Happy New Year

We’re excited to get the 2016 Bombers Baseball season underway with our Winter Warm Up beginning January 9th.  We will be hosting skills training sessions, 5pm – 8pm, at The Batting Cage in Cottleville. These sessions will be held weekly through mid March.  Each session will likely be 45 minutes to an hour and we will be limiting the number of players per session. Initially we will divide the boys by age group. As the Winter Warm Up progresses, we’ll be able to mix age levels to accommodate family schedules and provide the boys maximum training opportunities.

Once we confirm the number of players interested in participating in the Winter sessions, we’ll release a schedule for January 9th. I expect the January 9th schedule to be published on the website by Sunday, January 3rd.

As the weather turns for the better we’ll move the boys outside, most likely to Westhoff Park. We’ve requested Westhoff Field #2 on Sunday’s, 10am – 5pm, throughout the season. Similar to last year, we’ll eventually land on a weekly practice schedule that accommodates the various teams.

Uniforms

If you are new to the Bombers Baseball Program you will need a uniform.  In a follow up email you will receive a link to where you can place the order online.  If you are returning and need to replace your uniform, you’ll be able to use this online form to submit your order as well.

Program Costs

Similar to last year, we’re merely going to be distributing the costs associated with practices, tournaments, equipment, etc. to the teams / players participating.  We’ll do our best to keep this as simple as possible and bundle the fees we anticipate incurring so we’re not having to collect multiple times from people. For our new families, this is worth saying I guess….the Bombers Baseball program isn’t operated to produce a profit. So once the fee schedule is released, please do your best to pay timely as I don’t have reserves from last year to draw on to front early season expenses.

We’ll have teams participating in a variety of different leagues and tournaments during the year and teams at different age levels, so the 2016 fees will be customized for each individual team.

I anticipate having the 2016 Program Fees Schedule available mid-January.

Team Placement

We’re fortunate to have enough players at most of our age levels to customize the experience for the boys. Over the next few weeks I’ll be working with our coaches to assemble the teams. In assembling the rosters we’ll be considering things like:

• Current skill level
• How coachable is the player at practice (have they already decided they love playing baseball and come to practice eager to learn?) You’ll see many of the boys are still deciding if they truly like baseball and we’ll do our best to make it so fun and exciting they ultimately take ownership of their participation.
• Existing relationships among other players
• School they attend
• Team they played with last year

Philosophy

The philosophy of the Bombers Baseball program is to provide a healthy environment for our kids to learn and enjoy the game of baseball. We’ll have teams that take the game more seriously than others, and that’s completely acceptable. We’ll do our best to position the boys so their desires and motivations are aligned.

Over the past several years I’ve enjoyed welcoming new families into the program. One of the reasons I think people are attracted to our group is the manner in which we, as parents, fans and coaches, conduct ourselves. Please understand I’m very sensitive to the culture we create for the boys and the families sharing this journey of youth baseball. I thank you in advance for your support and help in creating a best in class environment for our kids.

During the year you’ll find a lot of information (hopefully useful) on our website at www.bombersbaseball.org. If there is something you’d like to see on the site that currently isn’t, please feel free to share any ideas.

Next Steps

I will be posting on the website over the weekend a list of players who have expressed interest in playing in 2016. Many of our new players come as referrals from existing players, so if you feel someone is being missed and should be on the list, please let me know.  It’s our intent to place everyone interested in playing on a team.

Each player will need to get registered either with the OCAC (O’Fallon Community Athletic Club) or Chesterfield Athletic Association. Before registering you will need an invitation code from me so you are signing your son up for the correct team. I will have more information on this process in a follow up email.

I look forward to seeing everyone and getting our Winter Warm Up underway.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Dustin Ashby