Northfield Youth Baseball Association (NYBA) Travel Program
The Northfield Youth Baseball Association (NYBA) Travel Team program offers opportunities for players to participate on competitively oriented Travel Teams to compete against teams from surrounding communities in travel leagues (Metro Baseball League) and/or weekend Tournaments. The NYBA offers Travel Teams at ages 10 to 15 years old.
All travel/tournament teams follow the rules and player eligibility requirements of the NYBA and the league rules under which the team is playing.
Travel Team players are rostered only on the Travel Teams. The Traveling Teams rosters are determined by a tryout.
Travel Teams will be offered for ages 10U - 15U.
Travel Teams play a regular season Metro Baseball League (MBL) schedule weekly and a minimum of three(3) weekend tournaments during the season.
Tournaments are State Qualifier Tournaments (MBT, GSTC, or MSF). If the team qualifies for a State Tournament, there may be additional tournaments, which are generally scheduled on weekends in July. (See Tournament Dates and Locations page for specific dates).
The NYBA will pay the entry fee and gate fee (if applicable) for one (1) State Tournament berth, if the team qualifies for the State Tournament during one of the State Tournament Qualifier tournaments scheduled by the NYBA.
Travel Teams are selected by a tryout.
Tryouts are generally conducted in early to mid March depending on facility availability (see Tryout Schedule page for specific dates) to select rosters for each Travel/Tournament Team.
Skills to be evaluated will be:
The NYBA aims to find impartial Evaluators with a baseball background (coaches, college playing experience, etc.) who do not have any children trying out for the Travel Teams. Evaluations and input from previous season coaches will be used for team placement.
The top players from each age group will be offered a roster spot on the upper level team (AAA or AA, depending on the competition level defined by the NYBA).
The next group of players from each age group will be offered a roster spot on the lower level team (AA or A, depending on the competition level defined by the NYBA) and so on.
Players 10U-14U not selected to a Traveling Team will be given the option to play on a Community Rec Team.
The NYBA does not have an In-house level at 15U. Players not selected for a Travel Team at these levels will not be placed on a team.
Please see the Tryouts page for more information on the tryout process.
The NYBA preference is to hire paid Coaches for the 14U and 15U Traveling Teams.
The preference is to hire a non-parent of the current players.
When non-parent head coaches cannot be found for a team the Coaching Manager will interview and select the best qualified parent to coach the team. Parents will not be compensated for coaching their own children but instead would receive a registration refund for that child.
The NYBA Coaching Manager will interview and select coaches for the Travel Teams with the help of the Travel group.
Parent coaches will be selected by the NYBA Coaching Manager for the Tournament Teams.
All coaches must pass a criminal background check and complete the Trusted Coaches certification program which also includes concussion and Safe Sport training as required by state and federal law.
To be eligible to play on a NYBA Sponsored Traveling Team or Tournament Team, Players must:
Live in the Northfield School District or attend Northfield Schools.
Starting at 14U, if there is an option available in the school district in which the student athlete attends, the player should play with that community's association/team. If there is no option in that community players will be placed on an NYBA team where space allows as to not displace a Northfield district student athlete. Exceptions will be discussed by the NYBA Board on a case by case basis.
Have completed the NYBA registration to tryout for the travel teams by the stated registration deadline.
Note: Players that have not registered by the registration deadline may be considered for traveling or tournament teams under extenuating circumstances.
Players that have not registered by the registration deadline must submit a written request to the NYBA President of Travel baseball for review and approval by the Travel Group before they will be considered for placement on a NYBA travel team. NYBAPresident.Travel@gmail.com
Have paid required Travel Team registration fee for the current season.
Have paid all past due balances from previous seasons.
Have agreed to all required waivers to participate in the NYBA Travel Baseball Program.
Have agreed to the NYBA player code of conduct.
Travel Teams are designated by age level (15U = 15 years old and under).
Age is determined by the players age on April 30 of the current year. Players in their respective age group must not reach the next age before May 1 of the current year.
The NYBA gives priority to players that are in the same grade and meet the team age requirement. Players are not allowed to play up.
Travel Team Players are expected to make their baseball team the number one sports priority during the baseball season.
With the growing popularity of year round sports and development teams, NYBA Travel Players are expected to make their NYBA Travel baseball team commitments (practices, games, tournaments, etc.) priority over any other sporting events or teams in which they are participating (tryouts, practices, games, tournaments, etc.)
Missing a practice, game or tournament due to another sport or team (unless cleared by the team coach) will not be considered a valid excuse and may result in reduced playing time.
Any potential conflicts should be discussed with the coach.
Players and Parents should consider the time commitment required for the NYBA Travel Team and if there will be conflicts with other sports in which that the Player is participating.
Travel Teams play a regular MBL season which consists of 14 games plus playoffs.
Typically at least half of these regular season MBL games will be played at locations outside of Northfield in surrounding cities. The actual locations are not know until the final league schedule is determined.
The MBL season runs from Late April to mid July.
Travel Teams will also play in a minimum of three (3) weekend tournaments which will be a minimum of nine (9) games total (three game guarantee per tournament).
Tournaments are typically pool play with brackets so five(5) to six (6) games may need to be played to reach the championship game.
Additional tournaments may be attended if a team qualifies for a State Tournament berth.
Travel Team Players should be prepared to commit 4-5 days a week to baseball during the months of May through July. This includes games and practices.
Travel Team Players should be prepared to commit at least three weekends during the season to play in scheduled tournaments.
See the Tournament Dates and Locations page on the NYBA website for current scheduled tournaments.
Coaches may schedule practices on weekends due to field availability.
10U, 11U
All Teams: Mandatory Play
Defensive playing time will be determined by the skill level of the player, game situation and at the discretion of the head coach.
No Player will sit out for more than two (2) defensive innings in a game.
Exceptions to this rule:
Player game/practice attendance issues (see below).
The game is shortened for any reason (rain out, 10 run rule, time limit, etc.).
Batting requirements based on league or tournament rules.
Free substitution will be used for all games.
Coaches should do their best to get all players as much playing time as possible during games.
Players at this age are developing their skills and need game experience. The NYBA encourages coaches to do their best to balance the number of innings players spend on the bench during games to allow as much playing time for all players as possible.
The NYBA encourages coaches to allow players to play multiple positions during games. All players must have the opportunity to develop their skills in the infield as well as the outfield.
Player safety should be taken into account when placing players in defensive positions.
12U, 13U, 14U, 15U
All Teams: Competitive Play
Defensive playing time will be determined by the skill level of the player, game situation and at the discretion of the head coach. Playing time may not be equal.
Coaches should do their best to get all players as much playing time as possible during games.
See MBL rules for specific information.
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Every player's presence is important and expected. Unless otherwise exempted by the coach, all players are expected to attend all practices, league games, in-house games (if applicable) and tournament games. Excused absences will be granted for vacations, school and religious events; however, it is expected that the coach will be notified in advance of such events. Unexcused absences will result in a reduction of playing time.
Adding Players to Existing Rosters
Players may be added to existing rosters under the following conditions:
A team has a shortage of players due to illness, injury or players unable to play (vacation, non-sports related camps, etc.)
If a Coach wants to add a player to an existing NYBA team roster, a written request must be submitted to the President of travel baseball indicating the reason the player is to be added to the roster. The request will be reviewed by the Travel Group for approval. NYBAPresident.Travel@gmail.com
Players to be added will be chosen per the following requirement:
The player will be of the same age group (12U, 13U, etc.) as the players currently on the roster (ex. 12A player fills in on the 12AA team) or of the same play level (ex. AA players can not play on the A team, thus a 11A player may be used to fill on on a 12A team in this situation)
The player must meet all the NYBA travel team eligibility requirements.
The player must meet the player eligibility requirements of the league or tournament for the duration of the time that the player will be playing with the team (MBL, MBT, GSTC, etc.).
Specific player requests from coaches will be considered by the NYBA Travel group.
Please contact the President of the NYBA Travel Program or Travel Director with any questions/comments concerning the NYBA Travel Baseball Program.
The NYBA is dedicated to providing the opportunity to play the great game of baseball to all the young athletes in Northfield. If you are in need of financial assistance with the league fees, please contact the Community Action Center of Northfield before you begin the registration process.
Community Action Center of Northfield
Phone: 507-664-3550