Volunteer
Watch this space for opportunities to give some time to help out our program.
We are thrilled to announce the season grand opening of our Cougars Canteen on this Friday, during the JV and Varsity games at home versus Caldwell. 100% of the profits from the canteen go to benefit our program.
We need your help to make our fundraiser canteen a success! You can support it by:
As always, thank you for your support! GO COUGARS!
Get some great photos of scrimmages, games or other CHS Baseball events in 2023? Please share them with us for our website and end-of-season slide show. Access this page for instructions and links.
The days are shorter and colder, with snow inevitably on the way. That means the time has come to take down the batting cage nets at Underhill. And, since the Boosters bear sole responsibility for maintaining the cages, we’ll need parents’ help with this project.
We will be taking down the nets on Saturday, November 19, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. The more volunteers we have, the faster it will go! If you can give even an hour, please sign up here.
No expertise is required! Coffee and donuts provided!!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Pete Kaplan, our Boosters Board lead for field maintenance.
We look forward to seeing lots of you at Underhill on 11/19!
Our homepage needs fresh photos from this season! Visit this page to learn about how to share your best photos for the Boosters to use on the home page, social media and at our team banquet: https://columbiahighschoolbaseball.teamsnapsites.com/helping-out/share-your-photos/. Thank you!
In the Spring, we will hold our traditional “Senior Day” to honor our graduating seniors prior to a home game. Class of 2023 parents: it is tradition for the parents of juniors to help coordinate this event. Pam Bachorz, a 2023 parent, will be our emcee. We need your help too. Please reach out Lauren @ lbrutkin@gmail.com to sign up to help.
Our canteen is cleaned out and ready to go! Thank you Jason Morros for managing the canteen and running it so professionally. This year, families and other supporters have the opportunity to help stock our shelves. We have put together an Amazon wish list to fill our canteen with treats; please share it with anyone (such as grandparents, etc.) who might also wish to support fundraising efforts from afar! All sales of donated snack items will go directly to the program. To purchase from the wish list and have items shipped to Jason for stocking the shelves, click here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/T58P6EPEK6MB?ref_=wl_share
Due to Covid, we have not been able to do a fundraising event since the fall of 2019!
Save the Date: we will gather on Saturday, May 7th from 7-11PM at the Leepsons’ home (thank you Susan and Brian!).
Thank you to Susan Leepson & Laurie Reyes for co-chairing this event. If you are interested in serving on the event’s planning committee, please reach out to Susan @ Susanleepson@gmail.com or Laurie Reyes @ bella6299@gmail.com
It feels like we took the batting cage nets down at Underhill just yesterday. We will be raising the nets on Saturday, March 5th (Rain Date March 6) from 10:00AM-1:00PM @ Underhill. We need you! We need as many parents as possible to put up the batting cage nets & banners before tryouts.
Please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050B4FAFA92BAB9-chsbaseball1
On January 24, our Boosters president Lauren Rutkin attended the January Board of Education meeting and spoke about the state of our fields (watch the video here). If critical repairs are NOT made, we are likely unable to be able to use the fields at Underhill. The proposal from an outside contractor, who could complete all of the needed repairs, appears to be “stuck” in the system.
Please take a moment to e-mail the people who can make this fix happen:
School Business Administrator Eric Burnside: eburnsid@somsd.k12.nj.us
Our elected Board of Education members: boemembers@somsd.k12.nj.us
Superintendent Dr. Ron Taylor: rtaylor@somsd.k12.nj.us
In your e-mail, please let them know it is imperative that they review the proposal for field improvements and execute on it immediately in order for this work to be done by March 8th. If this is not done asap, the district will not be able to hire a contractor in time.
If improvements are not done, our games will likely have to be moved off-site because we are at risk for player injury & liability. We will also be challenged to find practice space.
This is not just about our high school players. This is about having playable fields for all students – both current and future!
Thank you Baseball Community!
Thank you for an incredible weekend of support both at Field Day and the Elks Club. Thank you to those who came out to help with Field Day and the Elks Club. We appreciate your time and involvement!
We need you! Jerry Donaty, Boosters Field Enhancement Chair, will be leading our field day on Saturday, November 13, from 10:00AM – 1:00PM. We need as many parents as possible to take down the batting cage nets & banners. Please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0544a5ad2ba57-fall
The Boosters are a 100% volunteer organization, made up of the parents/families of the baseball team. Our ability to support the team, and provide programs and activities, is based upon engagement of our community. The success of the program is based upon help from all of you. There are a variety of ways to engage/support/propose activities with a wide range of flexible time commitments.
We do have specific volunteer needs as we finish out this season and begin to plan for the next one. We hope many of you will raise a hand to help. Please fill out the Volunteer Survey by May 15th: https://forms.gle/km383BsygE1rbnv68
Send your best CHS 2021 Baseball photos to be included in the CHS Yearbook! Email them by April 20 to Messeri.j@gmail.com
On April 10th, we will be raising our sponsor banners, and will be looking for volunteers to support the effort. Please reach out to Jon Messeri if you are interested in lending a hand.
As you all may well know, the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the lives of every single Columbia High School baseball player. On May 5th, our spring season was officially canceled, ending the careers of our incredible senior leaders, and postponing the hopes and goals of a league championship for our entire program. Our seniors were so dedicated to the CHS baseball program for the past four years and incredible mentors for all CHS baseball players, so we wanted to honor them and give back to and help out those who are struggling during this time in need in our surrounding communities. To do so, we are starting a Columbia High School Baseball food drive, donating all food and proceeds to the MEND Hunger Relief Network of Essex County, and the Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry in South Orange.
If you are interested in helping we are looking for healthy, non-perishable foods; MEND’s most needed foods are:
Hot and Cold Cereals
Shelf-safe Milk
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Pasta and Canned Pasta Sauce
Canned Tuna and Chicken
No-or-low-salt Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruit (in juice, not syrup)
1 lbs bags of Rice
Dried or Canned Beans
Mac and Cheese
Granola Bars, Crackers, and Cookies
Please drop off in bins starting Monday, May 18th at any of:
60 Jefferson Ave, Maplewood, 179 Village Rd, South Orange, 270 Tillou Rd South Orange 36 Clinton Ave, Maplewood, 10 Burnet St, Maplewood
The boxes will be out front of the houses and emptied daily from May 18th, till June 1st.
We can also pick up donations from you homes if you email *chsbaseballfoodrive@gmail.com* and specify your address and a pick up time
Additionally, if you would like to help out but can’t donate food, we will also be taking monetary donations for MEND
*Please email any questions to chsbaseballfoodrive@gmail.com*
Thank you for all your support and please continue to social distance and follow CDC and WHO guidelines to get us back to baseball as soon as possible,
The CHS Baseball Food Drive Team
(Jacob, Jack, Cole, Tyler, Sam, Derek)
Even during the closures, many of our Cougar sponsors are restaurants providing take out, outdoor seating and some limited indoor seating – if you are ordering please think of these fine local businesses as they, like us, are severely impacted by CV-19.
Click here to check out the outstanding silent auction items that will be on offer at our March 12 spring fundraiser! Click here to get all the details and RSVP today.
Make sure your player is aware of these upcoming dates:
TRYOUTS! MARCH 6-9.
Coach Muirhead will provide more detailed information directly to the players. Good luck to all players trying out!
- Friday March 6th at CHS
- Saturday March 7th at CHS
- Sunday March 8th at Millburn Sports Academy – Coach will breakout the players into 2 groupings
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- Group 1 Arrive at Millburn 8:30 to 10:00
- Group 2 Arrive at Millburn 9:30 to 11:00
- Monday March 9th at CHS (if needed)
- Freshman Parents/Players/Coaches 7:00-7-45
- Upper Classmen Parents/Players/Coaches 7:45-8:30
What goes down must go up. We will be having 2-3 field days to prep for the season. On Saturday March 7th and Sunday March 8th, from 11 AM – 2 PM, we will raise the nets for the batting cages, so they are ready for team practices. Field volunteers, please set aside those days! Save some time on Saturday March 21st to raise the sponsor banners. Ready to volunteer? E-mail Jon Messeri at messeri.j@gmail.com to sign up.