For players younger than 13 or 7th grade:  Tournament teams are formed out of the Cal Ripken Major and Minors leagues.  You must play in the Springfield AA CAL RIPKEN LEAGUES to qualify for ALL tournament teams.  

 

If you are in 7th grade and your age qualifies you (you won’t be 13 until after April 30th of this year) to play for the Cal Ripken League tournament team, and you wish to play Cal Ripken, you must play in the Cal Ripken League and tryout for the tourney team.  You may not play in both the Travel Baseball program and play on tournament teams.  

 

Players ARE NOT required to play in the SAA intramural leagues to be eligible for Travel Baseball.  If players do participate in the intramural league, their  primary commitment is to the travel team.  Since tournament season coincides with travel baseball playoffs, travel players cannot play for any SAA tournament teams unless the travel team participates in a tournament as a team or is formed from within the program.

 

The Springfield Athletic Association Travel Baseball Program is a community based baseball program for the youth of Springfield who wish to play the game with their local friends but at a higher level than intramural programs can offer.  These teams from Springfield compete against teams from surrounding communities and counties. Teams compete in traditional regular season competition followed by a playoff tournament where league champions are crowned and afforded the opportunity to progress to higher level championship competition at the state, regional and, for senior legion, the national level.  

 

 

 

Coaches for our teams are volunteers. All coaches undergo mandatory background checks as required by Springfield Athletic Association (SAA).  

 

 

 

All players must be members of Springfield Athletic Association (SAA) and reside within Springfield School District geographical boundaries to participate in this program. The geographical boundary is also a league requirement.  Where league rules prohibit, the SAA grandfather rule does NOT overrule the league residency requirement. Players must also meet the minimum age/grade requirements. 

 

 

 

If interested in trying out for a team, please join SAA now and signing up for "Travel Baseball" to ensure you receive important informational updates.

 

 

 

All players will be required to provide proof of residency and proof of age documentation during tryouts. 

 

 

 

In addition to the SAA membership fee, all players are required to pay an additional program travel fee of $100.  Total cost outlay to play will average $200 per player including membership fee and travel fee.  

 

 

 

Requirements Summary:

 

 

 

SAA Membership- Register at (www.Springfieldaa.org)

 

 

 

Select "Travel Baseball" as your sport. 

 

Proof of Age-Birth Certificate (Some leagues require this of our teams)

 

(Proof of residency - Valid parent drivers license or similar indicating address of parents.

 

(in the case of split residency, the players residence during the school year sets his residence)

 

Proof of grade - If younger than 13

 

SAA travel fee- $100 (check payable to SAA at tryouts)

 

 

 

Player Equipment Requirements:

 

Glove

 

Spikes (most use metal spikes)

 

Cup (catchers required)

 

Wood Bats -must be single piece wood.  No composite wood or bamboo (If it has a BBCOR rating, it's probably not all wood and it's probably illegal)

 

 

 

All teams under the travel baseball program will play on a regulation sized 90 foot baseball diamond with a 60'6" foot distance between mound and home plate. 

 

 

 

Team rosters are filled via tryout selection. 

 

 

 

Teams travel across Delaware County with some Chester County, Montco and Philly games. 

 

 

 

Schedule and commitment varies with teams and coaches.  Younger teams tend to practice more than older teams. For 13/14’s parents should expect 2-3 games per week on average along with 2 practices. 15’s and older tend to play 3 games per week and 1 practice. Weeknight games start at 6PM.  Weekend start times can vary. 

 

 

 

Local high school, middle school and CYO baseball does not usually interfere with SAA travel baseball.  In the event of conflicts in the seasonal overlap (during tryouts and preseason practice) our coaches will normally work around the conflicts.

 

 

 

Players (and their families) considering trying out for SAA travel baseball teams should be willing to commit to the team and the schedule that goes with being a team member.  Commitment is expected until the end of the season (as late as mid-late July).  While conflicts can arise, it's our hope that participants will avoid conflicts during the playing season with other baseball, lacrosse, basketball and any other outside summer sports teams.  Dual participation with other teams can put players in an over committed position and can force parents/players into a position to make difficult choices that ultimately can put the teams in jeopardy of forfeiting games.   Players planning to be involved with any other teams should discuss their level of commitment to the SAA travel baseball team and outside conflicts with coaches or director before accepting a roster spot on a team.  Communicate your potential conflicts up front so the coach can asses your unique situation and, if possible, adjust/advise accordingly. 

 

 

 

Family vacations in the summer are a fact of life.  If you can’t schedule your family vacation after the season and playoffs you should discuss your vacation schedule with the coach prior to accepting a roster spot on a team.   

 

 

 

Positions in the field (and other coaching decisions) - Players are encouraged to tryout at positions best suited to their ability. However, players (and parents) should realize that coaches will move players around in the field during tryouts, practices and games for various reasons. Players might be asked to play positions they don't necessarily like in certain situations to help the team better compete. Parents are encouraged to respect and support coaching decisions that come about for betterment of the team.  This dynamic will persist over the playing career of most players. As such, players need to understand and accept it.

 

 

 

Travel Team Tournament Participation- The primary focus of the program is regular season play between mid April and early July (16-20 games) followed by a post season playoff tournament (double elimination).  If time and schedule permit, teams may enter outside tournaments.  Any costs associated with outside tournaments would be in addition to the SAA registration fee and travel fee.  Participation would be optional to players within the team/program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

League Participation for  2021

 

 

 

1 ) 7^th Grade 13 year old players -Mid County Baseball League

 

 

 

2) 8^th Grade, 9^th Grade and some 10^th Grade (16U) – Mid County Baseball League

 

 

 

For More info on Mid County Baseball League:

 

https://mnrecreation.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29843

 

3) 10^th Grade and Older – American Legion Baseball (Senior Legion) Program