2020: Fields Closed. Season cancelled. 

In February and March of 2020, Americans became increasingly aware of a new virus, a "novel coronavirus" with an abbreviated title of COVID-19, that had originated in China toward the end of 2019, and quickly spread through international travel.  It entered the United States on both coasts and quickly spread, bringing illness, death, quarantines, and unprecedented business and recreational shutdowns.  Youth recreation and sports in general were just a small part of the whole, as the country tried to combat the deadliest pandemic in a century.  In early March, Little League, Inc. suspended all baseball and softball activities until April 6, then to May 11. As summer approached, conditions varied in different parts of the country, but New York, one of the hardest hit states, continued on high alert.  On June 19, Pearl River Little League reluctantly announced the cancellation of the 2020 PRLL season. As it always must, safety came first.  After 66 consecutive spring seasons, PRLL's fields were silent.    

 June 19, 2020

Dear PRLL Families,
 
Despite the best efforts of our Board, we have been unable to come up with a workable solution to the myriad safety concerns and mandates from Little League Baseball and various levels of government.  Therefore, we are announcing the cancellation of the 2020 Pearl River Little League season.
 
Throughout this process, our primary goal was the safety of all the children and spectators attending games at Anderson Field. Unfortunately, we were unable to alleviate important concerns in order to provide a safe atmosphere and create an enjoyable experience for our players. These concerns combined with the knowledge that the majority of other sports and camps in Pearl River were canceled led us to this decision that we worked so hard to avoid.
 
Our secondary goal has been transparency with our families. We sought your opinions and input in the decision process, and have appreciated your response.  We have also tried to clearly communicate about costs and our refund policy. PRLL is the only sports league that we know of that will be providing a cash refund and we will endeavor to process these refunds as quickly as possible. As previously discussed, we have worked to provide the maximum refund to our families with only a small portion of our fixed costs deducted. PRLL is absorbing thousands in costs in order to accomplish this goal.
 
PRLL will provide a cash refund of all registration fees minus $25 per player to cover some of the larger outside fixed costs. This refund will be mailed to all PRLL members as soon as we can process the paperwork.
 
To our graduating players, we apologize for not being able to provide you with your final season, and to our returning players, we look forward to seeing you in the Spring of 2021 for a great season of baseball and softball.
 
Have a safe and healthy summer.
PRLL Board of Directors

As you know, PRLL is governed by Little League Baseball Inc. based in Williamsport, PA, which has been working with the respective state authorities throughout the the country during this pandemic shutdown period.  We are currently in a holding pattern waiting for instructions from them.  LLB Inc. has cancelled its summer LL World Series Tournament, but the determination of the status of the various state leagues has not yet been determined.  LLB's current moratorium extends into mid-May.  Please watch this site for further updates. 

UPDATE 3/16/2020:  With the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Little League International Board of Directors and staff is now strongly advising all its local Little League programs to suspend/delay their Little League seasons through no earlier than Monday, May 11.

UPDATE 3/12/2020:   Based on the recommendation of Little League, Inc., all little league activities are suspended until "no earlier than April 6" (not a firm date -- depends upon public health developments). This includes all meetings, practices, events, etc.  For further information, see https://www.littleleague.org/player-safety/coronavirus-update/