by posted 05/07/2012
 
Dear Belmont Youth Baseball Families and Friends,

We will be hosting our Second Annual Spring Training Cocktail Reception & Fundraiser on May 19th at The Wave in Waltham. Please see below for more details.

Tickets can be purchased in advance through John Federico ( ) or they can be purchased at the door.

Tickets are $20. All proceeds to benefit The Brendan Grant Foundation.

Please make all checks payable to The Brendan Grant Foundation.

We hope to see everyone there.

Thank you,
Belmont Youth Baseball


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by posted 05/06/2012
 
Dear parents of Belmont Little Leaguers in the Majors, Triple A and Double A levels:
 
Although our regular season is still in full swing, we need to start making plans for Summer baseball.  This email is intended to address the various summer baseball options, the teams’ schedules, commitments, and philosophies.  WE ASK THAT ANYONE WITH INTEREST IN PLAYING SUMMER BASEBALL SEND US AN EMAIL ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW BY FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012.

Our two basic options for all players is through the Bay State Tournament of Champions program and the Middlesex baseball league.

Depending on the level of interest, we may enter more than one team in both of these leagues.  However, before we can commit a set number of teams, we need to evaluate the players and receive assurances of the appropriate level of commitment for the respective programs.  
 
Option 1:       Bay State Tournament of Champions:
The Bay State program requires serious family commitments involving playing two games during the week and on most weekends throughout the Summer until mid August.   Bay State is a highly competitive program for which all kids in our regular season program are eligible to try out.  This program is both a developmental and a competitive program designed to provide an enhanced level of competition against top level players from surrounding towns.  Tryouts will be held to choose the Bay State teams.  Not every player who tries out for Bay State will make a Bay State team.  If a player does not make a Bay State team, he/she will be eligible to be placed on a Middlesex team (see below). 
 
Bay State offers us the ability to enter teams in the A division (U-12), B division (U-11) and C division (U-10, which includes 9 and 10 year olds).   Ages are as of 4/30/12.    Depending on interest and skill level, we may be able to field more than one team in a division.  Games are played both on weekends and weekdays in surrounding towns, with games played around 6pm on weekdays and during the days on weekends.  Commutes are generally within a half hour, but teams may not play in immediately surrounding towns.  
 
Families need to make a considered decision that many summer nights and weekends will be spent going to baseball games.  Although families can take a vacation during the season, vacations in excess of one week during the short season may prevent the player from making the regular roster.  For those who love baseball, this has historically been a fun baseball experience.  If baseball is not a passion or if you have regular plans for weekend vacations, however, the Bay State program is probably not for you.

Bay State philosophy: The games will be coached with an emphasis on playing the games to win while having fun and developing the kids on the team.  Every other weekend, the Bay State teams will be eligible to play in tournament settings with opportunities to win trophies.  In order to make the “Weekend Trophy tournaments,” teams need to win most of their games during the weekday games.  The teams that win the most games will make the trophy weekends.  Teams that do not win will not get a chance to play in the trophy weekend tournaments.  
The Bay State rules on substitutions and lineups are very rigid.   Players may not play the same number of innings or have the same number of at bats.    Not all kids will necessarily pitch.   Players may not play their favorite positions or bat in their favorite spots in the batting order.   
  
Option 2:       Middlesex Summer Baseball League:

The Middlesex league is designed to provide baseball for our kids that has a slightly different philosophy.   Middlesex plays on set days during the week.  The 9-10 year old groups play on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm against teams in Arlington, Winchester, Lexington and other local towns.  The 11 and 12 year old groups play on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm against teams from the same or similar towns.  THERE WILL BE NO TRYOUTS FOR MIDDLESEX TEAMS.  PLAYERS WILL BE EVENLY DIVIDED AND PLACED ON EVEN TEAMS.

The philosophy of the Middlesex program will be on development and will strive to play everyone the same and allow all kids to try different positions.  The teams will likely have one practice during the week.  The focus will be on skill development.  There will be no weekend commitments.  The competition is strong but not as consistently strong as Bay State. While all kids will get to practice playing all positions, only those who can safely pitch, catch, and play the infield will play those positions.  Anyone who is not ready to safely play these positions will have opportunities to practice and improve to the point they can play these positions.   Ideally, the teams will consist of approximately 12 kids.  We will attempt to create more teams if necessary.    

RESPONSE REQUESTED BY MAY 11, 2012:

BAYSTATE: IF YOUR SON/DAUGHTER IS INTERESTED IN PLAYING IN THE BAY STATE LEAGUE (AT ANY OF THE U-10, U-11 OR U-12 AGE LEVELS), PLEASE EMAIL JEFF BRODY AT   NO LATER THAN FRIDAY MAY 11, 2012.   PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CHILD’S DATE OF BIRTH.
   
MIDDLESEX:   IF YOUR SON/DAUGHTER IS INTERESTED IN PLAYING IN THE MIDDLESEX LEAGUE (AT ANY OF THE U-10, U-11 OR U-12 AGE LEVELS), PLEASE EMAIL ADAM CONNOLLY AT   NO LATER THAN FRIDAY MAY 11, 2012.  AGAIN, PLEASE SPECIFY YOUR CHILD’S DATE OF BIRTH. 

TRYOUT DATES FOR BAYSTATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY.  PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO PLAY IN EITHER LEAGUE.  WE ARE SIMPLY LOOKING TO GAUGE THE LEVEL OF INTEREST SO THAT WE CAN PLAN THE NUMBER OF TEAMS WE WILL NEED IN THE DIFFERENT LEAGUES. 

Thanks,
Belmont Little League
 

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by posted 08/10/2011
 

To all parents of 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old Belmont baseball players:

For the 2012 season, Belmont Youth Baseball Association (BYBA) is considering the creation of a spring travel team for each the U-11 age group (11 years old as of 4/30/12), the U-12 age group (12 years old as of 4/30/12) and the U-13 age group (13 years old as of 4/30/11),  in addition to our regular season in-town teams.  Our travel teams would play against other travel teams from other towns and leagues. This new initiative is intended to afford players who want to play more competitive baseball the opportunity to do so.  It would also allow the 11 and 12 year old players to play on a larger 50/70 diamond not offered by in-town games.  Our hope is to provide a sensible opportunity for our more advanced players to play more competitive baseball.  We are also considering options for the U-10 age group.
 
If we move forward with this initiative, we would conduct tryouts for these teams in the fall.  Players enrolled in our in-town program would be eligible to try out.  Not all players who try out would make a travel team.
 
We anticipate that the season would begin in February and would run through the end of June.  The spring travel teams would work in conjunction with our in-town spring teams to avoid conflicts and encourage our more advanced players to play with and against similar competition.  Although the precise cost is not yet known, we anticipate the program costing approximately $750 per player, which is much less expensive than existing area travel teams.  The fee would be used for league fees, umpires, uniforms, equipment, rental of indoor facilities, and other costs necessary to run a travel program.  Our coaches would be volunteers with backgrounds in coaching and in baseball.
 
Our expectation is that we provide indoor team and individual practices throughout the season beginning in February.  The regular season games would likely begin in late March or early April.  We would play games on days and times that attempt to avoid as many conflicts with other winter and spring sports as possible.
 
We will be having an informational meeting in September to discuss this initiative and to answer any questions interested parents may have.  We will pick a time in the near future for the meeting and send out an announcement.  In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, please contact Pete Noone at petenoone@hotmail.com.
 
Thanks
Belmont Youth Baseball's Little League Board
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by posted 07/18/2011
 
Congratulations to the Belmont "A" Division U12 team!

They are Round 1 Champions in this summer's Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions, defeating the South End team 6-1 this past Sunday.



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