Over time, it seems that many baseball programs have begun to "sprout" up in the area. As a result, many parents have begun to ask which travel program is best for my son? A fair question and we think we can help answer some of those key concerns?

 

Olentangy Stix Baseball does not assemble teams by the geography of a neighborhood or single High School. Many of the recent teams have been formed specific to their school area. We have chosen not to take that approach for a few reasons.

 

We want to take neighborhood politics out of the equation. We form as many good teams as we can per age group based on the whole Olentangy area that shows up to our tryouts. Some age groups have 2 teams, some have 4. We will form teams provided we have the talent pool, qualified coaches, and can schedule games against similar competition in tournaments and/or COYBL for those teams.

 

We do not select all our coaches till their son(s) have made a team. We don't build teams in the interest of making a place for a kid to play. We build teams based on the talent pool that comes to our tryouts and has an interest in playing competitive baseball.

 

We believe in player development. Each age group has developmental teams, and an Elite level team. We expect our Elite team to play against the best in the state! Our developmental teams are encouraged to play a varied schedule against teams that make sense for their development. Our goal is to have more developmental teams creating players that can make our Elite teams.

 

All our teams have access to the same training and clinics. We treat all our teams the same and with your registration fee provide Winter workouts to help develop hitting and pitching skills prior to the season.

 

Our travel council review coach conduct and team performance every season. We expect our great volunteer coaches to offer your kid the best experience possible. Unlike many organizations, we evaluate coaches and teams and make the necessary corrections for the next year.

 

Our 12U teams are strongly encouraged to go to Cooperstown during the 12U season. This is a great experience and we make it available to every 12U player.

 

Our goal is to play great baseball and keep our kids involved in the game of baseball till their HS program age.

 

Our program plans on making teams from 8U to 15U every year. We want to give a kid a chance to play baseball in more than 1 position and expand their talents. A player that plays 1st base at 11U may become a CF in 14U .... many neighborhood based associations fail to meet this development. Once a team has their SS, that player is usually the SS for many years and does not develop as a whole player. They often find out at the HS level that there is only 1 SS per squad and they miss out on the other positions on the field.

 

Our baseball council and coaches are largely former players and coaches that played beyond high school at some very competitive level. We have council members from all 4 of the High School areas. This is always tempered by the fact that they are also Dad's and interested in developing sportsmanship and maturity in the young player.