Bellevue Baseball Club Travel Teams: Here is a great opportunity for those kids who are looking for a higher level of competition and more of a commitment to the game of baseball. 1-2 Travel Teams may be formed at the 9, 10, 11 & 12 year old age levels, depending on the number of players interested and baseball ability. The program will play games on Sunday and have one practice a week. Yes, this is in addition to the regular Bellevue West Little League season commitment. Participation in the travel ball program will be determined at a required tryout. After that tryout, players will be placed on an age appropriate team that will compete in tournaments and play against other travel and select teams on Sundays.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the Bellevue Baseball Club?
The Bellevue Baseball Club was established in 2004 to provide competitive baseball experiences for Bellevue West youths between the ages of 12-16. BBC provides the baseball youth of our community an experience that promotes sportsmanship, instruction, teamwork, respect for, and enjoyment of the game of baseball. In 2011 BBC Travel Teams is expanding the program to create 9U – 12U travel teams.
What is the relationship between the Bellevue Baseball Club Travel Teams and Bellevue West Little League?
There is no formal relationship between the BBC Travel Teams and Bellevue West Little League. However, BBC Travel Teams strongly support Little League in general and the Bellevue West Little League program specifically
Does this mean that kids on the Bellevue Baseball Club Travel Teams will be on two teams at once? How will that work?
Yes, players will be on two teams. All Bellevue Baseball Club Travel Team (BBCTT) players should be eligible for and signed up to play in Bellevue West Little League (BWLL). Travel Team games will be played on Sundays, and travel teams will participate in tournaments on weekends when there are not BWLL games, so as to not conflict with the BWLL schedule. BBC Travel Teams will practice together pre-season (times to be determined), then practice on Fridays and play games on Sundays during little league season, so players on BBC Travel Teams will have baseball 4 to 5 days per week when combined with the Little League schedule. This program is very similar to programs at Mercer Island, Sammamish, Eastlake and many others travel teams in the area.
How many BBC Travel Teams will there be and how will kids be assigned among them?
Ideally, we will have at least two teams at each age level. However, the number of teams at each age level will depend on the number of kids who tryout and demonstrate sufficient talent to play at a highly competitive level. The number of teams will also depend on getting enough coaches willing to commit to the Travel Team concept. We want to make the program as inclusive as possible, as well as balance inclusion against the need for the Travel Teams to be able to play at a sufficiently high level, given the highly competitive teams we will be playing on Sundays and in tournaments. Nine year olds could play with the 10 year team and 10 year olds with the 11 year old team depending on talent. We will try to keep age/grade together as much as possible.
How much actual travel will be involved?
Travel will be minimal. During the regular season, games will be played in Bellevue and the surrounding area. Tournaments may be played during Spring Break, Memorial Day weekend, Mid-June or in the summer. The distance to tournaments depends on the desires of the coaches and team parents. There are a large number of local tournaments in the Puget Sound area. Summer tournaments will be determined based on the preferences of the coaches and players families.
In what ways do the Little League playing rules differ from Travel Ball Teams?
In Little League, the base paths for baseball are 60 feet and the pitching mound is 46 feet from home plate, through age 12. Travel Teams use the 65 feet base distance, but the pitching distance is 44 feet for its 9-10 year olds. In Little League, base runners can steal, but they can’t lead off and can’t leave the base until the ball crosses the plate. In Travel Team play, runners can lead off and steal at will, batters can run to first on dropped third strikes, and pitchers can be called for balks.
Will there be an additional fee for playing on a Bellevue Baseball Club Travel Team?
Yes, an additional fee will be assessed to the players who are selected to play on a Travel Team. Uniforms, equipment, tournament entry fees and registration fees will need to be covered by parents. In addition, there may be some travel and lodging expenses associated with tournament play. These costs could run near $350, depending on how many tournaments are played and how expensive the uniforms are. Typically, we can get uniforms for around $50 per player. Local tournament entry fees per team run about $400-$600 each. This works out to be about $35-$50 per player, per tournament.
Will the kids selected for the BBC Travel Teams automatically make the BWLL All-Star Team?
No! There is a completely separate selection process done by managers of different divisions in Bellevue West Little League near the end of the regular season. The players who make the BWLL All-star team will likely include many of the same players who were selected for the BBC Travel Teams, but there is no guarantee for any player. It is highly likely that some players who make the Travel Team roster will not make the All-Star team, and vice versa.
Schedule & Tryouts
The tryout process will consist of open gym sessions at the BBC indoor training facility. These sessions will last 1.5 hours and the players will practice a series of drills to demonstrate skills in throwing, fielding, hitting and pitching. Based on performance in these sessions players will be selected by the coaches for travel teams during the first week of December. Participation in every open gym session is not mandatory; however please try to make as many tryout sessions as possible so the coaches can make good player evaluations.
If you are interested in having your player tryout please send an email to BBCtravelteams@gmail.com with your name and contact information and your players name and age as of April 30th, 2012 (Little League age cutoff). You will also need to complete the BBC medical release and emergency contact form online prior to the first tryout session. The medical release form is located at:
http://bellevuebaseballclub.org/admin/medical-release/
Tryout Dates:
Coming Soon – We anticipate November-December of 2011
Location: BBC Indoor training facility location: 2035 120th Avenue Northeast, Bellevue, WA 98005-2141.
Schedule
Travel Team winter practices at the BBC indoor training facility:
December– February: Two days per week, one weekday and Saturday afternoon. Dates and times are TBD.
Travel Team regular practices
- March: BWLL practice one or two weeknights and one weekend day & BBC Travel Team practice on Friday and Sunday, 2 hrs, time to be determined
- April-May BWLL two games a week and one practice. BBC Travel Team: Friday practice and/or local game on Sundays. Spring Break tournament, Memorial Day weekend tournament and whatever else we can arrange
- June-August BBC Travel Team: Summer tournaments will be determined by team members and coaches
Additional Information Contacts:
Jon Witham, bbctravelteams@gmail.com, Tim Kafer, timk@throwright.com, Jeff Neely, coachneely@comcast.net, Steve Cvitkovic, bigvicto@aol.com, Carl Hellings, carlhel@hotmail.com