It is with a saddened heart that I write this post. One of my fellow umpires of U4K, the association I own, has fallen ill to Acute Myeloid Leukemia recently. This is a very aggressive form of cancer to where the cancers cells divide and multiply at a much faster rate than normal. Over a decade ago Rick Salas was a former President of Carrollton Little League. Ricks tenure as President was coming to an end as U4K was entering the league. Rick continued to be an active member of CLL over the next few years as the head coach of the Rockies, the team in which his kid played on. As time went on and his kids went off to High School, he took the time away from the league to enjoy watching his kids grow.

Rick joined U4K about a year, year and half ago and he has been a true blessing to U4K and now the league called North Texas Little League. Rick loves to umpire the coach pitch and the modified kid pitch age group. He likes the challenge of being one the umpires who would have an impact on the kids, coaches and the parents learning the rules and sportsmanship of the game at an early stage of their baseball years. It takes a special person to umpire games without a partner there to have your back, to keep the coaches under control, to keep the parents positive and most of all to make sure the kids have fun. 

U4K has been an active association for 13 years with CLL/NTLL. We spent 8 of those years in the great city of Farmers Branch with their Little League program, and had a lot of fun umpiring for both cities at the same time. Those of you, who know U4K, know a U4K umpire is like no other!! We love to give back to our community and have done so in many ways. We have held food drives for our local pantry, paid for 132 underprivileged children to play baseball, bought an electric wheel chair for a child that had never been anywhere by himself and the list goes on.

U4K is now reaching out to our baseball community and friends to seek our website where you will see the cover page is currently being revised. Here shortly after our Vice President finishes the cover page about Rick, U4K will ask that instead of the many thanks we get before and after games, the kind emails, and the kind face book post that are made about the association, we ask that you visit our web site and say thanks by tapping the Pay Pal button that will be next to Ricks story soon. The money that people donate through Pay Pal, will be placed into a Visa account, that only Mrs. Salas will be able to access. Rick is looking at 6 month minimum stay in the hospital and you can only imagine of the expenses that Mrs. Salas will endure.

On behalf of Mrs. Salas, she has requested that it be known that she doesn’t want anyone to feel obligated to tap the button, and all she asks for are your prayers for Rick and their family. 

On behalf of all of U4K, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Scott Pendley

President -- Umpiring 4 Kids