’s mother, Felicia, and Deb Langlois, the team’s treasurer, went to check on the equipment at the hall, in the spring before the  season. They were concerned how the heavy snow from the winter may have affected the basement. The building had a sewage leak back in the fall of 2010, which led to of about $20,000 of damage to its basement.

“We went to see where we stood, and in addition to the water seepage, there was a sewage spill,” Busch said. “The equipment had all been tossed out. It was a shock and we were in panic mode.”

Busch and Langlois rallied other players’ parents and local organizations to fund and replace all of the equipment within two weeks of the season. They ordered new uniforms from Uniform Unlimited, and the parents received them the night before the season opener. Parents also had to sew on the Legion patches for the jerseys.

“We went out and beat the bushes to get what we needed,” Busch said the search for funds and equipment.

They received a $300 gift certificate from Dick’s Sporting Goods and obtained $500 from Little Canada Parks and Recreation. A former Rosetown Legion player added another $2,000 to the cause, and Legion parent donated a helmet rack. Another parent donated a water jug.

Roseville High School baseball coach Ryan Flanagan also pitched in by giving up his spot for the Legion baseball parents at the Roseville Commission meeting in June. The parents came to the meeting and obtained $2,000 toward the Legion equipment.

“It usually takes several months to get put on the agenda,” Busch said. “That much in donations is unheard of. A lot of Legion teams have little financial support. We really cemented Rosetown Legion baseball in the community.”

The parents also planned for the future in purchasing the equipment. They purchased a newer kind of bats that will be required for Legion baseball in 2012.

“Without these parents, we might not have had a season,” Lopez said. “The parents of this group were exceptional. They were extremely supportive. They would often ask, ‘coach, how can I help?.’ It helped me a lot because coming on as a new coach can be a challenge.”

The parents also made a supportive cast of fans as they consistently came out to Rosetown games home and away during the season. Rosetown completed its season last week in the District 4 tournament, and they had a 13-13-1 record for the season.