FORMING YOUR OWN SELECT BASEBALL TEAM

We are getting ready to start our 3^rd year of the Southeast Texas Select Baseball League, but the concept is nothing new to this area. Softball and soccer have been playing select in this area for over a decade. The league is run by Texas Ranger, Jason Tyner, and retired Pittsburg Pirate, Morgan Walker, and all league games are played on the finest youth playing facility in the country (Southeast Texas Entertainment Complex). We offer a higher level of baseball that you will not be able to find at any little league. Starting your own select baseball team is very simple when done correctly and will be very rewarding for kids and parents looking to take their baseball skills to the next level. First off, the league registers teams, not individuals. You recruit your own team, we recommend 12 kids, but you can go as high as 18. Kids can be from anywhere, there are no neighborhood restrictions in select baseball. The only restriction is age, the divisions we offer are 12 & under, 11U, 10U, 9U, 8U, & 7U. Your kids will always be playing other kids the same age. Another good way to get your team together is through tryouts, we will post your tryouts on the website, and many teams advertise in the paper as well. As for coaches, you can use parents, but many teams have been successful getting local college and high school players to coach their kids. Everything is up to the individual team, you come up with your own team name and you make your own team schedule. We allow our league teams to tell us when they can play and we make their schedule accordingly, whether it be all weekend games or weekday games. We will also work schedules around Little Leagues, for kids that choose to do both. Another main concern, for many of our parents, is the cost of select baseball. However, when done right, playing select baseball can be almost zero cost to the parents. To raise funds, the team should seek either a team sponsor, or individual sponsors for each player. I don’t know one business that would not sponsor an individual player. Other ways to raise money are through car washes, candy sales, and other fundraisers. We can help teams get started in the right direction if they have any trouble. We handle everything else for you. When you show up to the field, the fields will be prepared, we hire two professional umpires for each game, we provide game balls, and we run the concession stand. We offer you high level year round baseball with our 16 game spring season and 12 game fall season. We also host many tournaments as well. There is a state and national championship for every age group and each age group has 3 different levels of competition AA, AAA & Major. We offer the best baseball league in the area, and give kids the best opportunity to improve and reach their full potential. Growing up in Beaumont, I had to drive 4 or 5 times a week to Houston to compete in select baseball because we did not have it in the area. Without select baseball I would not have improved to the level that allowed me to get a scholarship to Texas A & M University. I firmly believe that the only way to improve as a player is to play against other kids that are equal or better than you. Select baseball will allow our kids to improve to levels they cannot achieve through little league baseball and will raise the overall level of baseball in Southeast Texas. We would be happy to answer anymore questions ,concerns, or if your still not sure select baseball is for your kids, please call Morgan or myself at the Academy, 409-842-3900. Thanks for your time and hopefully we will see you out at the complex.

Jason Tyner & Morgan Walker