By Marvin Birchfield
star staff
mbirchfield@starhq.com
  As spring time approaches, so will some of the same old familiar faces become present out on the field.
  For both Dale Bowling and B.J. Guinn, time spent in Little League is valuable to the youth, as their teachings are a lesson that kids can carry throughout life.
  Bowling, the league's president, has spent the last four years trying to help kids improve on their abilities of baseball.
  "I started out coaching and being a part of the board my first year down here, and then I got the opportunity to manage my second year down here," said Bowling. "This is now my third year managing and my second year as league president."
  Along with being the president and appointed to oversee the league, Bowling has learned how to ensure that all of the necessities for running a successful league is provided.
  "It's a responsibility of making sure that the league is chartered, insurance is taken care of, and basically that the league has the sponsorship and financial means to operate," said Bowling. "It takes getting volunteers together, because it takes more than just managers to make this thing work, from the field maintenance to all the way up in beating the streets for additional donated dollars. We always encourage any volunteers to come out and give us the help with whatever's needed, for the invitation's always extended."
  The biggest improvements made since Bowling's tenure has been the vast improvement and hard work put forth in providing a nice playing surface.
  "We, the board and managers alike, have worked on this field constantly, because it's an ongoing chore to keep it where it needs to be," said Bowling. "The first year I came here, they had just installed the sprinkler system, and we've done some improvements to try and help maintain that. We've also redone the in-field, mound, home-plate, and any other general upkeep."
  It takes more than just making sure that the facility is up to par in becoming a great board leader, and this where Bowling excels in transforming the league into a standout example for others.
  "The board also tries to see areas of improvement, whether it be within our managers or facility, then we will act upon that and carry it out," said Bowling.
  The Little League District tournaments were held at the National League last season, and this is something they'll try to continue and promote for years to come.
  "We had the Districts for baseball and we also had Districts held for jr. softball in which we hosted and did well with," said Bowling. "Hopefully we'll get that back again."
  One of the biggest highlights from last season was when the 11-year-old all-star team made it down the road to the state tournament.
  "It was a great accomplishment for the league, and plus they also went out and represented the city of Elizabethton. Hopefully, we can do that in similar fashion with some other teams this year," said Bowling.
  Bowling enjoys his role with being part of the process and success that the league has accomplished, because he remembers the people from the past who did their part in promoting the basic fundamentals in his youth.
  "It's good to be able to work with these kids, for it's my way in giving back to the men who were doing this when I was coming through," said Bowling. "Some of the names I remember was Tony McKeehan, who was a volunteer down here, and manager. A gentleman by the name of Pete Taylor, and I would be remise if I didn't mention the name Larry Brown as well. Just to get these young kids and be able to teach them the fundamentals of baseball, sportsmanship, character and team work is very rewarding and fulfilling."
  Bowling will be calling the signs for the Tri-Cities Nissan club this season, as they'll try to use their experience in making it to the top spot.
  "This is the same team that I started out with four years ago," said Bowling. "We've taken our lumps the last couple of years, but this should be our season to finish in the top three I imagine."
  As far as Guinn's approach to the game, it derives in not only teaching the fundamentals of the sport, but also on how to become respectful toward the game itself.
  "The main objective here is to try and teach kids how to play ball of course, but we're also trying to teach character, sportsmanship and team work," said Guinn.
  Guinn's idea of what it takes to become a good ball club comes with unity of each and every player working together.
  "When my team gets together we all huddle up and say team work, and it doesn't matter if you've got all good kids or players, but it's how you play together is what makes the difference," said Guinn.
  Sometimes it takes more than just a positive attitude from your players, because the way parents conduct themselves is also a key role in the success side of things.
  "The parents are a big part of it, and I don't know if they realize it all the time, but they help out in assisting the kids to learn these things," said Guinn. "We always talk about this first when we have our team meetings about the sportsmanship, team work, and working together for the betterment of the team."
  Look out for the team named Greg's Pizza when traveling down to the National League, for here's where you'll find B.J. and his tightly knitted group trying to make claim as the being the best among Elizabethton clubs.
  "We've had some good ball clubs, but mostly just good kids," said Guinn. "They like to play together and do things off the field, like go swimming and fishing, so I've had good kids who just play ball well when they get together. I've had some kids who were highly talented, but never meshed together, so it's mostly about just having good kids."
  Spending the last six seasons down at the National League, Guinn has become a well-known face and one of the most respected instructors among coaches.
  "We don't always win all the games, but we always have fun doing it, and they learn from it," said Guinn. "I love sitting back and watching them when they're nine and 10 years old, and then see the progress they've made when they're 12."
  Some of the kids that played under Guinn in his early years have now gone on to the high school level, and that's when coaching makes you feel like you've made a positive impact.
  "I see a lot of the Happy Valley and Elizabethton kids playing now that we've coached over the years," said Guinn. "When I see a lot of them, they still holler at me and I'll talk to their parents, and now I'm starting to see some of the younger generation of kids come through whose kids played with my kids. It's always rewarding when they come up and say 'I wish my kids could get on your team' because that tells me they were satisfied with what they got the first time around."
  Guinn is the father of three boys, two of whom are moving on past Little League and one in the waits for his start.
  "Right now I don't even have a son down here playing, which I will next year, but I'm kind of in between years and am looking forward to it. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a league which had a bunch of older men who were members of the community. It was guys like the mayor and people in the Optimist Club who didn't have kids down there. And that always seemed to work well because they put a lot into it and it was always real fun for the kids."
  In recent years, Guinn has witnessed how having a good committee and the support of the community can make an improvement in the growth for the league as a whole.
  "There's more involvement between the board and coaches, for it takes a lot of time, energy, effort and money to have a successful league," said Guinn. "We like to have teams come here during tournament time and complement our field and facility. We feel like we have a good situation here with the field and the area, for the city has helped us to keep the field up, and the parents and coaches have also put in a lot of work. We've done good in the past several years in building this program up, for we had a time to where we barely had enough for just six or seven teams and now it's back up to where we have eight or 10 teams every year."