Welcome to Colonie Travel Baseball
1. What is travel baseball? Colonie Baseball offers Cal Ripken travel teams for ages 7-12. Our teams compete in CD Elite, ENYTB (Eastern NY Travel Baseball) against other local teams and other Spring/ Summer Tournaments.
2. How far do you travel? Typically, our teams travel around the capital region, within an hour of our fields. Teams can choose to travel further for games or tournaments, but this usually occurs at the older levels.
3. When is the travel season? Colonie Travel starts with tryouts in August and runs from September through July and includes a shortened fall ball, winter workouts, spring ball and spring/summer tournaments.
4. Do travel players have to play rec? All Colonie travel players are required to play Colonie Rec baseball. This is to ensure the strength of our community program, as well as to give players the opportunity to play with different ages and abilities in a less stressful environment.
- Players are encouraged to attend all rec games and if too many are missed it may affect the players eligibility to continue playing travel.
5. How many teams do we have? We at Colonie strives to field two teams at every age 7-12. Realistically, this is reliant on interest. If possible, we will field a third team at any age, or if necessary, we may only field one.
- Player age is based on the Cal Ripken rules and age chart. *See Age Chart Below
- Each age will have Gold (A), Garnet (B), and when applicable White (C) team built considering players skill. Each team will play appropriate competition for their skill level.
- Our goal is to offer as many opportunities to play as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all players who are interested will make a team. This is limited by the number of players on a team as well as the volunteers available to manage and coach teams.
- Generally, teams will consist of 12 players. It is at the manager’s discretion to carry 11 or more. In some cases, teams may only have 10 (which will be approved by the Travel Board).
6. How are teams picked? Players are evaluated by three basic methods, travel team play, rec team play, and evaluation day performance.
- Depending on the age of the player, and their experience in the program, the various methods are weighted differently.
- We allow team managers the opportunity to choose their teams based on the criteria given. The Travel Coordinator and board (other than their own when applicable) and are available as independent advisors to managers during the process.
# Who needs to attend 7U evaluation day? All interested players must attend. Failure to attend could exclude a player from the opportunity to play. Reasonable opportunities to make missed evaluations could be considered.
# Who needs to attend 8U, 9U and 10U evaluation day? All interested players, failure to attend could exclude a player from the opportunity to play. Reasonable opportunities to make up missed evaluations will be considered.
# Who needs to attend 11U and 12U evaluation day? All interested players except returning 11 Gold (12U) which will be confirmed by their manager prior to evaluation.
- These players are not required, unless requested, due to their length of time in the program and experience with their coaches.
- Managers at each age are also in communication with each other regarding player development and skill. Colonie Gold managers are aware of potential players who may be in position to move up and communicate often with Colonie Garnet managers to review and discuss player performance.
- Gold players could be moved down if their performance no longer meets the level of their team’s or if a player not currently on the team has surpassed them in ability. Team managers will discuss this possibility with any player in this position.
- All interested players other than those excluded above must attend. Failure to attend could exclude a player from the opportunity to play. Reasonable opportunities to make up missed evaluations will be considered.
7. What happens on evaluation day? Evaluations test fundamental baseball skills including fielding (outfield and infield), hitting and pitching.
- Players move through each skill and are evaluated by independent coaches not associated with their age group.
- Players are rated on a scale of 0-10, and when necessary additional notes are added.
- Evaluation sheets are collected by the Travel Coordinator, calculated, and given to the appropriate managers for review.
- Evaluations are not available for review by parents or players and are only one part of the overall evaluation of a player.
8. Can my player "play up"? While it occasionally happens in the younger divisions of our rec league, playing up in the travel program is rare. For a player to be considered eligible to play up they must show considerable skill above all other players in the age group. This decision would be made by the Managers/ Travel Board and vetted through parent/guardians prior to official rosters being made.
