The Warriors will participate in its first tournament of the 2010 season on May 28th through May 31st. This is the Chicagoland Metro League 14U tournament. The site has not yet been announced, but past locations have included Midlothian and Frankfort.
Hickory Hills announced its tournament dates as June 29th through July 7th. I have not yet registered our team for that tournament. Hickory Hills has just one Pony field without lights, so the tournament extends over several days. If a team does not proceed through pool play, it will be idle for a week in July (prime tournament season). Lombard is also hosting a tournament within this time frame--and that tournament looks very promising.
After two decades, Orland Park stopped hosting a tournament last season. Now, two other towns that hosted some of my favorite tournaments over the past several years have decided not to continue: Oak Lawn Baseball for Boys and Homer Athletic Club. They point towards the decimation of their recreational in-house programs from full-time travel baseball as the reason for ending their tournament involvement. I talked with the tournament director from Homer and he pointed out that it didn't make sense to coordinate a tournament in which the host town does not have a team participating!
Now, I'm searching for replacement tournaments. I've called the Chicagoland Metro League director for assistance. Most towns will not announce tournaments until March. I'm expecting to see Lockport, Palos and New Lenox host tournaments--just to name a few. I've also placed a call to an OYA Board member to see if it's possible for us to host a 14U eight team tournament at Centennial Park. If that happens, I'll be looking for some volunteers to help me run it.
Another strong possibility is that our Warriors team will end up playing in at least one tournament with full-time travel teams. Tournaments with full-time travel teams will generally be more competitive--and the field dimensions increase (to 90 feet bases and 60' 6" pitching). Maybe that's a good thing as it would really stretch our players and force us to step up our level of play to remain competitive. Until our tournament schedule is set, I plan to practice the team at both the 80 and 90 feet field dimensions.
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
2011 Chicagoland Tournament Champions & 2011 Lombard Tournament Champions!
