You do not need a 40-slide deck to put CageList on a Little League board agenda. You need a calm five-minute talk track, a few numbers, and a clear ask. Use this as a script — tighten it for your league, then send the follow-up links after the meeting.
Open with the shared problem (60 seconds)
"We already own or control a batting cage. Most weeks it sits empty outside of practices. Families still pay for cage time elsewhere. We still need fundraising for balls, fields, scholarships, and umpires. Those two facts should not coexist every winter."
That framing matters. You are not pitching a shiny app. You are pointing at wasted capacity the board already feels in the budget and sees with their own eyes when they drive past a dark cage.
Name the proposal in one sentence
"I want us to pilot opening leftover cage hours — on our rules — with online booking and payouts through CageList, starting with league families only."
Conservative boards move when the pilot is narrow. Do not open with city-wide access on night one. Season one is proof, not a forever policy.
Answer the four objections before they land
- Keys / access: We block practices, games, clinics, and maintenance first. Only leftover hours open.
- Who can book: Season one = league families (or approved users). We widen later if we choose.
- Liability: Same duty of care as any facility use — rules, documented bookings, existing risk process. CageList records who booked and when; it does not replace board oversight.
- Volunteer load: Manual Venmo rentals create work. Online booking reduces midnight texting.
Longer versions of these answers live in Why Empty League Cages Shouldn't Be the Norm and the how-to in the year-round fundraiser guide. Bring those links; do not read them aloud in the meeting.
The ask (make it voteable)
Ask for a motion like this: authorize one board member to complete a CageList setup call, draft a blocked calendar for 60 days, propose pricing, and report back at the next meeting before any public launch.
That is a process vote, not a forever commitment. Boards like process votes. You are asking for homework with a deadline, not a blank check.
What to send after the meeting
1. Link to CageList for Little Leagues.
2. Link to the fundraiser guide and empty-cage board piece.
3. A one-page note with your proposed blocked nights and a conservative open-hour estimate.
4. Optional: point overflow demand to cages near you so families still get reps while the pilot is forming.
If they want seasonal operating detail after they green-light the idea, send the winter cage playbook. Print this talk track or paste it into an email to the president the night before. Clarity beats charisma in board rooms.
Close like a baseball person
"We do not need another car wash idea this month. We need to stop treating an empty cage like tradition. A small pilot tells us if this funds the league and helps our kids — with us still holding the keys."
Then stop talking. Let the motion do the work. If they table it, ask for a date to return with the 60-day calendar already drafted — most objections melt when the blocked nights are written down. Bring a printed one-pager with three lines only: blocked nights, proposed open nights, and the motion text. Boards decide faster when the paper is short. If nobody volunteers to own the pilot, stop there — without an owner the idea dies in the minutes. Name the person in the motion before you adjourn.
