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New Member Policy for ENYTB
New clubs are always welcome to apply for membership with Eastern New York Travel Baseball. Certain basic requirements must be met:
1. A Club GM/Travel Coordinator who will be responsible for all administrative matters.
2. A home field (road only teams will be considered if they are based 1+ hour from Albany, NY).
3. A reliable umpire assigner.
4. Adequate insurance.
5. Club Deposit (refundable) of $300. Used if umpire fees or other penalties go unpaid.
6. A legal roster of at least 11 players.
Item #6 is the reason ENYTB has turned away most new club applicants in 2024, and will continue doing so in the future.
New clubs are limited to a maximum of 3 players on their roster (per team) that played for an opposing ENYTB club in Spring/Summer 2024.
We do not let new clubs join that will be cannibalizing our existing members rosters in order to form a team.
It became common practice in recent history for a disgruntled parent to decide to start their own team. They fracture an existing team to do so. And the end product is 2 much weaker teams. The reliability, longevity, and quality of these breakaway teams has been below average, in most case.
New club membership will be very restrictive moving forward, based on the above criteria.
New clubs are easiest to achieve compliance when starting at age 13U or younger. Very few players in the Capital Region are "unrestricted free agents" by the time they are 14U or older.
Single team clubs attempting to join will typically be directed to join existing clubs. Larger clubs, with continuity in teams at each age level are of higher value to the league because they have:
- Knowledge/familiarity with league operations
- The ability to guide new coaches through the process
- Access to players at younger ages to fill in as needed - maximizing scheduling reliability and eliminating game cancellations because "Can't get 9 healthy players to field".
There are many clubs currently in ENYTB. If an individual player/family is unhappy with their situation, they are always welcome to move to a new team the next season. Constantly creating new breakaway teams is not the best answer, in most cases.
1. A Club GM/Travel Coordinator who will be responsible for all administrative matters.
2. A home field (road only teams will be considered if they are based 1+ hour from Albany, NY).
3. A reliable umpire assigner.
4. Adequate insurance.
5. Club Deposit (refundable) of $300. Used if umpire fees or other penalties go unpaid.
6. A legal roster of at least 11 players.
Item #6 is the reason ENYTB has turned away most new club applicants in 2024, and will continue doing so in the future.
New clubs are limited to a maximum of 3 players on their roster (per team) that played for an opposing ENYTB club in Spring/Summer 2024.
We do not let new clubs join that will be cannibalizing our existing members rosters in order to form a team.
It became common practice in recent history for a disgruntled parent to decide to start their own team. They fracture an existing team to do so. And the end product is 2 much weaker teams. The reliability, longevity, and quality of these breakaway teams has been below average, in most case.
New club membership will be very restrictive moving forward, based on the above criteria.
New clubs are easiest to achieve compliance when starting at age 13U or younger. Very few players in the Capital Region are "unrestricted free agents" by the time they are 14U or older.
Single team clubs attempting to join will typically be directed to join existing clubs. Larger clubs, with continuity in teams at each age level are of higher value to the league because they have:
- Knowledge/familiarity with league operations
- The ability to guide new coaches through the process
- Access to players at younger ages to fill in as needed - maximizing scheduling reliability and eliminating game cancellations because "Can't get 9 healthy players to field".
There are many clubs currently in ENYTB. If an individual player/family is unhappy with their situation, they are always welcome to move to a new team the next season. Constantly creating new breakaway teams is not the best answer, in most cases.