Advanced Baseball (AB)

Purpose: The Advanced Baseball program exists as an extension of and to complement the recreational baseball program. As such, the FYB AB program schedules its activities to co-exist with the recreational baseball program. The purpose of the advanced baseball program is to provide an “advanced” player that has a higher skill level and has a passion for playing an opportunity to compete at a higher level. This will be accomplished through advanced level instruction and more advanced competition.

Approach: FYB will develop players selected to the AB baseball program by reinforcing proper baseball fundamentals, teaching advanced concepts appropriate to each individual age group and by offering advanced level competition. FYB’s AB baseball program will place a focus on more practice time and place less of a premium on games.

Director of Advanced Baseball: Will be responsible for directing all aspects of the AB baseball program, communication with the FYB Board and managing the coaches within the program. The Director of Advanced Baseball along with input from the managers and the FYB Board will develop and implement a general baseball curriculum that all teams will adopt providing a consistent approach that prepares players to grow from age group to age group.

In Season: The Director of Advanced Baseball will:
- Select managers for each respective age group and present those managers to the Board
- Facilitate tryouts, select the evaluation panels and facilitate the selection process of players
- Will set the team game schedules. Every effort will be made to have all FYB AB teams playing at the same location
- Develop communication lines to report back to the recreational league managers
- Develop pitch limits/playing guidelines for each age level

Manager Selection:

A Manager Selection Panel will be appointed each year to select a manager at each age level. The panel will consist of the Director of Advanced Baseball, one member of the Executive Board and three appointed Board members that will be selected by the Executive Board. The appointed board members can have no ties to the candidates under consideration.
The Director of Advanced Baseball will interview candidates and make recommendations to the Manager Selection Panel to finalize managers at each age level. Manager selection will take place prior to the AB Baseball tryout. The manager’s child must make the team on their own merit.

Please apply for manager at our registration page found here:

https://fishhawkbaseball.sportngin.com/page/show/7535834-registration

Manager Evaluation: Managers will be given objectives to achieve during the season based on the age group that they are managing. The manager and coaching staff will be evaluated throughout the season based on their ability to achieve the objectives and follow the guidelines of the program. Any manager found to abuse the rules of the program may not be considered for future seasons.

Tryouts: The AB program is a SELECT program and each player is required to evaluate. Although participation in the advanced baseball program is not mandatory to play in Spring All-Stars, participation in the advanced program does provide greater development opportunity to players wishing to make the All-Star teams.

Evaluations will be held before each Fall and Spring AB Season.
Evaluations will consist of fielding, batting, throwing and running as determined by the Director of Advanced Baseball.
Evaluation Panel: An evaluation panel will consist of the Director of Advanced Baseball, the selected Manager and three independent evaluators. The Independent evaluators will be selected by the Director of Advanced Baseball prior to the evaluation.
Team Selection: The Manager will determine the number of roster positions prior to the panel vote. The team will be selected by the panel with each member having an equal vote. Players will be voted on with the players receiving the most votes.

Teams: The number of teams will be determined based on evaluation participation. At a minimum FYB’s Advanced Baseball Program will attempt to field teams at the following age groups: 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U, 13U and 14U.

Note: Additional teams in each age group or in other age groups may be added at the discretion of the FYB Board of Directors.

Rosters: Rosters will consist of 11-15 players as determined by the Manager and the Director of Advanced Baseball. Mangers will be allowed to add players throughout the season based on need. Any roster additions will be approved by the Director of Advanced Baseball and the FYB Executive Board.

Seasons: FYB AB Baseball program will consist of a Fall and a Spring season.

Fall Season: The Fall Season will be a 6-8 week season that will take place at the end of the Fall from late September through mid-November. The FYB AB program will target between 6-14 games per age division.
Spring Season: Spring will be a longer season that will begin after tryouts and finish prior to the start of the league tournament. The FYB AB program will target between 6-14 games per age division.

Participation:

To participate in the AB Season (Fall or Spring):
- Each player in the advanced baseball program is required to actively participate on a recreational team during the respective Fall or Spring season.
- Each player will be strongly encouraged to participate in Spring All-Stars within their respective league-age division.

Uniform: FYB will offer unique uniforms that will consist of a hat and a jersey for each season. Costs of the uniforms will be included with the season dues.

Cost: FYB will attempt to keep the cost of the AB program at a minimum. As a recreational program we do not want cost to be a deterrent to participation. Cost as of Spring 2024 is $200 which includes uniform and umpire fees.

Competition: The AB program will only play in games against regional leagues participating in the West Florida Advanced Baseball League on a prearranged schedule. The format will be primarily double headers on AB Sundays and an end-of-season WFAB League Tournament. Travel time to host parks is typically within one-hour of FishHawk.

Mandatory Playing Rules: There are no mandatory playing rules. Playing time is completely at the discretion of the advanced baseball manager for his or her particular team. However, managers will make a conscious effort to get all players into games.