Sanford Youth League Flood Rebuild

On May 19th, two dams failed in Midland County which resulted in catastrophic flooding in our town of Sanford, Michigan. The park where Sanford Youth League (SYL) hosted games and practices was located right next to the second dam, which resulted in the complete destruction of the facility including the fields, dugouts, concession stand, equipment, pavilions and fencing.  The attached video shows details of the destruction.

As you can guess, this is a very heartbreaking time for everyone involved. Many people who live in downtown Sanford have homes that are gone, along with businesses that are forced to start from scratch because of irreparable water damage.  Our community and surrounding areas have pulled together in the initial recovery for our residents and the reality is, baseball and softball hasn’t been at the top of anyone’s mind.  But, it’s time to start thinking about how we continue to offer a future to the 300 plus kids and 6 fields we historically have in our little league when ball might be the only ‘normal’ thing in their lives.

A temporary plan for 2021 will be to utilize other local fields.  While this will offer a short term solution, it isn’t a sustainable option as the fields are not in the Sanford community, and spread out among various locations.  Long-term, we need to create a place for our girls and boys to play ball.  Please help us in any way you can as we strive to once again create this place of joy and fellowship for our community.

Check out our video for more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCea42GFGN4