Why we did this.

When planning the layout and execution of a recreation league, we try to do so with the mindset of  "How do we structure this" to where all kids have the same opportunity to excel and at a pace they need and are comfortable with. As a league, what we must do is make broad stroke decisions that will have the most positive impact on our kids while minimizing the negative.

After the Covid season of a few years ago, there was a very noticeable drop in the overall ability for kids in the Tball and Rookie Ball age groups.   For that reason, we have been a bit more lax with scrutinizing whether to allow kids to play in age groups that are older than where they are currently at - some kids develop quicker than others, right?  After the 2024 season we decided that it was time to tighten that up a bit as we were seeing kids advancing quicker than they should but ALSO seeing kids who are where they should be age wise but with their skills not as fully developed as they could be.   That lack of development has also trickled up the ladder to some of the older age groups where the lack of development is extremely visable at times.  

What we did.

As a board, we sat down with our volunteers who have stepped up over the last couple of years to directly manage these younger leagues and we worked together to understand what they saw on a game to game basis and also listened to some of the feedback that we were getting from a few of the coaches in these leagues.   A couple of feedback items that jumped out was that 1) does anybody really need 2 full years of Tball?  and 2) there were alot of Gentleman's rules being made prior to games that really seemed to take away from the consistancy needed for kids at a young age to begin to hone their skills.   Lets be honest, most of the time, Tball can be like watching paint dry to most but there is value in the fundamental skills that the kids should be learning at that age, especially using a Tee for hitting, I mean the Pro's still do Tee work as part of their training!  Combining the option of pitching to kids and hitting off of a Tee to kids, all in one league (TBall), alot of times puts coaches in a bad spot because the kids who really needed the Tee wanted to be pitched to because the other kids were pitched to as they were farther along in their development.   Again, those are skills that cannot be overlooked at that age and are important baseline skills that will be a foundation for future development. 

Our solution. 

Farm ball is supposed to be the nescessary bridge between Tball and Rookie Ball that we feel will help further prepare our players and make sure they are definitely ready for Rookie ball and beyond.   The rule set that was developed, is a hybrid of what was already going on inside the Tball league and some defined boundries that are outlined for coaches to understand and follow.   You can view the rules here.  We are also going to put a stop to "Play Up" requests this year in order for us to have a firm reset within the Tball, Farm Ball and Rookie leagues for the future.   Next year we will reevaluate that request process to see if we need to reinstate it.   As far as "Gentlemans Rules" go, we cannot emphasize enough, that the rules are there for a reason.   They are handed out at the beginning of the year during our preseason coaches meeting and are always listed on the website in case you lose your set or want extra copies.   For coaches who have ideas that will help improve our program, they should be escalating those thoughts to their league contact for review.    If a rule change is for a protection or safety reason we may decide to implement that new rule ASAP, however,  most changes to the rules will take place after the current season is over with.