Tennessee Dizzy Dean

🚨Softball update🚨

ALL TIMES for the softball tournament in Jasper, TN are EASTERN STANDARD TIME. Each coach receives an email AND Tourney Machine update with this information. Coaches, make sure your parents are getting ALL the info before they start blowing up our DM’s..😂🤣

🚨TN DIZZY DEAN POINTS SERIES STANDINGS🚨
6/18/26

THIS!

Some days in youth sports organizations suck.

When you’re responsible for more than 1,100 kids across multiple sports, things are going to fall through the cracks sometimes.

This spring alone, Ooltewah Youth Association served:
⚾ 650+ baseball players
🥎 210+ softball players
🏈 250+ flag football players

That’s over 1,100 young athletes participating across 2 parks, 10 baseball and softball fields, and 1 football field.

It also takes nearly 300 volunteer coaches, board members, team parents, concession workers, grounds crew members, and countless other volunteers to make it all happen.

When you have hundreds of games to schedule, fields to prepare, umpires to assign, concessions to stock, equipment to maintain, and volunteers to coordinate, things won’t always go perfectly.

Games get rescheduled.
Mistakes get made.
Things get missed.

It’s going to happen.

What many people don’t see are the volunteers and groundskeepers spending countless hours mowing, dragging infields, lining fields, watering, repairing equipment, emptying trash cans, cleaning facilities, and making sure our parks are ready for the next game.

They don’t see the board members answering emails late at night, processing registrations, handling complaints, solving problems, and trying to make decisions that are best for over a thousand kids.

They don’t see the coaches giving up evenings with their own families to teach, mentor, encourage, and develop young athletes.

They don’t see the sacrifices made by organizations like UCI and the many umpires who spend their nights and weekends helping ensure our kids have qualified officials on the field and a game to play.

The reality is simple:

Youth sports only work because people choose to serve.

So if you want to help, volunteer.

Show up when you say you will.

Support the people already doing the work.

Be a problem solver instead of a problem finder.

Be a supporter, not a critic.

Some days are frustrating.
Some days take the joy out of it.
Some days make you question why you do it.

But not today.

Today we’ll unlock the gates again.
We’ll prep the fields again.
We’ll stock the concessions again.
We’ll assign umpires again.
We’ll coach another practice.
We’ll line another field.
We’ll do it all over again.

Not for recognition.
Not for status.
Not for bragging rights.

We do it because every child deserves a place to play.

We do it FOR THE KIDS.

Thank you to every coach, volunteer, groundskeeper, umpire, UCI official, sponsor, board member, and parent who helps make Ooltewah Youth Association possible.

You may not always get recognized, but OYA wouldn’t exist without you.

Ooltewah Youth Association

Building Champions On & Off The Field