2024 Fall Ball Info

Hi Parents,

We are excited to be starting our fall planning and registration process. We anticipate evaluations and practices to start on September 7 with games beginning on September 21. We will again be playing games against Laurel and Burtonsville this fall. You can register at gyblittleleague.org. There will be some changes to registration and fields this fall, so if you are planning on registering your player, please make sure and read through the rest of this email. 

Divisions of Play

Our current open divisions are: tee ball (5-6) - $40, machine pitch (7-8) - $100, minor kid pitch (9-11) - $120, and intermediate/pony kid pitch (11-14) - $120. We are also looking into trying to run a Junior/senior division. More details are provided below.

Registration Changes and Coaching

The past two fall seasons have been difficult to get started as we have had a shortage of coaches in each division and have been left with late starts, large teams, and moving players between divisions to find a place for kids. For this fall, we will only be accepting registrations to match the number of coaches we have in place. Once the slots are full, players will be put on a waitlist until we get another coach in place. We know that this may create some stress for our families, but trying to accommodate an excess of players has been very difficult for our league officials the past couple of years. If you are interested in coaching, please email our coaching coordinator Troy White at [email protected].

Field Changes

The other significant change for this fall is that Braden 2, which has been our primary lighted field for fall ball, will not be available this fall due to City renovations. As a result, we will be playing our weekday home games at other local MNCPPC fields. This will likely result in some extra driving but since we need lighted fields for fall games. We will still use McDonald and Schrom for weekend home games. 

The other impact of not having access to Braden 2, which the city provides to us free of charge, is that we will have to raise our registration fee to cover the cost of additional lighted field access. As a result, we will keep the slightly higher spring fees in place for the machine pitch and kid pitch divisions. Tee ball will have a lower fee this fall.    

Tee Ball Change

We are anticipating that tee ball will be run as an internal season this fall with our players all practicing together and playing some internal scrimmages only. All players will still receive a jersey and hat. 

Juniors/Seniors Registration  

We are exploring some options to play a 90-foot division for 13/14-15/16 yr olds. We will be opening registration for this division to gauge interest while we try to set up a season. If you are interested in coaching in this division, please reach out to Troy. 

2024 Evaluations Info

One of the LL requirements is to hold player evaluations each year for all divisions except tee ball. This is done to allow us to assemble/draft teams as evenly as possible and make sure players are placed in appropriate divisions. The evaluations are not tryouts as all registered players will be assigned to a team. It is very important to attend these evaluations.

Players at all levels will need to have their own glove and helmet. Cleats are highly recommended for all kid pitch players. The league will provide a jersey and hat to each player. Baseball pants should be worn by all kid pitch players. If you do not already have pants, it is recommended that you ask your coaches what color they prefer for this season.

The league will provide each team with a few bats but players are encouraged to bring their own. Little League requires all players in minors, machine, and tee ball to use bats with the USA Baseball certification logo. Intermediate players can use USA Baseball and BBCOR bats but parents of Intermediate players are advised to speak with coaches before purchasing these larger and heavier bats. Juniors players will be required to use BBCOR bats.

During evaluations, we will be holding a meeting with the parents to talk about the season. including how parents can volunteer to help the league.

Coaching needs
We want to send a quick thanks to the many parents that have offered to help coach this spring. Your help is GREATLY appreciated.

However, we are still looking for more head coaches in our intermediate division. Please contact Troy White ([email protected]) if you would like to volunteer to coach.

The evaluation schedule will be as follows:

Intermediate and Juniors - Postponed due to rain. Make-up date to be posted soon. 

Minors Machine Pitch – Braden Field 2 on March 16 at 9 AM.

Minors Kid Pitch - Braden Field 2 on March 16 at 12 PM.

Tee Ball - Will start the shortly after spring break in early April. Time and date tbd soon.

Braden Field 2 is located at 101 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770. The field is behind the Greenbelt Aquatic and Fitness Center. Please park in the main parking lot and not on the dirt path to the field. Link with location: https://goo.gl/maps/brFQmBvXf9ab4ktQ8

Greenbelt Youth Baseball has been a part of Greenbelt, MD since 1951.  Starting in 2019, Greenbelt Youth Baseball has joined Little League (now known as Greenbelt Youth Baseball Little League (GYBLL)) and now participates in the various activities that Little League provides. 

Our group provides the opportunity to learn and play the game of baseball to children between the ages 4 - 14  who live within the boundaries of our league.  

Our season begins in the Spring of each year. The season typically kicks off with an opening day parade, which includes all teams displaying their banner and marching to the major league baseball field, and after a presentation of each team, a double header is played. Since we are part of Little League, the season typically ends with tournaments for our kid pitch divisions. The season ends in July. 

Our main activities are typically in the spring and early summer.  We do also hold a Fall Ball session in September and October.  During Fall Ball we seek to play games against other area leagues when the opportunity arises.  If that is not an option, then we offer games within our league, as well as lots of practice opportunities.

Getting Started with Registration

Q: When is registration open?

 Registration for the Spring Season typically opens in January.  Registration for Fall Ball typically opens in August/September.  Please visit our website for specific registration dates. Registration for each division may close once the spots are full.

Q: What levels do you offer, and what ages are in each? How flexible is the league in players playing up or down, depending on skill level?

We offer programs to everyone (boys and girls) ages 4-14. Here are the various divisions we have at GYBLL:

T-Ball (ages 4-6) - Players hit the ball from a tee. Often a family’s first introduction to Little League®, providing a Tee Ball experience that is grounded in fun, fitness, and fundamentals is key to growing a child’s love for the game.

Machine Pitch (ages 7-8)-  Players hit the ball from a pitching machine. Emphasis is placed on proper throwing and hitting mechanics, as well as defense/fielding. The focus is skill development.  Parents are strongly encouraged to become involved in this level.  (machine pitch)

Minors (9-10)-  Competitive league.  Positional players fine-tune fundamentals.  Pitchers learn variations of 3 basic pitches. Arm strength, command and control are introduced.  Bat speed becomes a bigger focus.  Players are travel team eligible and can qualify for the Little League World Series.  

Intermediate (11-13) -  Players learn the 5 tools in preparation for the high-school levels.  Players are travel team eligible.

Juniors (13-14) -  Players utilize the various skills to compete at a high level in preparation for the high-school levels.  Players are travel team eligible.

Ages are based on what the child’s age will be on August 31, 2024.

It is possible that players can move up or down a level depending on skill level, but that is determined at the discretion of the player agent and the managers during evaluations. Note that every level will have players that are learning the game. Everyone is welcome and everyone will be on a team.

Q: How much does it cost to register?  
Spring 2024 Registration Costs: 
$80 - T-Ball
$100 - Machine Pitch
$120- Kid pitch minors
$120 - Intermediate
$140  - Juniors

There are discounts available for Greenbelt residents and for those that register more than one child.

Q: Where can I find the medical release form, and do I need to fill it out every year?
You can find the medical release form here: https://www.littleleague.org/downloads/medical-release-form/
Little League requires us to collect this every year so that we have the most recent information.

Q: What does the league require to prove eligibility?

GBYLL is part of Little League, so all players must prove that they reside or go to school within our boundaries. You can see all of the details concerning the documentation needed for residency here: https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/residency-requirements/

BY FAR, the easiest way to prove eligibility (if eligible) is to prove they go to school within the boundary. If you have the principal fill out the following form, it can be used (https://www.littleleague.org/downloads/school-enrollment-form/).

NOTE: If you use the school enrollment, you DON’T need to do all of the residency forms. For the school form, you will need our League ID, which is 314806.

Starting the Season

Q: Why do you reset teams each season?

GYBLL Little League, like all local Little League programs, is required to assign players to divisions teams via a draft. According to Little League, “[h]aving a draft is not only a requirement in the Little League [Majors] Divisions and above, it also allows for parity within your league that will provide for a valuable experience for all players and teams.”  For these reasons, Little League actually recommends that all divisions utilize a fair and equitable draft method to select teams. All registered players will be assigned to a team, regardless of ability.

Besides offering a safer level of play and better team parity, the draft most importantly helps foster a stronger GYBLL community. The draft allows players to develop a wide range of friends across teams and divisions. Indeed, it is not uncommon for Majors division players to have played on a team at one time or another with many of the kids on the other Majors teams. The draft also gives our players the chance to learn from a number of coaches, all of whom connect with kids in different ways to inspire them, help them improve, and develop a love for the game. This familiarity and friendship across teams, we have observed, improves the Little League experience for everyone.

Q: What is a Player Agent?
GYBLL has a Player Agent assigned for the league. The purpose of the Player Agent is to ensure each division runs smoothly with the best interest of the players in mind.  The Player Agent serves as the liaison between the parents and the elected board of directors.  Parents are encouraged to engage their Player Agent with any issues they feel are not being adequately address by their coach.  

Q: My player would like to be on the same team with their friends (siblings, classmates, etc.). Is that possible?

Please note your requests by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. After registration close and evaluations, the coaches will assign teams. The coaches will make efforts to accommodate team/carpool requests until rosters are filled.

We provide balanced teams built jointly among managers, coaches, the coaching coordinator and our player agent. Our aim is for each team to include players that come from different ages, skills and experience. In fact, we expect that as your child progresses through their GYBLL  "career" they will get the opportunity to be teammates with a huge number of kids from all across the community.

In order to create these balanced and mixed teams, we are not able to guarantee accommodating parent requests to be with specific coaches, players or (carpool) neighbors. For our T-Ball and machine pitch divisions we do attempt to be a little more accommodating to putting players on teams that practice closer to their homes.

Once rosters are announced, we may not be able to make changes, and ask families to work with their assigned coach to make all practices and games.

Q: How can I help the league?

Playing the Season

Q: When will I know what team my child is on? What day will they practice?

Once the teams have been drafted, the managers will reach out to the players on the team and let them know when practices and games will be. Minors, Intermediate, and Juniors evaluations will take place in mid-March. Teams will be drafted that weekend and practices will begin shortly after the evaluations. . Machine pitch will have evaluations in late March and teams will be assigned and begin practicing shortly thereafter. T-Ball will begin in early April.   

Q: How long is the season? Who all do we play? Does every level play interleague games?

All of the regular seasons will end around the last day of Prince George’s County Public Schools (mid-June). The tournaments for the older players (minors and higher) will be shortly after the regular season and may continue into early July.

The t-ball and machine pitch teams will play games against the other teams in the league. All of the other levels will play games both against other teams in the league, and also against teams from other local Little Leagues (Laurel, Southern Maryland and such).   

Q: How many times per week do the kids practice? 

Practice days and times will vary on the age of your child and the team's coach. Most kid pitch teams will practice up to 3 times per week until games start and then practice once or twice per week depending on the game schedule. Younger divisions will generally practice or play games two times per week through the season. Practice day and times will be at the discretion of the coach and field permit schedules so please share with them any conflicts you may have.

Q: When are the games?

Game schedules will be set after all the team drafts are complete. All divisions will have at least one game per week. T-ball typically has one game per week. The rest of the divisions will usually have two games scheduled per week. Some weeks could have three games scheduled but we try to avoid it if possible. Schedules are subject to change due to weather. We generally try to avoid games on Sunday.

Q: In terms of uniforms, do I need to provide and what does the league provide?

A: The league will provide each player a jersey and a hat. In addition, we will provide safety gear for catchers to use, bats, and balls. You will need to provide a glove and helmet. Baseball pants and cleats are recommend (especially at the older levels).  You can buy a bat if you would like, but make sure that it is accepted by Little League (it must have the USA Baseball logo on it).

Q: Does every player play in the tournaments at the end of the year?

Our league will participate in Little League Tournaments for multiple age divisions at the end of the season. These tournaments are held against teams from our district in Maryland. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough tournament teams for every player from the season to be on a tournament team. It is important to note that players must be able to prove eligibility in order to play in the tournament (https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/residency-requirements/)