F.A.Q

No. You may play for any team or not play for a team and still join Academy sessions.

No. You can choose to participate in only the sessions that work for you.

The Academy will handle placing all players on teams. We will strive to create teams of players with similar playing abilities and will assist coaches with finding competition appropriate for the competitive level of the team. Entire teams joining HVBSA will keep their current roster but will benefit from access to other HVBSA players after joining. 

Each Academy team will have a team coach and a team manager selected or approved by the Academy. They will be volunteer parents of children on the team. Their fees for any session in which they coach or manage a team will be waived as appreciation for their contributions to the team.

Yes. It is not difficult to be approved as an HVBSA coach. Check out “For Coaches” to learn more about the advantages of coaching with HVBSA.

It helps to have some experience and an understanding of the game but the Academy will assist any coach or manager to run a team effectively. Academy practices and coaches will be available to all teams to develop skills. The coach may utilize as much or as little of that assistance as they wish.

Yes, to an extent. Our goal is to place players with teams they like and to help coaches find players they need. If a coach and a new player agree that they want to be matched then they will be matched. Over time, players should be assigned to a team based upon skill-level and coaches will draw appropriately skilled players from a larger pool of players.

Yes. Players may accept offers from any team at any time. Our goal is for players to find their best place to play. Refunds will not be provided. The best time to accept an offer from another team would be at the end of any Academy session.

There are two types of fees – Academy fees and competition fees. Academy fees are paid at the beginning of each session and are determined by the number of Academy practices offered, the cost of the required facilities, insurance, and other administrative costs. Competition fees are paid as you participate in individual game, league, and/or tournament play. Competition fees can vary from team-to-team depending upon the frequency of game play, selected tournaments, and destinations. You should ask your coach about expected time and financial commitments before accepting an invitation to play on the team.

If you accept an invitation to play on a team (not including as a guest-player) you are committing to that team for the current session.

Academy sessions are roughly based on calendar quarters - January 1 to March 31, April 1 to June 30, July 1 to September 30, and October 1 to December 31. Commitments to teams and a team's playing schedule may not match an exact quarter and there may be some activity before or after the designated dates of the session. Your coach will inform you about the team's competition plan and required dates for the session before you agree to join the team. Your session fees will cover the entire competition period regardless of actual competition dates.

Players and coaches deciding to change teams and rosters is very common in travel baseball. We feel it is necessary and unavoidable to allow players to develop at their own pace.  You or someone you know has likely already experienced this and it can be very difficult to handle.

You can expect that your coach and most of your teammates will remain the same for several sessions. However, it is inevitable that something about your team is going to change at some point in the future. We are prepared for that.

One strength of the Academy is our ability to reshape teams quickly, to fill open roster spots, to find new places for displaced players, and form completely new teams if necessary. HVBSA is constantly working to identify new players to fill open spots.  If your team roster experiences some unexpected changes, you and your coach will not be alone. You have help.  

Academy practices are regularly scheduled practices focused on certain areas of the game. They combine players from different teams or players who do not currently have a team and are grouped in a 2 - to - 3-year age range. Academy coaches are passionate about teaching the fundamentals of baseball and softball and have demonstrated an ability to provide exceptional coaching to players of all ages. The practices are well-planned, very active for the players, and always fun!