Howard J. Lamade Stadium. (Photo courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)
After calling the Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa., home since 1959, the Little League World Series saw the Maine-Endwell Little League team from New York bring the title of champion back to the United States for the first time since 2011 on Aug. 28. They won against East Seoul Little League from South Korea 2-1.
Behind the scenes, a committed network of venue staff, security professionals and volunteers worked together for a successful nine-day series (as opposed to the usual 10, due to rain) according to Brian McClintock, senior director of communications for Little League Baseball and Softball.
McClintock said that weather is always a concern for outdoor events, and that when it came to alerting both athletes and fans about what to do next in an unexpected situation, “it’s always a scramble to communicate the message.”
However, McClintock said that the operations and game staff “were able to remain on schedule, even with losing the day, and really shuffle things around using both of our stadiums, and working with ESPN to make sure the rest of our tournament went on without a hitch. Which it absolutely did.”
Security is a crucial part of any event, and the Lamade Stadium was outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and techniques that kept everyone safe.
Jon Ferguson, senior product training specialist for Lenel and project coordinator for electronic security at the Little League World Series, said that it is important to maintain balance between giving attendees a sense of safety while also keeping technology “unobtrusive so that it doesn’t look like a prison environment.”
One way Lenel does this is by controlling access through identification passes printed on site with color codes for each person’s individual role and access privileges. Mobile pedestals staffed around the clock by security mark where 2,500 badged individuals check in or out of different areas at the stadium. The contactless smart cards hold encrypted information that can be updated remotely while also avoiding the pitfalls of potential cloning or hacking.
Ferguson said that access into the International Grove area where the players live for the duration of the games has a “very tightly restricted” access, “both by common sense, but also due to some new legislation in Pennsylvania that now requires multiple background checks for anybody who is in direct contact with the players in that area.” He shared that his company manages the integration of these background checks into their badge system to make sure people have been through these checks before they can enter the area.
Camera surveillance makes up another essential piece of security at the stadium. Robert Muehlbauer, senior manager and business development partner ecosystems for Axis Communications, Inc., said that his company’s 4K cameras are specially equipped with high-end optical zooms to bring HD quality video to security operators within the facility. As different times of the day will bring different lighting, he shared that thermal imaging is used to detect possible intruders as well.
Whatever the technical challenges may be, Muehlbauer said that “if you do your homework, do the site survey, and apply the best practices, you can come out with very strong and forensic images of anything that would happen within the field of view of the camera.”
Mike Leibovitz, director of the office of CTO for Extreme Networks, provided the mesh connectivity for all of the different surveillance systems at the facility. He said that while it can be difficult to implement his company’s resources on a temporary basis, the wireless wave 2 technology beats out alternatives like cables, which are not always “cost efficient,” according to him.
The marriage of access control and video has proven to be a great strength for security at the stadium. Ferguson said that with all entrances monitored by live feeds, one instance of finding a lost father took less than 15 minutes. A child came up to security to tell them that he had lost his father. The child was able to tell staff members where they had entered the stadium, and the operators behind the video feeds were able to find an image of the father on video, send it out to security on their smart phones, and find him quickly.
“If something did become serious or did get escalated, there’s a very comprehensive plan in place,” said Muehlbauer, emphasizing that he and his team are prepared for a variety of situations. “And with this type of system that is networked, and high-quality video that integrates access control, all of those pieces are brought together.”
“We always try to stay one step ahead of the bad guys, but still with the thought in mind that it is a family-friendly environment,” said Ferguson. “We don’t want it to look like we’re trying to interfere with people’s fun day at the ballpark, and the best kind of security is the kind of security that nobody notices.”
Ferguson also spoke of his pride in donating his time and services to the nonprofit that is Little League. “It’s truly one of those situations where, without any of those aspects of that team environment, we wouldn’t be able to secure the venue to the extent that we are able to without those three companies’ participation,” said Ferguson.
McClintock has nothing but praise and gratitude for the security staff at the venue, as well as the 100 staff members employed by the stadium and the 500 volunteers who come to see the series through to fruition. With an estimated 23,211 attendees at the championship game and 314,520 fans visiting the series overall, the team rose to the challenge admirably, according to McClintock.
“It’s a long series, 32 games played over the course of 10 days, nine days this year,” McClintock said. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun.”
Interviewed for this article: Jon Ferguson, (585) 248-9720; Mike Leibovitz, (408) 579-2800; Brian McClintock, (570) 326-1921; Robert Muehlbauer, +46 46 272 18 00.