Junior League - Message from Commissioner

Welcome to the IFPAA 8 year old Junior Baseball League!  My name is Chip Galaska and I will be serving as the Commissioner for the 2010 season.  The 2010 season will be an exciting and challenging year for our kids.  Junior baseball will reinforce the fundamentals learned in T-Ball and Instructional Baseball, as well as introduce new rule changes to begin the transition to more realistic baseball. A few of the new changes are:

• Bases 55 feet apart

• Play ending pitchers circle

• Strikeouts (4 strikes)

• 6 inning games

• 10 players on the field, maximum of 4 outfielders

• No tee, Starr 5 Baseballs

• Kids pitching is phased in

Competitive play will be introduced this year with Interleague Playoffs and Tournament Baseball.  The distribution of talent between teams has been an issue at the 7 and 8 year old level.  Due to past difficulty with balancing the talent level between teams while honoring some requests but not others, the Board has decided to introduce the draft at the 8 year old level.  All kids that tryout for the draft will be placed on a team.  I believe this change will be a welcome addition and allow our kids to develop new friendships and expose them to different coaching styles.

Tournament teams will be selected to compete in the IFPAA tournament as well as other local tournaments.   Tournament baseball is more intense than the regular season and lasts for five or six weeks with time and money commitments.  Depending on a teams success, a team could play anywhere from 15 to 30 games in the month of July.  Additional information regarding the tournament teams will be distributed in the future.

For a competitive balance and optimal enjoyment for the kids, it is important that we maintain an 8 team league.  Each team will have a maximum of 11-12 players.  Please encourage any friends or neighbors with children that did not play in our league last year to register if interested.  Online registration is available through March 1 via the IFPAA website (www.ifpaa.org).  

I hope to conduct an indoor instructional session in January and February pending availability of indoor facilities.  Draft tryouts for the 2010 season will be held in March and the date and time will be posted as soon as the gym schedules are finalized.

Sincerely,

Chip Galaska