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Volunteer urges coach background checks, equipment funding after registration failures
Summary
A Preston youth baseball organizer told the council online registration errors left several children unable to play and asked for background checks for volunteers, more field 'diamond dirt,' fence repairs and help replacing helmets and bats; he provided a 2025 budget breakdown and asked the city and community groups for support.
Joel Webb, who manages Preston's recreation baseball program, told the council that the online registration system produced error messages this season and that "at least 5 kids" missed playing because they couldn’t complete payment or reach help. He said his family received 30 to 40 calls and texts from parents about the problem and left the council with an itemized 2025 budget handout to explain how program funds were spent.
Webb urged the city to consider background checks for volunteer coaches as a basic safety step, noting the league had not routinely done them and that "most our volunteers are fantastic" but that he wanted to be proactive. He also requested field maintenance — specifically more "diamond dirt" where bases and mounds settle each year — and repairs to deteriorating backstops and chain-link fences. "We're due for new helmets, more bats," Webb said, estimating $35 to $50 per helmet and roughly 30—0 helmets may be needed.
Council members and staff responded with follow-up plans. One council member said background checks had been done about a decade ago and that he would "visit with our chief of police in the near future and see what it's gonna take to do that." The council discussed potential funding sources and service-club support for field work and asked Webb to provide cost estimates; Webb said a delivered truckload of diamond dirt had been roughly $1,500 in prior purchases.
