My term as President of the Douglas Little League will officially end tonight when a new board is elected for the upcoming 2008 season.

Several people have asked me in recent weeks if I would be returning for a second term as president. After some long and careful consideration I am deciding to not come back for another year.

This past year was a very humbling and learning experience for me. I learned a great deal about sacrifice and what some people are willing and are not willing to do to help and who I could and could not depend on.

I can honestly say I put in well over 800 volunteer hours doing Little League work this past year. That's in addition to running my business at Backdrop Photo, working here at The Daily Dispatch and trying to help take care of two different family obligations in Tucson and up in the valley.

I have umpired games (in the rain several times) this year, lined the fields, counted pitches, score kept, picked up garbage, cleaned bathrooms and the up stairs press boxes and registered kids. I have also fielded phone calls from parents and coaches who feel they can call anytime day or night and that I have nothing better to do than talk to them and deal with some parents who were upset because they felt their kids weren't being treated fairly. I have attended numerous local and district meetings and dealt with many different people on a variety of Little League issues plus we hosted the District 8 All-Star tournament for the second straight year.

For the most part being President of the Douglas Little League wasn't bad. The kids were great but it's the individuals who aren't involved in the league, who sit on the outside and criticize, that make it difficult at times. There was some conflict in the league that had to be dealt with as well as certain coaches and board members didn't always agree with what was being done by the board.

As I step aside I take great pride in the fact that when our local 11-12 year old all-star team went to state that we, the Douglas Little League, did not have to go to the down town merchants asking for money - we had it. I tried to make sure we were frugal in our efforts to spend money this year. We were fortunate however just one team made it to state however and didn't have three teams like Nogales otherwise we would have been in trouble. I'm also pleased we didn't have to ask the parents for money to have their kids play in districts and we do have some money available in the budget for the new board to start up with.

I want to publicly commend the all-star parents who did step up and helped drive the teams to Rio Rico, Nogales and Sierra Vista each day hauling not only their ball player but others helping us save money on gas.

Had our 11-12's qualified for San Bernardino we would have had to ask for the communities help because the local league pays the cost and then is reimbursed a portion by the national organization.

I also want to acknowledge the coaches from all 19 teams in the league this year. I know the amount of hours they put and I want them to know how much it's appreciated.

Lastly I want to thank my board especially my vice president Ernesto Lopez who came in at mid year and really helped me out in so many ways after I was forced to remove the previous vice president. Ernesto stepped up to the plate big time for me running the juniors division while I oversaw the majors and minors. Another person I want to acknowledge is Efrain Elias who was always willing to help whenever and wherever he was needed. Numerous times throughout the District 8 All-Star tournament we hosted last July, Efrain would take off from work on a moments notice helping me cover the fields with tarps as the storms moved in.

I'd also like to thank Mrs. Christina Gomez, our league secretary for all her hard work. She's had her hands full on many occasions juggling two different jobs plus a family and then the league. Her assistance this past year was invaluable to me and for that I am truly grateful.

To the rest of the board it's been fun, yet interesting this past year as we worked together.

Last year I did a story called "Looking for John Q. Public" calling out certain people in the community who criticize those diligent volunteers who work so hard to help the kids in this community. This year I'm back calling out John Q. Public and inviting them to attend the Douglas Little League Board of Directors meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the Douglas Fire Department's conference room.

It's easy to criticize when you're on the outside looking in but when you on the inside working as hard as you can you have a different kind of appreciation for what these volunteers are doing.

To whoever decides to step in as president next year I say good luck and I hope you have a lot of time on your hands because it takes a lot of time and dedicated people to run a league.

To those critics who feel they can do the job maybe they can - now is the time to step up.