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IGHBA Travel Baseball Overview

The Inver Grove Heights Baseball Assoc. traveling baseball program provides intensive skill development and a high level of competition. The program offers opportunities to develop confidence and teamwork while competing with teams representing other area communities.

IGHBA participates in the Metro Baseball League for regular season play. For age groups 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14/15 year olds, there will be at least one IGHBA travel team.  Some age groups will have a second travel team depending on abilities and the number of participating players.

The regular season runs from April through mid-July.  Travel leagues typically consist of 16 regular season games played during the week with playoffs taking place at the completion of the regular season.  In addition to the regular season games, travel teams will typically play in 2 to 3 weekend tournaments, with 2-3 practices per week. Participation in weekend tournaments allows our travel teams to compete against teams outside of our league and to qualify for state tournaments at the end of the season.

Registration is open in December and runs through the middle of February. The fee for IGHBA traveling baseball is $150/player which covers such items as team fees, tournament fees (2), 1 state tournament fee, and team expenses.  Traveling players may also be required to purchase a travel uniform which is in addition to the registration fee. Once teams are formed and players are placed on teams, NO REFUNDS will be given.

Evaluations will be conducted in February. More details pertaining to evaluations will be available as the date approaches. Evaluation times will be divided up according to age groups. All IGHBA prospective players are STRONGLY encouraged to attend the evaluations to ensure proper team placement.

Team selection is on a competitive basis, as players are evaluated in comparison with others in their age group. Eligibility is based on the MBL’s age group rules which states players in their respective age groups must not reach the next age level before May 1.  Evaluations measure performance in hitting, pitching, infield, and outfield skills.  Please see our Evaluations page for more detailed information regarding this process.

At certain age levels, players not making a travel team will be encouraged to participate in the IGH Parks & Rec league. All prospective players are STRONGLY encouraged to attend the evaluations.

We will make every effort possible for players not attending the evaluations to be placed on a team. We STRONGLY encourage all players to attend their scheduled evaluation for proper placement.

If you are interested in becoming a travel coach, please see our coach’s page on the website for more information and to download a coaching application.

 

IGHBA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT STAGES

Developmental Stage (Ages 9-10): This is where coaches are encouraged to have players play many positions.  It benefits the players to know how to play different positions and that knowledge is key to learning the game.  Coaches at this stage are discouraged from players playing specific positions since their skills and bodies develop at different rates.  The focus is on developing the players' skills over wins and losses and playing many positions accelerates that process.

Instructional Stage (Ages 11-13): This is where coaches begin narrowing the number of positions a player plays to 2-3.  At this stage, development and skills are becoming more evident and players' positions should be narrowed accordingly.  It is still strongly encouraged that players receive exposure to all positions in practices.  At this stage, the skills have been developed and now we are instructing them in how to play the game and how to play more specific positions.  Emphasis is more towards instruction on how to play baseball than on wins and losses.

Competitive Stage (Ages 14-15): This is where players have become players at 2 specific positions and baseball is being taught the way it will be played in high school and beyond.  This level assumes the players have received development and instruction and we now shift to a more competitive level of play where winning games takes on a greater importance than at the previous levels.  Here the players must learn to compete along with the development and instruction that they've received in previous seasons.

MBL AGE DIVISIONS

9U 10U 11U 12U 13U 14/15U
DOB 5/1/12-4/30/13 5/1/11-4/30/12 5/1/10-4/30/11 5/1/09-4/30/10 5/1/08-4/30/09 5/1/06-4/30/08
Practices 2-3 nights/week 2-3 nights/week 2-3 nights/week 2-3 nights/week 2-3 nights/week 2-3 nights/week
Games 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away 14 regular season: 8 home, 8 away
Season April - mid-July April - mid-July April - mid-July April - mid-July April - mid-July April - mid-July
Playoffs End of the Season End of the Season End of the Season End of the Season End of the Season End of the Season
Tournaments Guaranteed 2 Guaranteed 2 Guaranteed 2 Guaranteed 2 Guaranteed 2 Guaranteed 2