2018 - 2020 WBLL Park Renovation Project
In 1952, West Brownsville Little League got started when the Brownsville Kiwanians Club got approval from Little League Headquarters to charter its first-ever Brownsville chapter. Brownsville Kiwanians set up a permanent committee, elected board members and officers, and adopted its first constitution in April of that year. They were approved to immediately begin taking player registrations from boys eight to twelve years old, and within two weeks nearly 400 applications were received.
Due to this overwhelming demand by so many players, Little League directed the board to divide itself into two leagues: West and East Brownsville with the dividing line set at East 7th Street. After tryouts, each league was allowed to begin with four fifteen-player teams and was allowed to begin an eighteen-game season. Teams in that first season for the East Brownsville league were sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the Brownsville Herald, First National Bank, and the Mercury’s. Teams for West Brownsville were sponsored by the West Brownsville Lions Club, the Brownsville Shrimp Exchange, the Junior Service League, and Pan American Bank.
West Brownsville Officers elected that year were President Bill Montgomery, Vice President Noel Landreth, Secretary Phil Baldauf, and Treasurer A.P. Waugh. In those beginning days, both leagues played their games at Ringgold Park and another park located near St Francis St.
In the 1960s, West Brownsville Little League Park on Cottonwood Drive was born through a partnership with the Methodist Church who owned the current plot of land where our park resides today. WBLL and the church formed a partnership whereby the church ran the concession stand and used the profits to maintain the park while the league ran all the baseball activities. The partnership ran beautifully for over 30 years. However, in the 1990s, the Methodist Church decided it would like to donate the park to the city and have the city be responsible for its upkeep with the understanding that West Brownsville Little League be allowed to remain a permanent tenant of the park. As such, the City of Brownsville became the new owner of our current park property. At that time, the park got a makeover that included new lights and new fences, amongst other amenities.
In 2012, we were the first Little League Chapter in the Rio Grande Valley to start a fully functional website to publish our Constitution, Bylaws, Schedules, and our history. That year, we also started our Facebook page as one additional way to spread our message to our community. In 2017, we were also among the first to create a fully functional online registration portal to make things easier for our parents to enroll their players without the need to fight the crowds in person.
That same year, a discussion amongst our board members began concerning the desire to give our children some of the same amenities as some of the more successful leagues in the state, such as adding a single batting cage. That idea quickly morphed into a much bigger picture after our first fundraiser and after receiving some large financial commitments from private and corporate donors and then a major commitment from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC). All in all, we were able to raise nearly $200,000, plus another $300,000 from BCIC. All this money was ultimately invested in the park which technically wasn’t even ours. Graciously, the city agreed to fund the rest of our project.
So, construction began in 2018. Two years later, in 2020, the result was quite remarkable. Some of the most noticeable improvements included renovated dugouts, the relocation of our basketball court, new infield playing surfaces for our existing fields, a new Challenger Division field for children with mobility impairments, a brand new ADA-compliant bathroom, desperately needed drainage improvements, paved parking lots, additional playground equipment, more trees, and not one, but three new batting cages. Our renovated park now gives our community’s youth one of the prettiest youth sports parks in the entire Rio Grande Valley.
Over the last 72 years of existence, WBLL has been a constant with so many things to be proud of. Unlike other local leagues that operate as a profit center, we have operated as a 501c3 non-profit entity, one where everyone is a volunteer. We have had many players that have gone on to play high school and college ball, and even some that made it to play in the minor and major professional leagues. But, the most awesome accomplishment has been the positive impact on children’s lives. What we do at WBLL is transformational for many, and motivational for most. What we do best is impact young minds in a positive direction away from all of the negativity that surrounds us every day. We are hopeful that with our community’s continued help and cooperation, we will be around for many years to come.
Thank you to all of our community for supporting WBLL and especially to those of you who have contributed to our history.
As such, we are so very excited to get back into action as well as unveil our $1M park renovation that we very patiently went through over the last three years after raising these funds through league barbecues, grants, and several large private and public donations. Some of our new amenities include a shiny new Challenger Field, artificial turf for existing fields, lighted batting cages, improved drainage, new parking lots, a new special needs playground, a new exercise walking path, new shade trees, new benches, new picnic tables, new scoreboards, new signage, and a new special needs bathroom. The new T-ball/Challenger field was created specifically for kids who are mobility impaired, which is something truly unique for Brownsville and all of Cameron County. The park will become a new year-round home to the many families who have children with special needs who have never had access to this specific type of specialty field.
Due to this overwhelming demand by so many players, Little League directed the board to divide itself into two leagues: West and East Brownsville with the dividing line set at East 7th Street. After tryouts, each league was allowed to begin with four fifteen-player teams and was allowed to begin an eighteen-game season. Teams in that first season for the East Brownsville league were sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the Brownsville Herald, First National Bank, and the Mercury’s. Teams for West Brownsville were sponsored by the West Brownsville Lions Club, the Brownsville Shrimp Exchange, the Junior Service League, and Pan American Bank.
West Brownsville Officers elected that year were President Bill Montgomery, Vice President Noel Landreth, Secretary Phil Baldauf, and Treasurer A.P. Waugh. In those beginning days, both leagues played their games at Ringgold Park and another park located near St Francis St.
In the 1960s, West Brownsville Little League Park on Cottonwood Drive was born through a partnership with the Methodist Church who owned the current plot of land where our park resides today. WBLL and the church formed a partnership whereby the church ran the concession stand and used the profits to maintain the park while the league ran all the baseball activities. The partnership ran beautifully for over 30 years. However, in the 1990s, the Methodist Church decided it would like to donate the park to the city and have the city be responsible for its upkeep with the understanding that West Brownsville Little League be allowed to remain a permanent tenant of the park. As such, the City of Brownsville became the new owner of our current park property. At that time, the park got a makeover that included new lights and new fences, amongst other amenities.
In 2012, we were the first Little League Chapter in the Rio Grande Valley to start a fully functional website to publish our Constitution, Bylaws, Schedules, and our history. That year, we also started our Facebook page as one additional way to spread our message to our community. In 2017, we were also among the first to create a fully functional online registration portal to make things easier for our parents to enroll their players without the need to fight the crowds in person.
That same year, a discussion amongst our board members began concerning the desire to give our children some of the same amenities as some of the more successful leagues in the state, such as adding a single batting cage. That idea quickly morphed into a much bigger picture after our first fundraiser and after receiving some large financial commitments from private and corporate donors and then a major commitment from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC). All in all, we were able to raise nearly $200,000, plus another $300,000 from BCIC. All this money was ultimately invested in the park which technically wasn’t even ours. Graciously, the city agreed to fund the rest of our project.
So, construction began in 2018. Two years later, in 2020, the result was quite remarkable. Some of the most noticeable improvements included renovated dugouts, the relocation of our basketball court, new infield playing surfaces for our existing fields, a new Challenger Division field for children with mobility impairments, a brand new ADA-compliant bathroom, desperately needed drainage improvements, paved parking lots, additional playground equipment, more trees, and not one, but three new batting cages. Our renovated park now gives our community’s youth one of the prettiest youth sports parks in the entire Rio Grande Valley.
Over the last 72 years of existence, WBLL has been a constant with so many things to be proud of. Unlike other local leagues that operate as a profit center, we have operated as a 501c3 non-profit entity, one where everyone is a volunteer. We have had many players that have gone on to play high school and college ball, and even some that made it to play in the minor and major professional leagues. But, the most awesome accomplishment has been the positive impact on children’s lives. What we do at WBLL is transformational for many, and motivational for most. What we do best is impact young minds in a positive direction away from all of the negativity that surrounds us every day. We are hopeful that with our community’s continued help and cooperation, we will be around for many years to come.
Thank you to all of our community for supporting WBLL and especially to those of you who have contributed to our history.
As such, we are so very excited to get back into action as well as unveil our $1M park renovation that we very patiently went through over the last three years after raising these funds through league barbecues, grants, and several large private and public donations. Some of our new amenities include a shiny new Challenger Field, artificial turf for existing fields, lighted batting cages, improved drainage, new parking lots, a new special needs playground, a new exercise walking path, new shade trees, new benches, new picnic tables, new scoreboards, new signage, and a new special needs bathroom. The new T-ball/Challenger field was created specifically for kids who are mobility impaired, which is something truly unique for Brownsville and all of Cameron County. The park will become a new year-round home to the many families who have children with special needs who have never had access to this specific type of specialty field.
