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9U Titan Team Try Out
Attention all Toluca league aged 9 year old Mustang Players. A try out for 9U Toluca Titan Travel squad is being held:
Sunday, January 10th from 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Field #5 – Valley Plaza Park
Northeast corner of Whitsett & Sherman Way
Any families interested in having their son or daughter try out for the team should read this bulletin in full prior to attending the try out.
The Toluca Titan program is designed for the skilled athlete who, together with his/her parents, desires a more competitive environment. The program readies players to compete at the highest level in pay-for-play and invitational tournaments as well as in leagues sponsored by such governing bodies as CABA, AAU, AABC and USSSA.
Travel Ball differs greatly from the Toluca Classic League.
TRAVEL BALL IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR EVERY 9 YEAR OLD!
- The practice environment is significantly more demanding.
- The competition is at the highest level for each age specific division.
- No player is guaranteed participation in any game at anytime. If, when and where a player plays is at the sole discretion of the coaching staff.
- There is an expectation for the players to perform under pressure.
- Coaches expect each player to have a positive attitude, a relentless work ethic and a burning desire to compete and improve.
TRAVEL BALL IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR EVERY 9 YEAR OLD!
The following section is designed to assist you in assessing whether or not your son or daughter has the appropriate skill level to be considered a candidate for the 9U Travel Team.
- Is your child consistently one of the two best players on his Classic Toluca Spring team?
- Can your child consistently throw a baseball with accuracy at a distance of 60 feet?
- Can your child consistently throw a baseball within 10 feet of an intended target at a distance of 110 feet?
- If and when your child pitches, can they consistently throw between 45 and 50 mph?
- If and when your child pitches, are they consistently around the strike zone?
- Can your child consistently track a fly-ball off of a bat and catch a fly-ball not hit directly to him or her?
- Can your child consistently hit pitching delivered at 50 mph?
If you answered “no” to 2 or more of the above questions, it is unlikely that your child possesses the skill necessary to compete for a roster spot on the 9U Travel Team.
PLAYER SELECTION:
The coaching staff is looking to roster 12 “Active” Travel Team Players. The “Active” squad will practice and compete in games and tournaments.
Additionally, the staff may offer 2 kids “Practice Player” positions. These players would receive all the instruction that “Active” players receive. They would participate fully in practice, but have no promise of play in a tournament or game. In the event that we are short players for a particular game or tournament, we would then likely ask one of our Practice Players to participate in the competition. Again, a Practice Player would receive instruction but have no promise of play in any game or tournament.
No player’s position on the “active roster” is guaranteed throughout the run of this team existence. A Practice Player can be elevated to the Active Roster. A player on the Active Roster may become a Practice Player. This harsh reality is emotionally taxing on kids.
TRAVEL BALL IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR EVERY 9 YEAR OLD!
Player selection is based not only on each player’s current skill level, but on their overall athleticism, perceived athletic potential, attitude, behavior, desire, and coachability.
Player evaluation and selection is a subjective process. This process is both imperfect and exclusionary. The inclusion of any one player necessarily results in the exclusion of another. We can only reasonably accommodate 14 players in total. Some kids will inevitably be left out. This is the unfortunate and unavoidable reality of this process.
TRAVEL BALL IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR EVERY 9 YEAR OLD!
In an attempt to mitigate the subjective bias in the process, we utilize as many objective standards as possible in the evaluation of potential players. The objective standards measured at the try-out will include:
Long Toss Distance
Pitching Velocity
Hitting pitching between 45-55 mph.
Players speed from home plate to 2nd Base
These objective measurements won’t reveal every aspect of a player’s talent. Certain players possess intangibles revealed only when under the pressure of competition. These objective measurements do however provide us a base level from which we can begin to evaluate a player’s relative skill.
Please do not subject your child to the try out process if you fear they are not emotionally prepared to deal with the possibility of not making the team.
If you have determined that you will be bringing your child to the try out, I advise you to give your child the expectation that they will be participating in a special 2 hour Toluca baseball workout that day. They should view the try out as a clinic or a mini camp. The try out will be run as such.
The U8 Titan Caching staff is as follows:
Manager: Doug Savant
Coach: Eustacio Marin
Coach: Will Knox
Assistant Coach: Lars Winther
Assistant Coach: Ian Thomas
Special Coach / Team Advisor: Vince Calandra
League contacts:
Titan Division Commissioner: Zareh Koyoumdjian
Mustang Commissioner: Eric Ladd
Mustang Players Agent: Dave Valentine
What follows is a message from Manager Doug Savant:
Greetings Potential Titan Families:
To assist you in making a decision to have your son / daughter try out for the 9U Titan Squad, I offer you an abbreviated overview of what to expect from the experience.
1. TIME FRAME: Our travel team will begin practicing as soon as our roster has been determined. We will compete into the month of June.
2. PRACTICE: We typically practice for 2 hours, twice a week. One practice will be held during the week and one will be held on the weekend. Additionally, we typically host a Bull Pen session at least every other week for Pitchers and Catchers. We also host Batting Practices at both our Toluca batting tunnels and local facilities throughout the season.
3. LEAGUE AFFILIATION: It is not mandatory that your son / daughter be a registered Toluca Baseball Player to participate on the 9U Titan Team. It is however strongly encouraged. Our Travel Team rules provide that our roster contain a minimum of 10 Toluca players or 80 % of the roster, whichever is greater. My specific expectation is that if your son or daughter is selected to participate with our Travel Team, that you will also register your son / daughter for participation in the Toluca Spring Rec. season.
4. COMPETITION: Throughout the Spring Classic season, we will be competing in “Sunday Friendlies” here on our Toluca fields and at nearby leagues and facilities. Occasionally we will play Sunday Double-Headers. It will not be unusual for your child to have two Rec games in a week and then have a Travel Team double-header on Sunday. It is a demanding schedule. Again:
TRAVEL BALL IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR EVERY 9 YEAR OLD!
We will be looking to enter larger, area tournaments on Holiday Weekends. Please circle Memorial Day Weekend – we will be participating in the Irvine Pony Memorial Day Tournament again this year. It is an incredible tournament where more than 165 teams compete at all levels with teams traveling up to participate from Mexico. At the completion of our Toluca Spring Rec. Season we will then compete in a couple of USSSA or Triple Crown tournaments in the month of June.
5. COACH’S COMMITMENT: The Coaching staff's commitment to our players is to provide the finest "age appropriate" baseball instruction available. We are the first to arrive and the last to leave. Each day we come prepared with a practice plan to execute and give 100 % of our energy to this endeavor.
6. PLAYER’S COMMITMENT: We expect our players to be committed to learn. We expect them to show up on time, with a good attitude, and be ready to work hard. We expect our players to be attentive and focused on the task at hand. If a player's behavior is a consistent distraction to the group, that player will be told to sit out for a period of time. If a player's poor behavior or bad attitude persists over time, the coaching staff reserves the right to release that player from the team.
7. ATTENDANCE: It is our intention to create a team, and environment that motivates your desire to attend practice. We want kids who want to be there. Attendance should be at your child’s election not obligation. I understand that there will be inevitable scheduling conflicts and that not every player will make every practice. What I ask is for every player and family to make their best effort. -It's the old honor system. I am a reasonable person. If players and families have reasonable scheduling conflicts: no problem. Chronic, un-excused absence, with little or no communication from the parents would reasonably indicate that the player and family in question don't value the experience we are offering and the player would be released. Similarly, chronic excused absence may indicate that this experience is not a priority for a family. In this case, the coaching staff would conference with the parents to determine an appropriate course of action to best service the needs of the team.
8. PARENTAL CONDUCT / INVOLVEMENT: Our parents are obligated to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with Toluca Baseball’s Code of Conduct. Additionally, we reiterate the necessity of parents to allow our coaching staff to do the coaching of their children without interference. Our coaching staff will be the only parents allowed on the field or in the dugout once a practice or game has begun. We would of course appreciate your willing assistance in setting up and transporting equipment and will from time to time ask for your assistance. The above guideline is in place to establish a clear and consistent chain of command for the team, as well as to maintain a consistent vocabulary when communicating with our players. You can be a valuable asset to our staff and players if you can pick up the terminology and coaching cues that you will inevitably hear repeated over and over and reinforce those coaching values with your children.
9. GAME PARTICIPATION: In the interest of full disclosure, I inform you that Travel Ball differs greatly from Rec. Ball when it comes to the kid’s playing time. No one on this team is guaranteed participation in any game at anytime. No player’s position on the “active roster” is guaranteed throughout the run of this team existence. When and where a player plays will be at the sole discretion of the coaching staff. We operate from the perspective that we win and lose as a team, and that there is no bad position on a baseball field.
10. FEES: Our Spring Fees are set at $175 per player. This will cover the cost of competition into early June. If we play deeper into the month of June it is likely that we will need to request additional fees from each family.
Practice Players invited to participate are not expected to pay any fees.
Each player on the Active Roster is required to provide the following:
A Copy of the Players Birth Certificate
Each player must cover the cost of 3 color Tackle Twill numbering to be stitched on their jersey. (Jersey provided) Stitching to be completed by Buddy’s All-Stars.
We provide the following to each player:
A practice tee shirt – (to be worn to every practice)
- A Team Hat – (to be worn at every Practice and game)
- A Team Jersey – (to be worn at every game)
Thank you for your enthusiasm, interest and cooperation with our program.
Doug Savant
Please fill out the following and bring it with you to the try-out.
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