Dear Parents and Players:

Welcome to the IFPAA Instructional Baseball League!  My name is Chuck Cox and I will be serving as Commissioner for the 2009 season. Instructional Baseball is for players who are 7 years of age on
April 30, 2010 (born between May 1, 2002 and April 30, 2003).  

Teams will be formed by neighborhood, school, and personal requests if possible.  Requests will be honored to the best of our ability. We expect to have 8-10 teams with no more than 12 players per team. You will be contacted by your child’s manager in mid-March.  Team practices will begin the 1^st week of April.  The regular season will begin late April and end late June.  Two games will be played each week at Linbrook Park.

The Instructional League serves as the next step up from T-Ball.  We will continue to instruct in baseball fundamentals – fielding, throwing, hitting and base running.  We will look to improve and refine these skills, along with teaching a level of awareness, baseball strategy, and reacting to game situations.  Some of the general rules are:

• Bases are 50 ft. apart
• Baseball used - 1S T-Ball 
• Coach pitch – No strikeouts.  Batting tee is used after 5 pitches if necessary
• 5 inning games
• 3 outs or 5+ runs per inning
• Catcher position introduced – no Rover

Parent involvement is most welcome and highly encouraged. Some of the areas you can help with are:

• Assistant coaches
• Keeping score
• Bench coach – keep the kids organized
• Field preparation
• Umpiring
• Administration – phone/email tree, etc.

You can register on-line for the 2010 season at www.ifpaa.org. Please note the many volunteer opportunities as part of registration – your help is much appreciated!   If you have any questions, please e-mail me at the address below.  

Sincerely,

Chuck Cox

IFPAA Instructional Baseball Commissioner

chuckcox@ifpaa.org