Tournament Expectations & Rules

Player Expectations & Rules

PLAYTIME

Players earn their right to play. Playtime is determined by: Skill, attitude, hustle, focus, IQ, attendance, punctuality, and hard work. While our program is different and we do try to get everyone playtime, be aware it may vary from game to game.

***24 HOUR RULE***

Any questions about playtime, team, coaches, etc must be done 24hours after the tournament. Reaching out before that will be ignored.

Safety issues are the exception and need to be reported immediately.

PLAYER ATTITUDES

There are only 2 things a player can control: Preparation and Attitude.

A positive attitude and the ability to move on from errors, bad plays, and adversity is key to being a good ball player.

Attitude and effort reflect leadership regardless of a player’s ability.  All the players will make errors or strike out, but how they respond to those situations is much more important. 

BEHAVIOUR

All players are expected to behave well on and off the field. Bad behavior will be dealt with by benching or suspension for the game. Some examples of bad behavior are horseplay (during and between games), throwing equipment, poor sportsmanship, bullying, cursing, etc. 

BULLYING is not tolerated and can lead to being removed from the program.

***REMEMBER TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS ARE ALWAYS AROUND AND WATCHING***

—–PARENTS ——

UMPIRES: Tournament Officials will not tolerate parents berating umpires. Yes, they will make bad calls, you will get angry, but remember, what they are doing is difficult. If you think you can do better, the Umpire Association is always looking for help, I’ll be more than happy to put you touch with them.

Also not tolerated by Tournament Officials: Chirping at your athlete, other athletes, umpires, or opponents is unacceptable.

CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IS NOT ALLOWED AT GAMES. 

BE POSITIVE and DON’T COACH FROM THE STANDS: When a player makes a mistake on the field, they feel bad about it. Yelling at them doesn’t help or change the outcome. Keep the cheering positive, the faster a player can reset and shake it off the better. The last thing they want to hear is their parents yelling at them they should have caught the ball.

Please leave the coaching to the coaching staff. Hearing parents yell commands can get confusing especially if the parents don’t know what the play was.

Parents keep note this is a small community and someone is always watching, from umpires to other teams to officials to parents, and we do hear about things.

DUGOUT: Parents are not allowed in the dugout. This includes talking to the kids from behind the dugout (or the side). Simple rule: if it’s game time, leave the kids alone.

BOUNDARIES

DO NOT TALK TO COACHES AND STAFF about playing time, positions, or game strategy during tournaments or games. Make an appointment, and we will be more than happy to talk to you during the week.

**If you see Staff at games, odds are they are at the game to watch the boys play and not there to talk to you about playtime. Friendly chit-chat is always welcome, but please respect boundaries.**

 

WINNING AND LOSING

Winning is always fun, but this is baseball, and everyones going to lose. This is a very difficult game and takes time, patience, and hard work to get good at it.

KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE.

For a lot of the boys this is the first year playing select ball and the competition is tough. Almost every team they play would mercy almost any Little League team out there. This is the competition we want to face. Remember teams and players will struggle, but I promise over time, and with hard work, they will improve.

Finally, This is a very emotional game, but at the end of the day, it is just that a game. Time goes by fast so have fun watching your kids play.

Tournament Tips

Tournament Tips

  1. POPUP TENTS – Make sure someone always has a popup tent on hand. 2 or 3 are great to help protect players and parents from the elements.
  2. BE EARLY – Early is always better than late. Umpires are known to start games early.
  3. EXTRA WATER & SUPPLIES – You are now the parent of 10 to 12 other kids, having extra supplies is always helpful. 
  4. BE FLEXIBLE – Times, locations, opponents can change at the last minute.
  5. CHECK ALL THE APPS FREQUENTLY FOR CHANGES.
  6. SUNDAY SCHEDULE DOESN’T COME OUT UNTIL LATE – Expect Sunday times to be out as late as 9pm Saturday night. 
  7. HEATERS CAN BE USED IN THE DUGOUT
  8. KNOW THE RULES – Because the umpires won’t always know them.
  9. INVEST IN A WAGON – You aren’t a true travel ball parent until you have a wagon.
  10. DON’T PLAN ANYTHING ELSE ON TOURNAMENT WEEKENDS. – You will not make your dinner reservation at 600pm.
  11. HEALTHY SNACKS – During tournaments it’s easy to live off fast food, but try to get the boys healthy snacks and lunches, they will play better and have more energy.
  12. LABEL EVERYTHING – Kids are going to lose stuff, make sure everything is labeled.
  13. DIRT OR TURF? Just bring both shoes.
  14. HAVE FUN!!! Time goes by fast. Have fun watching the boy play.

Honorable mentions of things to bring: Hand Warmers, Baby Wipes, First Aid kits, Ice packs. Sunscreen, Battery packs, Towels, Chairs

Thrilling Weekend for 9U and 10U

Congratulations to our youngest teams, TS 9U Wolverines & 10U Garcia (Ducks), on their thrilling weekend at the Top Tier Twin Cities Classic.

9U Wolverines

9U Wolverines got 2nd Place in the Gold Division in only their second tournament ever. It was a full team effort with some great defense and amazing hitting up down the lineup. Marc C #8 hit his first home run of the season, and Hudson L #88 pitched a complete game, only allowing a single run. 

10U Garcia (Ducks)

10U Garcia (Ducks) won the West Division at the Twin Cities Classic. The Ducks crushed the ball with 5 home runs. Kaleb G #3 led the hit parade with 6 hits and 2 homers. Jack S #34 took home the MVP for his clutch walk-off championship winning hit.

Message sent 1/3/25

Quick Message:

I apologize for any schedules moving, missed communications, etc. There are a lot of moving parts, and keeping everything organized isn’t always an easy task. I am the first to admit I do, on occasion, drop the ball on things. I know if I am not 100% perfect it can cause issues for players and parents.

I understand the chat boards can get messy with information and not everything we put out is read. So I do try to keep important information on the website under “Team Board” and schedules under the “Schedule” section of the website. Please always check there for information.

Being under the microscope of 150-plus families isn’t always fun. When I do make a mistake, please message me in private before you take it to the public chat boards. As many of you know, I will always talk to you one-on-one and try to figure things out.

******************************

Additional Fees & Fundraising

Before this current season started, at tryouts, and during the season I put information out about additional fees being invoiced Oct 24 and Feb 25. Those fees are to be used to cover additional expenses (ie tournaments and league fees). 

Yes, the last 2 seasons, we did cover those out of dues and our operating budget, but because of the sheer increase in cost, that would not have been possible at the current rate of dues. 

We had 2 choices at the begin of the season. Raise dues to cover those costs, not knowing what those costs were going to be; that number would have been a high estimate, costing you more. The second choice was to not include those fees in the dues and bill everyone once we knew the exact cost. We chose the latter.  

The original dates were set back in July but those dates had to be moved to Feb 2025 and April 2025. There were two main factors: the nonprofit not being ready and not knowing league fees. Our nonprofit did not have tax-exempt status until Nov 2024, and this precluded us from fundraising prior to that. League Fees were not released to us until this past weekend.  

Fundraising: 

Fundraising funds explanation was sent out in Nov you can find detailed information here.

Here is a quick explainer that we sent out in Nov:

If the total fee is $600 per player

Example 1: Player A raises $500 dollars from their individual fundraising efforts. Player A’s total owed will be $100 ($600 – $500). The invoice being sent this month would be for $100.

Example 2: Player A raises $900 dollars from their individual efforts. Totaled owed will be $0. The remaining balance raised will be available for Player A to use as needed for approved purposes: Gear, Uniform, Dues, Travel etc.

Those invoices will be going out this week.

Funds from the 100x fundraiser will not be included. Once we get those I will either add it to your invoice in April or find a way to pay it out. Please remember this is coming from the nonprofit arm, and I can’t just hand out cash.