SSYS BASEBALL & SOFTBALL

13u & 14u Travel Teams

SANDY SPRINGS STORM TRAVEL BASEBALL TEAMS

Sandy Springs offers a travel baseball program for 13u and 14u. Tryouts typically take place in July and the teams practice and play together for the following 12 months.

Our travel baseball program is well-established and includes year-round professional instruction, practice programs, new-school arm care and velocity development programs and travel competition in the welcoming environment of Morgan Falls Park. While all age-eligible boys in the community are encouraged to try out for the teams each July, this travel program is important to SSYS because it provides a natural progression for players "graduating" from our National League who prove they are ready to play competitive, year-round baseball.

The Storm will use our age/size-appropriate lighted field, adjacent indoor hitting cages, four practice mounds and 2 outdoor batting cages, all located on site. The program has a rich history of playing high level travel competition and many of our players have gone on to play at top high school and college programs.

In 2018 Sandy Springs Youth Sports (SSYS) revamped and re-branded the travel baseball program and all were put under the "Storm" name. The park is building upon the rich history of the previous teams formerly known as the Sandy Springs Longhorns and Sandy Springs Expos. The Storm baseball program has enjoyed tremendous success over the last decade, particularly during the last 3-4 years with District and State titles at numerous age groups and National Runner-up distinction in the prestigious Dizzy Dean World Series in Southaven, MS.

STORM/EXPOS/LONGHORNS HISTORY

SSYS is proud to congratulate our alumni from the 2014 high school class who that are playing collegiate baseball at Clemson, UGA, Notre Dame, Miami of Ohio and North Georgia College.

In other exciting news, a former Expos/Longhorns standout earned a college national baseball championship starting as a true freshman at catcher for Vanderbilt in the recent College World Series and a former Expos/Longhorns player was drafted in the recent 2014 Major League Baseball draft.

Alumni have gone on to play college baseball at Clemson, UGA, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Rhodes College, Young Harris, Birmingham Southern and Piedmont College and college football at Harvard, Georgia Tech and UAB.

13U, 14U,15U Travel Ball

Sandy Springs Storm Travel Baseball Program Information

Tryouts typically take place in July of a calendar year and the team then practices and plays together for the following 12 months.

General Overview
Sandy Springs Youth Sports (SSYS) currently offers a travel baseball experience to 13u and 14u players. In effort to improve the travel ball program SSYS is looking to bring the travel baseball program more into the fold and offer an experience more consistent with the level of execution provided in other baseball programming at SSYS.

Depending on the total number of offers extended and number of acceptances. It is possible the final roster may fall below the thresholds, which is permitted so long as the total number of extended offers per team meets the stated minimum. A SSYS park/family is defined as a player who has played at least two of the previous seasons at SSYS. In the event there are multiple teams in an age group, the first (or A team) would be named the Storm RED and the second (or B team) would be named Storm BLACK.

Prior to tryouts we will determine the number of teams based on registered participants in tryouts and general interest from the community and neighboring parks. The uniform package will be identical for each team and the only difference will be in team name, RED or BLACK.

Mission Statement
To develop and teach the fundamentals of baseball to young players that are interested in working hard, getting better and achieving success based on their efforts as part of a successful team environment of coaches, parents and teammates.

Team Benefits and Reasons for Participation
The most important aspect of youth baseball for these age groups is that of learning the fundamental skills of the game and to appreciate and respect all that makes baseball the greatest sport and team experience for young athletes. We will teach the fundamentals skills that will help the players improve both physically and mentally - and prepare them for successful experiences in middle school and high school baseball programs.

Overview of Programming

Late July or early August tryout/clinic/showcase (6 hours) $50 for non-park families; $25 for park families
Field practices on Sundays during late August through last fall tournament
Indoor cage workouts one evening per week during late August through last fall tournament
Throwing/arm care program during fall/winter/early spring - combination of Alan Jaeger (www.jaegersports.com) , Ron Woolforth (www.pitchingcentral.com), and Kyle Boddy (www.drivelinebaseball.com)
Provide players with Winter independent core and physical conditioning training
Schedule games vs. other teams during the fall weeknights/Saturdays (10-12 games)
Participate in fall tournaments as follows which would total 20-30 games.
Following last fall tournament shut down throwing from early NOV 1st through DEC 15th
- DEC 15th commence arm care and training protocols (goal is for arms to be ready JAN 15th)
- Indoor BP once per week (60 mins) DEC thru JAN
- Field Practices Sundays during JAN / SAT & SUN during FEB
- March through July (based on events available)
  - Practice schedule (one night weekly TBD)
  - 10-14 Tournaments totaling 50-60 games
  - 6-8 independent scheduled games on weeknights
  The Budget is estimated to be $2,300 - $2,800 total per player for the fall and spring seasons. Schedules and tournament costs can be closely estimated following release (due in the next 30-90 days). A complete breakdown of costs will be provided prior to offer and acceptance of a spot on the team(s).
  Our teams are entirely family-funded. Team dues are due in 3-4 payments. Dues cover field usage & maintenance, tournament/game fees, limited team equipment, coach compensation, core team uniforms and miscellaneous administrative and other expenses. Since the teams are family-funded, we are not able to offer scholarships or discounts.