Premier Baseball
FMYSA Premier Baseball is a recreational baseball program that provides a higher level of play for recreational players who have both advanced skills and an interest in competitive play. Teams are classified as Advanced Rec and a strong emphasis is placed on player development and personal growth. FMYSA Premier is a SEASONAL PROGRAM, which means rosters are reset each season based on the team formation guidelines below. This gives all Recreational players the opportunity to try out for both Premier and Rattlers (select baseball).
League Format and Cost
Premier Baseball is available for ages 7U-10U and involves Interlock league play with surrounding cities who also have a Premier program (i.e. Grapevine, Coppell, Highland Village, Colleyville, Southlake, etc.). Teams play a 12-game season, which consists of 6 double-headers. Games are played on weekends, primarily Saturdays, with two practices per week. Half of the games will be played at home (Bakersfield or Jake’s Hilltop) and the other half at the opposing team’s complex. Interlock league games follow similar guidelines to Recreational games, such as a max of 5 runs per inning. Equal play rules still apply and teams bat the entire lineup to ensure that the focus remains on player development. Teams also follow the FMYSA pitch count guidelines.
The registration fee for Premier Baseball is the same as Recreational Baseball. Playing on a Premier team will include additional costs to cover uniforms and tournament entry fees. The average cost of a Premier season is $300-$500 per player (includes registration fee). This will vary based on the number of uniform items a player chooses to purchase and the number of tournaments the team enters. Premier teams usually play 1-2 tournaments in the Fall season and 3-5 tournaments in the Spring season. There is an Interlock league single-elimination tournament for each age group at the conclusion of the Spring season, similar to the Recreational Town Championship. There is no additional cost for this; it is included in the registration fee. There is no End of Season tournament in the Fall.
Team Formation
Premier teams are seasonal and players interested in playing Premier Baseball must go through a tryout each season. They must also be registered with FMYSA as a Recreational baseball player in the current season. Skills will be assessed by experienced coaches with no interest in the outcome of the tryout (Rattler or Premier coaches in a different age group whose child is not participating in the tryout).
Each Premier team will be formed based on the individual player's ranking from the tryout. Coaches may elect to form an 11 or 12 man roster. The top 10 players will form the first Premier team for each age group. The coach for that team must have a child within the top 15 players. If the coach's player is not in the top 10, the coach's child will make the 11th player and the coach will be allowed to choose one additional player from the next top 5 players on the list. This applies to a 12 man roster. If the coach chooses to have an 11 man roster, then the top 9 players will form the team and the format above will be followed. If there are enough players of an appropriate skill level to form a second team, the team selection process for the second team will be exactly like choosing the first team utilizing the group of players on the list.
Players must participate in the scheduled tryout to be eligible to make a Premier team roster. There will be no exceptions. This ensures that all players’ tryout scores are measured equally by the same volunteer evaluators. Tryouts will only be rescheduled in the event of a weather cancellation.
Any players who do not make a Premier team and are not on a protected roster will go into Recreational player pool to be assigned/drafted to a team.
Coaching a Premier Team
Anyone interested in coaching a Premier team must be an experienced coach and must submit an application for each season in which they would like to coach. Coaches will be interviewed and selected by the Premier Director and VP of Recreational Baseball. The Premier coach must have a child with the appropriate skill level to play Premier baseball.