2008 Survey:
 
Thanks to all of you who took the time to answer our survey at the end of 2008.  We had a great response rate of almost 700 RYBA families!  We are able to tell by this response that you are interested in providing feedback to us and to tell us what is good about the programs and what could use some improvement.
 
We have taken this seriously throughout the winter and have broken down the survey and prioritized what we feel your requests suggested.  Obviously, there are some things we cannot fix immediately, and in some cases, not at all.  However, we are committed to fix what we can to make this a more enjoyable program for all.  The following are some RYBA answers to your requests for 2009:
 
Fields, fields and more fields.....
 
RYBA heard loud and clear that some of our city and school fields are in need of repair and renovation.  First, we have met with the college and city officials to negotiate a continuance for a longer usage agreement for the new RBC complex.  Once contractual agreements are finalized between the City and RYBA, this will ensure our kids a great complex to play at.  This however does not come without cost and work.  We have many individuals who donate a large amount of time to the up keep of this entire facility.  RYBA also employs staff to the nightly management of this facility.
 
RYBA meets yearly with the Rochester Parks department.  Prior to this year's meeting, the Parks department agreed to blade and grade all of the Rochester park fields.  This is an incredible amount of work by the City and very much appreciated.  During this year's meeting, we were informed of the economy's impact on what's available for us this year.  Rochester and RYBA are all in agreement that providing a safe environment is key.  We have made plans to partner on facilities (parks) that RYBA can help improve and help maintain throughout the summer.  This partnership will help provide better accommodations for fields that are in the most dire needs. Please let us know if you are having problems with a field so that we may best serve you, by contacting Bruce Gibson at bmgibson@charter.net.
 
RYBA has also had discussions with ISD 535 on how to help maintain and improve their baseball facilities.  For the first time, RYBA has budgeted monies for field improvement projects.  Along with the school district, we are prioritizing the fields that need help and renovation and planning to fix as many fields as we can fiscally manage.  Again, please let us know if the facility you are assigned to is in need, and we will do everything we can to improve and repair this facility.
 
2009 Fundraiser 
 
RYBA is affected by these tough economical times like all.  The RYBA fundraiser is designed to help raise revenues and allow you to replace dollars spent for registration by selling the fundraiser coupons you have purchased.  The feedback that we received was that the twenty dollar ($20) fundraiser was too hard to sell and could we adjust to lower level dollar amounts.  Working with our vendor, we came up with a strategy to reduce the amount of each to ten dollars ($10) basically by cutting them in half.  However, this was not done without some thought.  We realize that some people never sell them and use them for their own enjoyment.  We wanted to balance each side of the coupon this season both with types of offerings and with selection.  We did not reduce to the "credit card" type of card this season, but are continuing to develop fresh ideas for our fundraiser.  We look to you for help and guidance in this.  Please let us know your thoughts on improving this by contacting Paul Halverson at hoovey1969@yahoo.com.
 
RYBA uses this fundraiser to fund projects such as the improvements to our fields.  We currently in the last two years of paying off our commitment to the lights at RBC.  RYBA long range planning projects include hopeful development of new fields and/or complexes and renovation of existing parks.