Scout makes quick work of field
In just six days, 15-year-old Jacob Amini turned a field of weeds into a field of dreams for the East Side Little League in Liberty Lake. Organizing more than 70 volunteers and acquiring necessary supplies to renovate a neglected field in the Liberty Lake Business Park, Jacob accomplished what many thought was impossible.
“It was a wild week,” said his mother, Susie Amini. “It was just amazing how things fell together.”
Getronics in early March granted East Side Little League permission to use the field. To acquire a backstop, fencing and other materials for the new field, the league dismantled four playing fields on the former Sports World site. In early April, the league had the weeds sprayed and fencing contractor Rudi Schuler donated his services, beginning the initial fencing work. However, with the first Little League game scheduled on May 5, time was running out.
“There were 240 kids waiting for a place to play,” said Jennifer Tomlinson, who along with her husband, Gary, formed the East Side Little League in 2006.
Tomlinson put the word out hoping to find a Boy Scout in need of a project to complete the requirements for the Eagle Scout rank.
Jacob learned of the project April 22 when family friend Corie Oviatt, who knew of the Little League’s need and Jacob’s desire to become an Eagle Scout, put Jacob in contact with Tomlinson.
“He asked if I could possibly organize this project,” Jacob said. “If they weren’t able to get it done by that Saturday (April 28), they would have to pay out of their own pockets.”
Before committing to the challenge, Jacob needed to secure approval from four different Scout leaders ensuring the project matched the criteria for the Eagle Scout award. He got the go-ahead Monday at 10 p.m.
“Usually the approval process takes an average of two to three months,” Jacob said. “I was told the leader in the Scout office never approves a project right off the bat, but he did.”
Logging an estimated 70 hours during the week, Jacob worked hard maintaining a balance between school and project. His biggest challenge was finding time to sleep.
“There was so much work to do,” said Jacob. “My life that week was wake up, go to school, come home and work on the project. I averaged three to four hours’ sleep a night.”
Needing volunteers willing to do physical labor, Jacob called everyone he knew, created and distributed fliers, and worked on recruiting those Central Valley High School students who still needed to fulfill their required service hours.
Jacob successfully approached several businesses to donate materials. The only expense he incurred was $46 for special red clay used for the pitcher’s mound.
With everything hinging on a successful Saturday completion, Jacob organized the work and volunteers into easily managed tasks. As volunteers and contractors showed up, he delegated assignments to each.
“I learned how to lead a large group,” Jacob said. “Plus, I learned how to officially pull something like this together in a time-efficient manner.”
Beginning at 8 a.m., Jacob and his volunteers, over the course of 9 1/2 hours raked all the grass, cleared and prepared the infield and leveled the playing field. The volunteers installed the fencing along both sides of the backstop.
“It was great,” said Susie Amini. “We had a whole array of people from the community working on the field that day.”
Jacob also enlisted the help of Avista Stadium groundskeeper Joe Hill, who donated his time to build a league-quality pitcher’s mound.
In Tomlinson’s estimation, Jacob’s efforts saved the Little League thousands of dollars. She believes it would have cost over $4,500 if the league paid for the work.
“It was a great reward to see something happen this quickly,” Jacob said. “Going from such a poor condition field to a full, quality field for these kids to play on was really amazing.”