A. Your son will be rated by his current coach in the same areas that we look for in a tryout. Arm strength, fielding infield and outfield, hitting, pitching and catching as applicable. Coaches will also make notes on intangibles like baseball IQ, attitude, and more. That data will be used as a very large part of the selection process to place the player on the right team. We will match that to tryout numbers to see the player's ranking with others as well as an additional data point in the process.

A. Our teams compete in the Central Ohio Youth Baseball League, which is comprised of teams in or around Columbus. It is unusual to travel more than an hour or overnight, although your team may choose to play in an out of town tournament, which is fun!

A. Travel baseball by design is very competitive and is not comparable to other organized baseball league options. It requires more time, money and a greater commitment. Kids develop at different ages, so we want to be as inclusive as possible, but sometimes young athletes are not quite ready for the competitive level, therefore, OYAA has other options available.

A. Most teams start with indoor workouts in January, maybe a couple of times a month until the season starts in April. It is unusual for the season to extend pass July 10th. It is of course up to the coach, but typically a couple of games are played per week, along with practices as needed. Please consult the Central Ohio Youth Baseball League (www.coybl.org) web site to read about our teams, see who they played, and how many games. The average season is about 30-40 games. Sometimes more when you get above 13U baseball.

We absolutely respect and support kids playing other sports, except during baseball season, when we expect the player to be at practices and games. Travel baseball is very compatible with hockey, OYAA football, basketball, and fall soccer.

A. The fees should be between $500-$700 for the year. Fees for next year have not been set, but this is a reasonable estimate. Uniform costs are additional and will be determined by the travel council and respective team coach.  There will be a uniform fitting and deadlines for ordering towards the end of calendar year 2017.

A. Anyone interested in being a head coach is asked to submit a coaching resume which will be reviewed by the Travel Baseball Council. Once chosen, his son (only) is on the team. The vast majority of our head coaches have played baseball at a very competitive level and coached a number of years. Assistant coaches will be chosen by the coach, based on the kids selected for the team. Anyone interested in being the head coach of a team should contact the Travel Council via the web site. We will name Coaches as best we can before the tryout process, but in some cases as a volunteer program that is not always possible. We will not use coaching as a way to guarantee a spot for a player on a team.

A. Exact dates & times will be announced on our web site. Hitting, running, throwing, and fielding skills will all be evaluated. Within the COYBL league in which we play, there are different divisions based on how competitive the teams think they will be. If your son is chosen for a team, that team will play against teams of about equal talent.

A. Whatever age your son is on May 1, is the age group in which he would be eligible. If your son would like to tryout for an older age group, he may do so, but must tryout for both.

Travel baseball is a wonderful way to learn the game at an accelerated pace playing with and against the most skilled players in Central Ohio. Good coaching emphasizing fundamentals through practices and games, sharp uniforms, and lots of fun are what make our organization among the best!