Junior Optimist Baseball League

Played with PHBA last year n thought I could save a few $ joining JOBL this yr. My older son played JOBL about 7 yrs ago n it was good! Very competitive, learned a lot. 7 yrs later… I swear the same bleacher bench is in the same exact spot on the ground by the far field behind the snack shack. The league has gotten very expensive but has nothing to show for it (hit a thon n selling candy that nobody wanted to buy so I had to come up with the cash… already $ 100 over the registration fee). The snack shack has totally gone to crap and needs to be inspected by the health Dept n shut down. It’s dirty, bird poop and debris everywhere n that’s just from the outside. Why not hose it down a few times during the season? The woman running it has a tracheotomy hole in her neck (what if she coughs? Where does the mucus go? Ew), scabs and band aids covering her arms and blatantly sucks nacho cheese off her fingers as she passes the nachos to the window. Jus nasty, completely unsanitary. She is also rude, on a power trip (it’s a damn youth league snack shack… get over yourself) and stares at you to the point where it is uncomfortable. The fields r full of potholes, parking lots full of potholes, fields flood and so do the dugouts, bleachers r falling apart, score keeper box falling apart, THERE STILL ARE NO BATHROOMS OR RUNNING WATER TO WASH YOUR HANDS. Yep… port-​OH-​potty central folks (God help you if you r trying to help a little one go to the bathroom). The age ranges for the teams are horrible (ex. 4 yr old girls playing with 7 yr olds, 6 yr old boys playing with 9 yr olds that r travel ball players) and apparently because of low enrollment some of the divisions have been Eliminated. One practice a week if you’re lucky. The umps suck… I swear the one guy is hung over at every game and isn’t actually engaged, worst calls Ive ever seen. I expected my kids to learn and develop and that jus simply isn’t happening. You literally get out of JOBL what u put into it. Meaning, if you’re coaching your kid and putting in work n hitting the cages u will see results. But if u never played ball and are expecting the league to coach n teach your player… forget it… ain’t gonna happen… it’s impossible to get that out of one practice a week. However, the coaches were all very nice and very fair (no favoritism that I noticed). We will definitely be going back to PHBA. It’s less expensive, way more organized, clean, has bathrooms with flushing toilets n running water, free batting cages with lights, the fields are waaaay better (except for the 14 yr olds… they play at PHMS across the street), everyone fr the folks running the league to the parent volunteers were nice, very fun friendly family environment and you can bring your dog! Also, important to note, when we showed up for evaluations some dude comes out of the area by the office/​storage and starts going on about how «this isn’t that league where every kid plays, u have to be good!» Well y the hell r u taking everyone’s money? And so much of it! Where’s it all going? And… Your league isn’t good anymore… so what should be done about that?

My grandsons love baseball but all the money that goes in is being spent somewhere besides the baseball fields. The place is falling apart and if anything does get fixed it is by volunteers. Where is all the money going?

Just finished our third and last season there. My son was lucky to have had good coaches and has learned a lot but everything else wasn’t that great. You pay the money and there’s nothing to show for it. The fields are crap, they take advantage of the volunteers and the umpires are hit or miss. I know this season started rough with the refinery strike but it took the board way too long to get it going. The kids did not get an official opening ceremony, no parade/​carnival or hit a thon (although you still had to pay the minimum fee regardless) and picture day was on opening day between games, which is really tough when you want them to look their best for the pictures. Honestly, I was ok with all that initially but when the favoritism started showing, it really changed my perspective on the league. I don’t that’s fair for the kids and coaches that are truly there to play ball. To me, it seems like it isn’t about the kids there, it’s for the people who run it and the people they know. If it wasn’t for some of the good coaches and the parents, I think we would have left after the first season. They definitely need to rethink about the way they run this league. It would be a good league if they were fair and spent the money collected on improvements and for they kids.

Worst league for girls! Boys side is better, from what I have heard. Umpires are completely unfair and biased. Best if you take your daughters to PHBA as they coach and make girls learn to play at better level. Umpires have two different strike zones depending on what team is batting and pitching. Strike zones below the knees teaches girls to golf not play softball.
Umpire that walks around during the inning and gets in the way of the girls is wrong. It Completely sucks that umpires have a predetermined deposition on what team «will win» and call plays favorably for that team.

Not for the kids at all. It’s for the people who run it and their pocket books. They take in so much money and the kids see hardly any. instead it fattens their pockets. Do your home work! Talk to people! And hopefully you choose something better for your kids. We chose a better league this year and the difference is night and day.

i signed my daughter and niece up this year for debs softball (ages 4 – 6) when filling out the registration i told one of the employes that i needed them to be on the same team. the lady said no problem as long as they have the same address. i think no problem, they do have the same address.
the league ended up putting them on separate teams and said there is no way to have the teams switched. even though both coaches are willing to make trades and the practices haven’t even started. the president of the league steve said they have to stay on separate teams. i said there is no way i can handle that being im the only one taking them to and from practices. when i asked for my money back he said they don’t give refunds.
i paid $ 370 and now have to take them to court…

Left this league a couple of years ago, looking back it was the best move I could’ve made. Attendance has been dwindling down for years to the point that 13 and 14 year olds are playing with the 11 and 12 year olds. Not a good way to develop young players. Some would like to think attendance has dropped due to the economy, but in reality the league in Pleasant Hill has record attendance, and it gets bigger every year.
I’ve ran into other people from JOBL and they admit the place is stil run like it was the 70’s.
The politics can be overwhelming and it seems that the board members go with the flow instead of actually voice there own opinions.
I see the fields and it seems like there’s the same brown spots in the outfield that my daughter use to hit the ball into.
A few years back the league prepped and dumped money into a tournament field in the back and never played/​hosted any tournaments on it. I did feel bad for JOBL when they came to pleasant hill for a tournament last summer. The 10U Division played pleasant hill straight up and JOBL got smoked 20 – 1. Was just sad to see a league that was at one time so talented no longer had competitive/​competent coaches.
After reading the other reviews I must admit they all seem to be reasonably true.
When will the madness stop? Now getting e mail from current parents at JOBL saying the League President is making teams get the embroidery through her daughter.

I played at JOBL as a kid and now my kids play here. They love it here and have learned a lot and made a lot of friends. It is fun and safe for the kids.
It is a volunteer league, but I see a lot of talk from people but only a handful of people stepping up. When the fields are soaked by the rains it is the same people that work to prepare them for everyone.

I too had been with JOBL for many years. My daughter played out there for years, and in the beginning it was a really good, but the more involved I got, the more I saw how it really was. These posts, and I have read them and it is sad to say that they are all pretty accurate. I have to agree with all of them. There is a ton of favoritism in that league, and if you are not related or part of the «In» crowd, forget it. I too was on the board, worked in the office, special events, I did a ton of volunteering, was out at those fields almost every day of the week. Once I got that involved, I realized that it was a real mess there. I left in the middle of the «Travel» ball season, went to a new team in a new city. We won lots of games, got to go to World Series, won «World Series», but the best part is that my daughter actually had fun. There was not any politics about whose child, even if they were not ready, got to play travel ball. No rules about who got to play. No micro managing from the board. We had an awesome travel ball coach, who got his hands tied by the «President» telling him who could and could not be on the team, who should get more innings while playing, etc. All of this «Coaching» on the sidelines by someone who never even came out and watched any of these games or practices. All because one of her «In» crowd parents had a child on the team – who did not think they were getting enough play time. Really sad.
My daughter has since aged out of softball, graduated, and moved on, but I am now enjoying watching my niece and nephew play ball at Pleasant Hill and it is so much fun. Not as many restrictions, the girls and boys are learning, having fun, and so are the parents. The team my niece plays on is has about ½ of its girls from JOBL. So many people leaving the league. When we were there, it was always tons of kids, now, not so many. It really is too bad for the kids.
Maybe it is time for some leadership change. This league had the ability to really be good for the local kids, but the adults are messing it up. Babe Ruth League needs to wake up and remove the board and start fresh. Bring this league back to where it used to be before it is gone.
Just my opinion.

This league is a mess. I’m astounded at how poorly run JOBL is. I’ve watched these kids play baseball for 4 years and it is non-​stop utter chaos at this games and the way this business is run.
Management is secretive. Meetings about financing aren’t public information. Games are monitored by volunteers who are not propery train and their isn’t any oversight. Parents are unhappy that the organization is so bad; that there’s favoritism; that no one seems to be in charge. Coaches are unhappy that management doesn’t support them. Kids get to watch parents fighting and yelling at each other, the coaches and umpires, and the kids! It just goes on and on.
This whole snack shack deal — when Don comes into the snack shack, take a wad of cash out of the cash register and put it in his pocket and walks out the door, the parents have every right to be suspicious and upset. This is not accountability.

It makes me sick to even give this place ONE star! Patti Behmlander and her vicious régime of followers are nothing more than lying, stealing, cheating, corrupt, EVIL people. They take your money and CLAIM that it goes to complex improvements… ya right, the fields look like crap! always have, always will. Makes you wonder where all that money goes, doesn’t it?
Don’t even get me started on the snack shack! It is not only mouse infested but the guy who runs it, Don, claims to be on disability!!! How many times has he been seen ripping around the complex on his quad? a lot. The snack shack always CLAIMS to break even every year… pretty convenient… Either there is some severe mismanagement or there is some more money that needs to be accounted for.
Stay away from this place. I can NOT stress that enough

NEVER AGAIN! worst mistake i’ve ever made signing my daughter there!