For a few days this summer, a big piece of the youth baseball world will be centered in Los Alamitos.
For a few days this summer, a big piece of the youth baseball world will be centered in Los Alamitos.
President of the Los Alamitos Youth Baseball, Brian Gorman announced at the April city council meeting that the LAYB would be hosting the 2013 Pony Baseball Bronco 12 World Series in Los Alamitos on Aug. 1 to Aug. 4.
“The reception and support from council members, community leaders and Los Alamitos Chamber of Commerce has been overwhelming and very supportive,” he said. “This kind of puts us on the map with people coming from all around the world.”
Eight teams will be coming from Mexico, Caribbean, Asia Pacific and all around the United States. LAYB’s all-star team starts and finishes in the world series, as this is a benefit of hosting the tournament, according to Gorman. The LAYB has 800 players, and the Pony Baseball organization has 600,000 players nationally.
LAYB was selected to host the Bronco World Series after hosting a smaller event in 2012, which Abraham Key, world-wide president and CEO of Pony Baseball/Softball attended. It’s the first year the LAYB is hosting the event, which was hosted for the last 20 years in Monterey.
All the Pony World Series games will be played at LAYB’s complex that is attached to the Joint Forces Training Base. “We are hoping the JFTB gets involved,” said Gorman. “I’m a big supporter of the military, and believe they are going to support us.” Currently, any active military personnel’s children play free in the LAYB.
“League youth baseball has had a lot of pressure from the travel ball industry,” he said. “This world series gives the top players a reason to stay with league baseball.” Pony baseball plays by Major League Baseball’s rules and regulations.
Currently, the LAYB is looking for sponsors and vendors for the event, which will cost approximately $25,000 out of pocket expenses. Gorman hopes to raise this and more in sponsorships, fees and merchandise. “Pony has been a good partner to work with and has been very supportive through all aspects of this process (fundraising),” said Gorman.
Some LAYB sponsors include Alloy Processing, Dr. Art Laos, D.D.S., Northwestern Mutual, Royal Pane, The Cage, Play It Again Sports, Adalberto’s Mexican Food, Dekra-Lite, Mass Mutual Financial Group, Valentino’s Pizza, Friedman’s, Weber BBQ, Los Alamitos Fish Company and Tilly’s, an action sports-lifestyle retailer. Gorman said he’s also trying to get Wells Fargo Bank for sponsorship, too.
“This benefits the whole community, especially if you are doing business in Los Alamitos and Seal Beach,” said Gorman. “I’m excited for the league and whole community.”
As far as his role in this, Gorman said he wouldn’t take on an endeavor of this size if it wasn’t for all the hard working boardmembers working behind the scenes. He said without them, not only would the world series not go on, but also the league would not continue to thrive.
Gorman, who was born and raised in Rossmoor and has lived here for 46 years, played Pony baseball in the LAYB as a child. “It feels good to give back to the community that has given so much to me,” he said. He’s been president of the LAYB for the last 2 years and a board member for the last 5 years. When not busy with the LAYB, he is a real estate broker for Re/max College Park realty where he has worked for the last 20 years.
For more information about the Pony Baseball Bronco 12 World Series, please contact Gorman at bgorman@socal.rr.com or call him at 562-668-2390. For general information about the LAYB, visit online at LAYB.org. For sponsorship information, please contact Gorman or Mark Rennie at Indiana.jones@verizon.net or call 562-714-1591. For vendor information, please contact Shelley Hasselbrink at hasselbrink4@aol.com or call 714-715-6734.