Frequently Asked Questions for St. Cloud Blue Sox
1. How much does it cost to participate in St. Cloud Blue Sox?
For the 2011 Season, the participation fees will be as follows:$250 for ages 10-11
$275 for ages 12-13
$300 for ages 14-15
2. What is included in the fee?
The fee includes a St. Cloud Blue Sox uniform, hat, a 16 game league travel schedule, and participation in 3 weekend tournaments.
3. How are players selected for teams?
Team rosters are comprised of between 11 and 13 players. Every player, either new or returning, must attend a tryout each fall to gauge their skill level. Areas of evaluation include, outfield and infield drills, along with hitting and pitching.
4 .What equipment do players need to purchase?
Each player should have a good-fitting glove. To choose the proper glove size, please refer to this link: http://www.ehow.com/how_2304273_measure-glove-size.html. For a player interested in catching, a chest protector, leg pads, and mask are provided to each team, but a catcher’s glove is the player’s responsibility.
5. What size bat should we use?
Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (MYAS) has specific bat rules for each age level. Please refer to www.myas.org to find the Rules Manual for your age group. To purchase the correct bat, please refer to this link: http://www.baseballcorner.com/batguide.asp . Bats are not provided, but are optional to purchase.
6. What league do the Blue Sox play in?
The St. Cloud Blue Sox play in the Gopher State Baseball League (GSBL) which is administered by MYAS. Each team plays a 16-game schedule in their division. Beginning in early July, every team is seeded for playoffs which conclude with the GSBL in late July.
7. Can a Blue Sox team play in the Little League World Series?
The St. Cloud Blue Sox are a USSSA affiliated organization. Little League is a completely different youth baseball association. Since we do not play Little League baseball, no team in our association would ever be eligible to qualify for The Little League World Series. All of our teams have opportunities at each age level, to qualify for the USSSA World Series. We have now sent four different teams to the USSSA World Series from our association. Our 12U team took 4th in the USSSA World Series in 2007. USSSA is the second largest youth baseball association in the country today, second only to Little League.
8. If I live in a city that already offers a baseball program through Gopher State, can I participate in St. Cloud Blue Sox?
We are here to serve and prepare players that live in Independent School District No. 742. Players from other communities with their own Gopher State/MYAS traveling baseball programs are not allowed to play in our program without receiving a waiver from that community’s baseball organization.
9.How far away do the travel teams go?
For league play, each age group and level may have a different set of teams. Travel can range from a few minutes to an hour’s drive. Some of the cities that have participated in Gopher State are Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Clear Lake, Little Falls, Becker, Big Lake, Elk River, Buffalo, Monticello, Rogers and Alexandria.
10. How many tournaments does our team play in?
The registration fee covers three weekend tournaments as selected by each team’s coaches with input from parents. A variety of tournaments are held each weekend of May and June, with state tournaments occurring in July. Your team may decide to participate in additional tournaments or state tournaments (if they qualify), but fees will be the team’s responsibility.
11. Do I play with the grade I’m in or the age?
GSBL requires that players in their respective age groups must not reach the next age before May 1, in the same year of league play. St. Cloud Travel Baseball allows players to declare at the time of tryouts the age group they will choose to participate in. For example: a player who is in 5th grade and 10 years old on May 1st, but turns 11 on May 31st may choose to play with the 10U age-level, or with the 11U age-level which would be the typical age level for 5th graders. If the player’s birthday is April 30th and he would turn 11, he would not be able to play down to the 10U level.
12. Are volunteer hours required for parents of players?
While player registration fees cover some items, additional expenses such as team equipment, field and umpire fees, and insurance costs are met largely through fundraising efforts. We ask all Blue Sox families to commit to four hours of volunteer service. Some of the fundraising opportunities include Friday meat raffles, annual hamburger feed, and Blue Sox-hosted tournaments.
13. If a parent has a disagreement with a coach, who should they contact?
We first require that all parents avoid any contact with a coach for at least 24 hours after a game, prior to approaching the coach about a disagreement. The parent and coach are then asked to try to sit down and discuss the concerns or philosophy in question. If the parent does not feel comfortable with that discussion, they should then contact a Board Member so that we can sit down with all parties involved, and come to a workable conclusion.
14. What is the difference between St. Cloud Blue Sox and other local or “in house” baseball programs?
To begin with, we are not looking for just the best 12 kids per age group within the City of St. Cloud. We are looking for all kids who want to become better at the game of baseball. We feel strongly, that every kid should be given the same opportunity to develop within the game of baseball, as long as all kids involved are fully committed to the program. Every kid who tries out is put through a tryout procedure. Our tryouts are simply for us to evaluate each and every kid, so we can gauge their abilities at a level of competition where they can compete and develop over the course of that season. We offer an "AAA" level and an "AA" level. Every kid who plays in our program is given the exact same opportunities. If you are on an "AAA" team or an "AA" team, you will be given the same uniforms, same league schedule, same amount of weekend tournaments, same practice structure, and same equipment. All of our teams play in the GSBL. All of our age groups complete their seasons no later than July 30th. The league offers a much more intense game atmosphere then that of an "in-house" league, and allows for great flexibility since our coaches schedule their own league games and conduct practices throughout the season. A player that starts with a team stays with the same coach and team from start to finish for that season.