Registration FAQ's

Since registration has opened we've gotten a couple of questions more than once... I Just wanted to put this up to maybe answer a few in advance. 

Can my 1st grader play if their birthday is after May 1???

    Short answer is Yes...The age restrictions for baseball are more for older kids playing down a division.  I have moved the cut-off for youngest birthdays for 8U programs back to September 1, 2018.  This should hopefully put all of the current 1st graders within the time window.  Once these kids move along in the program just note that you would like them to play up a division, since their birthdays will fall into the division behind some of their classmates. Leagues and tournaments are fine with kids playing up, but playing down is only allowed in very rare instances. 

Are 8U teams going to be doing a lot of traveling???

    Most likely not.  The 8U programs are not going to be part of the Chippewa Valley (Seymour) Leagues.  These teams will have games scheduled against local teams, (Thorp, Cadott, & Gilman), maybe Fall Creek, Augusta, or Cornell, but that would be about as far as we would go. Baseball may try to do a tournament or 2 for kids that would be interested but we'll talk about that once the season gets going, and it would not be a requirement for anyone. 

I have a child that really wants to play but is too young for the birthday window, can they participate???

We are really trying to limit the number of Kindergarten participants for mostly safety reasons, but also to maximize the opportunities for the older kids to benefit from their time on the field...That being said, if you feel your child is skilled enough to play/compete with 8 year olds that have a couple years of experience on the field, feel free to reach out to OrioleDiamondClub@gmail.com, and we can make arrangements.  We are planning to offer a T-Ball program this summer...details are still being worked out, but the rough plan is for it to be a short Saturday morning program (9:30-11am) for 3 weeks in June.   It would be open to this years 4k & Kindergarten kids.  Again, this is still in the planning stages but could be an option to get younger kids on the field.  More info on this will be coming as it draws closer.

Can my child play on a team with their friends/siblings/classmates if they fall into a different division due to their birthday???

Again, the age divisions are set up by a national governing body to try to ensure that there is uniformity throughout all leagues and tournaments...the maximum (oldest) age is really the hard and fast rule that will be followed, we will not allow kids to play in divisions younger than their age except in extreme circumstances. However kids will be allowed to play in older divisions as needed, but parents keeping siblings together should be aware that playing time could be affected due to the natural skill development of younger players....we will do our best to avoid this but the safety of the kids will always be a top priority. 

Is there going to be an opportunity for tournament/travel play???

Speaking for baseball specifically, there will be some tournament opportunities. It will not be a requirement for everyone and would most likely be based on skill level feedback from coaches first and player interest second.  Depending on where we stand financially throughout the summer there may be an extra player fee or volunteer requirement to help cover some of the tournament costs. Since this is our first year handling things we'll have to see how things unfold as the season progresses.

Can we sign up for sponsorships later???

Yes, we have an email address set up for sponsorship opportunities sponsor.oriolediamondclub@gmail.com...this will get you in contact with Sarah, who will be heading up that program.  You can visit the "Sponsorship Opportunities" page on this website for more details as well. We can arrange payment by check or cash and also answer any questions you may have about our packages. We will also be contacting local businesses that have not signed up to make sure everyone is aware of all opportunities to support our program.

Hopefully this will help to answer some of the questions out there...if there is anything else you need help with or have a question about don't hesitate to reach out to me at OrioleDiamondClub@gmail.com,

Thanks,

Craig Luzinski