4/19 Update
Coaches,
Please remember that we schedule all makeups based on what you turn in before schedules are built. Also it's very important to remember that if something needs to be added to your blackout form, it has to be emailed to westtexasyouthbaseball@gmail.com as soon as you can AND IF YOU DON'T GET A REPLY SAYING IT WAS RECEIVED WITHIN 24 HOURS TO TEXT AND CALL TO CONFIRM IT WAS RECEIVED. We really work hard to help and accommodate as much as possible. We can't guarantee we can meet all requests as stated in league info and on the blackout form but if we don't know about them we can't help. I have included all participants who have registered through the league system so parents, you might share this to coaches just in case they don’t check emails or not registered on the system.
An example of how we run into problems: Coach calls and says since “we didn't have a game scheduled on that day so we've scheduled (fill in the blank)”. Parents, also make sure you are communicating things to your coaches so they know when your kid has conflicts. We will dive in deep starting Wednesday on reschedules so use this time to send in any requests to add to blackouts before 8AM Wed 4/21. With the limited fields and all programs sharing them, we have to use all days when needed. Please make sure if you have not to include all tournaments your team is participating in or other dates the team can’t field a roster so we don't put any games on the Fri before or that weekend.
Thanks, Rob
3/17/2021 Pre season info:
Coaches/Parents,
VERY IMPORTANT: The schedules are now posted. Coaches, please look at the sch and if there's a problem with a missed blackout you turned in please email details by this Friday (3/19). We will then spend a couple days adjusting what we can from blackouts that were turned in and that will be the final schedule.
A couple things to discuss before games start up.
USSSA rosters. There are still a few teams who have not added their kids to their USSSA roster. Team manager/coach must do this and no team will be able to take the field until this is done. This is an insurance requirement and there will be no exceptions. Coaches, please double check your roster and make sure all kids are on roster. If a team doesn't have player(s) on roster it will be a forfeit unless there are enough on roster to play. Any player who's not on roster WILL NOT be allowed to play until the next game so coach can get them added.
Player registration on WTYBA.com: All parents must register their kid by clicking the green register tab at top of home page and finding your kids team and registering them. If you have difficulty just email westtexasyouthbaseball@gmail.com with your kids name and what team you're trying to register them with. This is how all communications are received as well as a requirement so please check these rosters.
Coach registration on WTYBA: All coaches must register as a coach by clicking the green register tab at top of home page and selecting coach from the drop down and registering as a coach for your team.
If you have parents or coaches not getting these emails, it's likely because they have not registered on the website (Big green register now button on home page). Remember if a coach is working with more than one team, they will have to send us an email to add to the additional teams as the system will only let them register for 1 team. Also, very important to make sure you're using the email we went to last year which is westtexasyouthbaseball@gmail.com and not the old wtyba@hotmail one.
League Fees: Final league fee must be turned in before your first game unless you have made arrangements in writting.
Code of Conduct: West Texas Youth Baseball has a zero tolerance policy for all participants including parents, spectators, coaches, and players. If you haven't been told about or given a copy of these by coach, please review them under documents on website. Also please inform family and friends of this as their actions will reflect on who they're with or the team if not able to determine who they're with. There will be situations were someone doesn't agree with the umpires, have problems with the opponent, and even situations within their own team. In almost all situations, the ejection could have been avoided. Basically if you do something we can't defend and get ejected you will most likely have additional game suspensions. This game is about the kids and everyone just has to be able to handle things properly. Coaches-coach, players-play, Umpires-officiate, and parents-cheer... If there is a problem with an official, don't get yourself in a bad situation, but instead send a detailed email and I promise we will look into it immediately. Remember umpires are human and will make mistakes, coaches are volunteers and will make mistakes, and spectators are there to support the players and can help teach them great life lessons when any of these mistakes happen. If it gets to were we can't work with an umpire, I promise you we won't use them anymore. These guys are getting harder to find and retain in all sports across the country and a lot of times it's because they aren't given a chance to learn and get better and are just expected to be perfect. I promise, not many are willing to take on this important role so our kids can play. Please don't try to call and talk about a situation the day it happened. Just won't have that conversation and it's better to think about it and put in writing anyway. Also please don't try to say "this has happened all year and enough is enough" and expect much consideration. Please address situation as it happens so we can deal with before it gets worse. Telling me that an umpire is awful, has it out for us, etc after a loss isn’t the way to handle the situation. Again, the head coach needs to send email anytime there’s a situation with an umpire so we can try to fix before it’s a big issue.
Park rules: Violation of city park rules will result in suspensions. Please review rules at parks. Here's a few key issues that create problems.
1. No pets inside any of the complexes.
2. No bikes, skateboards, scooters, hover boards, etc. This has become a problem. Please make sure parents know and share with family and friends.
3. Never park on developed grass areas.
4. Of course no alcohol or smoking at any field. Coaches remember this at practices in regards to alcohol. Hate to even mention but actually have had to deal with this and it's not a good situation.
5. Trash: We have a great relationship with all facility owners and part of that is because we always take care of the facilities. Never leave trash in stands or dugouts. Also when using score huts, if we don't follow written rules posted inside we will lose the ability to use them.
6. In Canyon, always follow one-way path when leaving the fields by the lake. We have been warned and it continues to be a problem, we could lose privelages to use those fields.
We need to go over a few things in regards to schedules. As we discuss in our coaches meetings every season, it is the coach’s responsibility to tell us where they think their team can compete and also to turn in a blackout form showing any dates their team can't play. We will explain both of these issues in detail here, so everyone has an understanding of how things work. We work very hard to meet as many requests as possible, but no way are we able to accommodate everything. As we all know, there's very limited baseball fields in our area. We are limited in our options to meet the needs of all kids wanting to play league for development and still offer teams a tournament opportunities.
Blackout Form: This is a form we use to give coaches a chance to tell us what days they will not be able to play. The form is posted under documents on the website and as it states, there are situations that we allow coaches to blackout play. We aren’t always able to meet all of these requests, but we sure try hard. We go over this at the coaches meetings and ask coaches to spend time with their team making sure parents give them dates they may have were their kid(s) aren’t available to play. Of course a coach can’t do more than what he has knowledge of, so if parents don’t let them know about conflicts it will put the team in a bad spot. Once schedules are out, it’s a team’s responsibility to play and will only be considered for change if it was on the blackout form and missed. Remember, just because it was on blackout form, doesn’t mean we were able to accommodate. Other than that, it will be recorded as a forfeit. We have to be considerate of all teams and have to stick to these guidelines. Most teams have multiple coaches, so make sure that any of them are able to handle the duties if one is missing. We try harder than most programs I know of to be considerate of the coaches needs when it comes to schedule requests, but just can’t meet them all. VERY IMPORTANT: Once the schedule is posted, we will spend a few days adjusting what we can from blackouts that were turned in and missed. We always tell coaches at the meetings to make sure parents understand it’s their responsibility to the team to let the coaches know if any conflicts change affecting their kid’s availability to play in case there is (and there usually is) a need to change schedule due to rainouts, or other situations. The only way we can reschedule makeups or games that need adjusted due to a schedule mistake is for us to use this blackout form. The way a coach needs to handle added blackout requests after schedule is out if they want to prevent from forfeiting games that get moved/rescheduled is to immediately send email to westtexasyouthbaseball@gmail.com stating the situation and watch for a reply. If a reply isn’t received within 24 hours, they should call and send a second email. Once received, the blackout will be added to their form.
For a team to develop, they need to play their games. A forfeit doesn’t benefit anyone. This is a good time to mention our policy on borrowing or adding a player. If borrowing a player from another WT league team all a coach needs to do is confirm with the kids regular team that the player is good to play, and then make sure he’s listed last on lineup and if kid pitch he can’t pitch. A coach can always add a player that’s not from another WT league team (can be from another league team but only if released by original team per league rule) but MUST insure his parents add him to WT by doing the player app process (BIG green tab on home page-“REGISTER NOW”) AND the coach must add him to the teams official USSSA roster (no write-ins are allowed). If a coach is caught using a player that’s not on his teams USSSA roster, he will be suspended and maybe banned from coaching in West Texas Youth Baseball depending on the situation.
How schedules are made: We divide teams up based on what the coach tells us about their needs on their Team Info sheet. If they don't turn one in, we have to use what we know about the team to set up the matchups. We don't set a schedule that gives all teams’ equal games against all teams in their age. We have always focused on scheduling a lot of games, giving coaches the opportunities they need to develop players for tournament competition and hopefully high school baseball. This is how select leagues across the country are set up and it’s worked well for us from the beginning. The league games allow coaches to let kids develop and play multiple positions without worrying about losing and not making it to the next game like tournament play. Basically league is like non district high school games and if used the right way, teams will have a well rounded roster able to compete in tournament play if they choose which is like district play for post season.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Enjoy these times with the kids, as they pass us by fare to fast. What they remember about the season isn't usually a score, a bad call, a unavoidable disappointment, but more than likely they will remember how their parents/coaches acted. One of the best pieces of advise ever given to me as a parent was to make sure they know how much you enjoy watching them and their teammates play.
Have a great season and Play Ball!!!
ACADEMY DISCOUNT DAYS!
MARCH 19-21
2021 SPRING TEAM INFO SHEET
2021 SPRING BLACKOUT FORM
Strategies to Slow the Spread of
Covid-19
Mask Requirements
Coaches, Remember the USSSA registration is different now with the background check going through them and takes time. If you've not done yet, you might not get it all approved and rosters finalized before your 1st game. We can’t let a team take the field who’s not got this completed. If having difficulties please email USSSA ASAP. All league info is posted below if you have any questions or send an email and we’ll figure it out. Games start this weekend and next week. Also, very important: If you have parents and coaches not receiving league emails, it’s most likely due to them not having their kid registered. It’s simple (Green button that says Register here) and all kids must be registered by their parent or guardian and coaches register the same way just under coach tab. If you’re coaching with 2 teams you need to send an email so we can add you to the secondary team.
OFFICE ADDRESS
13980 Buffalo Airport Rd
MAILING ADDRESS & PHONE:
PO BOX 20559
AMA 79114
806-670-3164
EMAIL:
westtexasyouthbaseball@gmail.com
GENERAL INFORMATION
Parks: Violation of city park rules will result in suspensions. Please review rules at parks. Here's a few key issues that create problems
1. No pets inside any of the complexes.
2. No bikes, skateboards, scooters, hover boards, etc. This has become a problem. Please make sure parents know and share with family and friends.
3. Never park on developed grass areas.
4. Of course no alcohol or smoking at any field. Coaches remember this at practices in regards to alcohol. Hate to even mention but actually have had to deal with this and it's not a good situation.
5. Trash: We have a great relationship with all facility owners and part of that is because we always take care of the facilities. Never leave trash in stands or dugouts. Also when using score huts, if we don't follow written rules posted inside we will lose the ability to use them.
Please remember our league rule of borrowing or adding a player for a league game. You can borrow any player from a team in your age, or a player that’s 1 year younger as long as you clear it with the kid’s regular team and follow league rule by batting him last and can’t pitch (9-14’s). You can also add players to your regular league roster as long as they are eligible through USSSA AND the kid’s parent registers them for your team on wtyba.com and you add them to your USSSA roster. No player can participate in any West Texas Youth Baseball event without being added as stated above first. If a coach is found to be breaking this rule they will be suspended for the remainder of the season and possibly banned from the program. Sorry if this seems harsh, but we have 120 teams and are very limited with our field situation so there's not much room for changes.
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