The 2008 Kick-Off Meetings will be remembered as the longest in league history - almost 7 hours for the two days combined! We got started a little late on Saturday, about 1:15PM and the room was still close to full at 5:00PM. On Sunday we started on time and finished at 4:00PM.For more than 50% of the attendees on both days, this was their first ev... read more

See previous news article for full details.I'm looking forward to discussing with you what we have in store for this year. 2008 is shaping up to be another banner year in terms of both program improvements and membership growth.MEMBERSHIP GROWTHThe club reps have done a terrific job getting their club and teams activated for the 2008 season. We already have more teams signed up for 2008 (155) than we had for all of 2007 (150). And, we still have a few clubs that I haven't heard from that I'm expecting back. We also have several new clubs talking to us trying to determine if the ENYTB program is a good fit for them. And, there is still two months left in the registration season. It would not surprise me to see us top 175 teams this year and top our all-time record set in 2005. Growth is good for the league - it helps me give teams even better schedules in terms of competitive balance, diversity in opponents and geography. Any league experience is best when there are 10 to 15 different opponents, relatively close in ability, located such that there are enough nearby teams to satisfy your weekday playing requirements and few enough far away opponents, to be easily scheduled on a weekend day. My goal is to not require teams to make more than one longer distance trip per week, if that. Obviously where you are located and your field/team availability factors into that.In the last two years ENYTB has experienced what I call a "shake-out". After 10 years of phenomenal growth the number of registered teams declined in 2006 and plateaued in 2007. However, what was going on underneath the total number was very positive. We lost some members for whom running a travel baseball club involved more than they anticipated. More importantly, following the 2005 merger with a previous incarnation of the Babe Ruth Travel League folks, several of those Babe Ruth leagues left in 2006 and 2007 to form their own travel league under the auspices of Babe Ruth Corporate. These two factors combined, resulted in a loss of more than 50 teams from this league in the last two years. The good news is that this "shake-out" seems to have run its course and we are much stronger for it. The Babe Ruth affiliated members that we remained with us are strong, have partnered with us for many years now and couldn't be happier with their decision to be here. They are an integral part of ENYTB, accounting for a total of about 40 teams. Those Babe Ruth organizations that we lost, for the most part, we never really had. As a league, we are much better off serving those members who can effectively manage the responsibilities of a baseball club with one or more teams as well as those who appreciate the quality of the program and service we provide i.e., our fully customized, multi-sanctioned, multi-level, travel baseball program. Thus, it is a remarkable story that in two short years, we have fully digested the loss of more than 50 teams and are about to set a new all-time team registration record and resume our past growth trajectory. By the start of this season, the number of teams and players in the league will be greater than two years ago for two reasons: (1) we have new clubs that have taken the place (territory) of those who have left, and (2) our existing clubs continue to grow in terms of the average number of teams per franchise. Organic growth, as it is called, remains this league's greatest engine of growth and I believe that speaks well for our future, which has never looked brighter. We thank all of you, our loyal members for that.PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTSSneek Peek - I have been working with the Board the last couple of weeks re-structuring our post-season program, including both our sanctioned tournament hosting and our ENYTB Championship tournaments. In the case of both, we have made some dramatic and I think, very positive changes from where we were when we met in early January. We have made a policy shift in terms of what sanctioned tournaments we will be hosting. This shift will benefit our members both in terms of reducing the cost of tournament participation but also in bringing a greater number of sanctioned tournaments to the local area. In the case of the ENYTB Championship tournaments, applicable to age divisions 13U thru 16U, we have created an entirely new concept that we are quite excited over and we hope you will be too. Both of these major changes will be a main focal point of our presentation at the Kick-Off meeting this weekend. Those of you interested in getting a jump start on learning what this new concept is all about need only to log-in at enyb.com and go to your team's customized registration page and scroll down until you find the blurb laying it all out.I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible this weekend, Saturday or Sunday, 1:00Pm to 3:30PM at the Waterford Town Hall.Ed

Former Yankee Visits Area To Host Coaching Clinic this Saturday at Sand Creek Middle School Gymnasium ...Colonie, NY -- Gary Cathcart- a New York Yankee draft pick in 1984 and the Toronto Blue Jays 2007 Instructor of the Year- will be hosting an instructional baseball coaching clinic on Saturday, January 19th in the gymnasium at Sand Creek Middle ... read more

On January 5, 2008, the Board of Directors of Eastern NY Travel Baseball League (the "League" or “ENYTB”) approved and adopted a statement of priorities and programmatic plan for the upcoming season. 2008 will mark the League's 13th consecutive year of operation. *******************************************************ENYTB - Organizational Stru... read more

Last year, after the season began, we received an unusual amount of member feedback about the League's playing rules. A number of folks were clamoring for a mercy rule and for adoption of the NCAA force play slide rule. The League's Executive Board voted unanimously to adopt both rules.It also was time to enumerate specific penalties for ejections... read more

Congratulations to Mark Sidoti, son of Doug Sidoti, manager of the Waterford team in our College Division for winning an NABF Scholarship for the 2007 academic year. ENYTB contributes to the NABF Scholarship fund each year and Mark is our first ever winner.I met up with Mark over the Thanksgiving holiday, along with his dad and a special friend, to... read more

This is a brand new World Series site for NABF 17U and I had the opportunity to sit with the people that made the successful bid at the recent national NABF meeting in Louisville, KY. Trust me on this one, this promises to be one of the finest events ever held for this age division and a memorable experience for all.The playing sites will be City S... read more

After a one year hiatus, the NABF College Division (22U) World Series returns to Toledo, OH, sponsored by the City Of Toledo and the Toledo Amateur Baseball Federation. This 16 team event includes various Regional Champions, direct teams, and host teams and, is planned to take place at various local college facilities, including: University of Tol... read more

Official dates for the NABF National Championship Tournament Series (Regionals and World Series) have been announced and can be found on our Tournaments menu as well as on each team's online registration page.As usual, ENYTB will be hosting four NABF Regionals this year:NABF 14U beginning July 10;NABF 16U beginning July 17;NABF 18U beginning July 1... read more

LINEUP CARDS - The website will include a new feature in 2008 that will allow teams to quickly prepare and print their team lineup cards online. Teams will select their starting players from a list that includes all players on their active ENYTB roster. Teams also will be asked to indicate each player's fielding position and where they will appear ... read more