baseball faq

FMYSA works to provide a fun, constructive, and memorable experience for our members. There is always quite a bit of discussion about how teams are formed, and how they stay together. This document is intended to help answer those questions.

League age is determined by the player's age as of April 30th of the applicable year. For the Spring season, it is the player's age as of April 30th of that year. In the Fall season, it is the player's age as of April 30th of the following year.

All children within the appropriate age guidelines that sign up with FMYSA will be placed on a team.

To find your player's "League Age" use the League Age Calculator found on the 

USSA - Age Calculator

FMYSA offers both a spring and a fall baseball season. The fall season is shorter and is intended to be instructional in nature.

The longer spring season allows:

• More practices before games begin
• A town championship tournament for ages 7 and up

Prior to the Fall season, players in certain age groups (generally 6U and older) participate in a skills evaluation prior to team formation. The evaluation allows coaches to observe player abilities and helps ensure a fair and balanced draft process when teams are selected.

For normal recreational teams, a draft will only take place in the spring and is only for ages 6 and up. For premier leagues, a draft will take place prior to every season. Players trying out for a premier team may also be on a recreational team's protected roster. If the player does not make the premier team, he/she can fall back to a protected roster.

The draft is a mechanism that allows coaches who need additional players or would like to attempt to add a more skilled player to their roster a chance to do so.

Any players on a protected roster are exempt from the skills evaluation.

Any player not on a protected roster who does not attend the skills evaluation is not eligible for the draft and will therefore be assigned to a team by the age group director.

Yes -- The "Buddy System" allows two friends of league age 8 and below to be on the same team. It is designed for players who want to be on the same team more than they want a specific coach/ team.

To qualify, both players must:

• Indicate on their registration form that they would like to be on one another's team.
• Indicate their desire to play with the other player.
• Neither can be on a team's protected roster.

If the request is not reciprocated, it will not be honored. The age group director will do their best to assign the two players to a team but there is no guarantee.

A protected roster allows a coach to choose players on his team. The coach is required to submit a form to the league during the in-person registration day to protect any number of players. This document forges the rules that govern which players a coach can protect. Coaches electing to utilize this option must abide by all rules and deadlines set forth.

In the spring season, a coach can protect a sub-set of the players he had on his previous spring roster. Or, the coach can choose to protect a sub-set of the players he had on his previous fall roster. The coach may not combine players from his past spring and fall roster. In the fall season, a coach's protected roster must be a sub-set of his previous spring roster.

With the exception of drafted players (spring only), players on protected rosters, and children ages 11 and up, all new players in FMYSA will be assigned to a team by the age group director.

If a team that has been together in the previous season decides to breakup for any reason, any parent(s) that is on that team may become a head coach and protect a subset of the players from that team. All open slots on these new protected rosters will be filled per the rules outlined in this document.

If a parent chooses not to have their player on a protected roster, they can list one coach on their registration form that they do not want their child to play for. The age group director will then be sensitive to this request and do what is possible to honor it when assigning players to teams.

FMYSA strongly discourages parents from having their children "play up", but we do allow players to play up one age group.

Playing up provides a means for a player with an above average skill level to play on a team with a similar skill level and should not be considered as a way for a player to play with friends who are older. Younger players playing on the same field as players who could be as many as two years older (in the combined leagues) could suffer injuries if the player's skill level is not appropriate for the age group in which they are playing. For this reason, playing with friends will not be considered as an appropriate reason for playing up.

Any player that wants to play up must have the permission of the age group director; unless that player was on a protected roster in the prior season and is on the same team's protected roster for the current season.

In the spring, any player who wishes to play up and is not on a coach's protected roster must participate in the skills evaluation to ensure the player possesses the appropriate skill level for the age group in which the player will be playing. In the fall, the age group director may require a player to perform a skills evaluation if the player wishes to play up. FMYSA reserves the right to refuse any request to play up without explanation.

Playing up may benefit the very talented player or may seriously harm the player's confidence, playing time, and /or love of the game.

As a child that is "playing up" may not necessarily be as mentally mature as the older children, it is a decision parents need to take very seriously. Most of the time, it is not the right thing for a child's self-confidence.

When age group numbers allow, age groups 7U and up (Spring season only but may be done in the Fall if appropriate) may be divided into two divisions to allow teams to compete against teams of similar ability. In this case, the American League will be the more competitive teams and the National League will be the less competitive teams. This is done to pair teams of similar levels of play.

These divisions are formed at the age group director's discretion. Coaches should request which division they want to play in on their protected roster, but ultimately, the age group director will decide each division's team placement, based on coach input, prior season records, number of players returning and other factors.

From season to season, age group directors reserve the right to shift teams between divisions based upon the team's success.

Once an age group director forms an official roster from a coach's protected roster, those players on that official roster are considered a team, despite seasonal coaching changes.

Even though players are held together as a team, the coaching staff or head coach can change.

The head coach of a group of players can choose to drop a player(s) from his/her previous season's protected roster.

A head coach must have the permission of the player's parent(s) before placing that player on his/her protected roster.

All protected players must have played on that team the preceding fall or spring season, depending on the "Protected Roster" choice as specified above.

All open slots on a "Protected Roster" will be filled by the age group director by the following guidelines:

Spring Season (Ages 6U and Under) and Fall Season (All Ages):

An age group director will attempt to achieve parity amongst the teams by distributing players based on relative skill levels where those levels are known (through skills evaluation), or based on years of experience (as per the registration form).

When possible, players will be assigned to coaches whose children attend(ed) the same school.

If multiple teams are to be assigned players from the same school, the players will be evenly divided among teams in a manner which avoids placing older "league age" players on the same team.

Directors will not accommodate requests for the "Buddy System" if either one, or both, of the involved players are on a protected roster

Directors WILL NOT accommodate a parent's request to be placed with a specific coach. When possible, Directors will try to accommodate parental requests to avoid placement with a coach with whom their child has previously played.

Spring Season (Ages 7U through 10U):

Draft picks by head coach

Following the draft, FMYSA Directors will assign remaining players to teams. These players are kids who have not been protected by a coach or did not participate in the skills evaluation. Undrafted players or players who did not participate in the skills evaluation will be assigned to teams based on years of experience (as specified in the registration form) and/or based on a common school.

If multiple teams are to be assigned players from the same school, the players will be evenly divided among teams in a manner which avoids placing older "league age" players on the same team.

Directors will not accommodate requests for the "Buddy System" in the event either one, or both, of the involved players are on a protected roster.

Directors WILL NOT accommodate a parent's request to be placed with a specific coach. When possible, Directors will try to accommodate parental requests to avoid placement with a coach with whom their child has previously played.

Any protected rosters turned in with players that are ineligible for protection will result in the ineligible player(s) being placed on other teams and the vacancies created by the ineligible players being filled by the age group director. Offending coaches will also be reviewed for disciplinary actions. An ineligible player is any player placed on a roster that does not conform to the rules set forth in this document.

Coaches are not allowed to hold a tryout for a player or group of players at any age group in order to form a team that will play recreational baseball in FMYSA's regular season. Any coaches found breaking this rule will immediately be removed from their coaching role for the remainder of the season. Any non-sanctioned camps, skills evaluations, or like event may be viewed by the league as a try-out and could result in disciplinary action toward all the offending coaches involved.

The major difference for ages 11 and older is recruiting. At this age the players and/or coaches may seek out and find other players that they would like to play with. This is often referred to as open rosters

A coach may bring a maximum of three players to FMYSA from a different league. All other players on the existing team must attend the skills evaluation and enter the draft. The coach may draft all available players from his previous team if those players are available when it is the coach's turn to draft. Because of the requirement for a skills evaluation, this is only allowed in the spring season (there are no skills evaluations or drafts in the fall season, which is considered developmental).

The following Pitching Guidelines are estimates as to how many pitches a child can safely throw during a game and are based on the opinions of 28 orthopedic surgeons and coaches.

It is the responsibility of the coach and parent(s) to determine the correct level for each individual child. These guidelines do NOT guarantee that child will not injure his or her arm by pitching within these guidelines.

Each child is unique and must be monitored to prevent arm abuse.

See Baseball > Pitch Count.

I just registered my kiddo, now what?

·         Please be patient and give us time to get organized. A lot of care, consideration, and time is taken when creating teams, and we read all requests and comments. We also need to ensure that we have enough volunteer coaches. Who are these coaches? Parents just like you! We cannot have successful league without many, many volunteers. If you can help, please do. If your Age Group Director reaches out saying we need help coaching your kiddos team, please consider helping. All the tools and resources will be provided to ensure you are successful! 

·         Once teams are finalized you will be contact by your coach. Again, please be patient. IF you have not received any information by the end of the 1st week of February (for Spring) or end of the 2nd week of August (for Fall), please reach out to your Age Group Director. This contact information can be found at 

Contact > Baseball Age Group Director

What equipment do parents need to provide?

A team shirt and team baseball hat will be provided by FMYSA prior to games starting. Please note, if you register your child AFTER registration has closed your child’s jersey and hat may be delayed and might not arrive prior to the first game.

Other equipment that parents will need to provide:

• Baseball pants, socks and belt (your coach, you will advise what color to purchase).
• Cleats. Dick's and Academy do carry small sizes but they might need to be shipped in so give them extra time to order these. Please note, cleats generally size small (consider sizing up by 1/2 to 1 whole size).
• Glove. Please consider whether your child is right-handed or left-handed before purchasing. These are available in super small (8") but are often plastic/vinyl and hard to close and will not "break in" properly. Please consider opting for a leather one rather than plastic.
• Batting Helmet. Please try on various brands and sizes to ensure proper fit. Different brands are shaped differently, some will work better than others depending on head shape.
• Aluminum Bat. Aluminum Tee Ball bats come in various weights and sizes. As small/light as 24" -12. The key at this age is finding something that your child can swing. Please also opt for a WIDE barrel with a larger sweet spot (2¾ or 2 5/8) rather than a “skinny bat”. NO “BAM BAM” BATS PLEASE! 3 and 4 year old kiddos DO NOT NEED 27”+ bats!

 How many practices are there each week, where are they held, and what day/time?

·         Practice days and times are selected by the head coaches during our FMYSA coaches meeting. This meeting is held AFTER registration closes and teams are formed. In the Spring this meeting will be held the first week in February. In the Fall it will be held the second week in August. There is no way to know this information or predetermine practice slots prior to this meeting happening.

·         Coaches will typically pick 2-3 practice days and will communicate these to the team after the meeting.

·         Practices for 3U/4U, 5U & 6U typically take place at Tiger Field and other area parks.

·         Once games have started 3U/4U coaches will generally drop their practices; however, 5U and older will typically still retain one or two practice days on top of games.

·         Practice slots are 1.5hrs long but your coach might elect to keep these to 1hr for our youngest athletes.

How many games are there each week, where are they and what day/time?

·         There will be (1) weeknight game. This will be played on either: Monday, Tuesday, OR Thursday.

·         There will be (1) weekend game played on Saturday.

·         3U/4U & 5U games are played on Tiger Field. 6U generally plays on Glenwick Baseball Field. 7U and older play at Bakersfield.

·         On the weekend games are usually played earlier in the day but this can vary.

·         During the week games played on Tiger Field (3U/4U & 5U) do not have lights so games will be played and conclude prior to sunset. Games on Glenwick Field (6U) and games at Bakersfield (7U & Up) have lights so there often are 2 rounds of games.

How many games do we get to play:

·         Spring: we schedule 12 but we guarantee 10

·         Fall: we schedule 10 but we guarantee 8

A few reminders:

·         Game schedules and practice times cannot be done in advance of rosters being finalized and teams being established. Please give us time to organize this.

·         Spring Season:

o   Practices can start mid-February, and game play will start early March. Games will NOT be played during Spring Break week or weekends.

o   The season should conclude by the end of the first week of May, weather permitting. 

·         Fall Season:

o   Practices can start mid August, and game play will start early September. Either right before or right after Labor Day. Games will NOT be played Labor Day Monday.

o   The season should conclude the second week of October, weather permitting.