Hood County Youth Baseball Association: Welcome

Hi all! Wanted to let everyone in on what the plans were for the Spring 2012 Rec Baseball & Softball Seasons.

01/01/12 - Online registration opens, here at hcyba.com. Early Bird registration prices are in effect ($10 off ages 5 to 14, $5 off ages 3 to 4)

UPDATED 02/18/12 - In person registration (at Chicken Express from 10am to 1pm). This is the last day of the Early Bird pricing.

02/18/12 - Coaching Declaration Day. If you have any interest in being a Manager or Assistant, you must let us know by this date. You can let us know by e-mailing info@hcyba.com and telling us the age of your child (on 04/30/2012), your name, contact info and coaching experience.

03/01/12 - First tryout date. Baseball tryouts will be at the Moore St complex, Softball at City Park. Both will run from 6pm to 8pm. In person registrations will be accepted.

03/03/12 - Second and final tryout date. Baseball tryouts will be at the Moore St complex, Softball at City Park. Both will run from 10am to 1pm. This is the absolute last date that a child can sign up to play in the Spring 2012 season.

03/03/12 - Drafts for all teams will be the evening of 03/03, with the initial drafts starting at 4pm.

03/24/12 - OPENING DAY!

Fees for Spring 2012 Baseball will be $95 for the 6U to 14U divisions, $50 for the 4U division. Softball will be $75 for all divisions. In addition to the Early Bird discount, there are additional discounts for siblings ($10 off the 2nd child, $25 off the 3rd and subsequent). In a continuation of our Fall season, the will be NO excess fees if you choose to register online. So, the prices you see above are it.

If you have any questions, please shoot an e-mail to info@hcyba.com. 

Fielding a lot of questions about if Softball will be participating at the baseball camp on 02/11 at the High School. The answer is no, but the base skills of the two games are very similiar, so I'd recommended the camp to anyone.

But, I know that there will be a Softball camp in March for girls signed up with HCYBA. We are still working out the specific dates and times with the High School program, but as soon as we have something concrete, we will post it here. 

We are so pleased to announce that the City of Granbury has turned over the Girls Softball program to HCYBA. We will be putting the same level of effort into making the softball programs every bit as sound as the baseball program has gotten over the past few years.

The addition means that all info and scheduling for baseball and softball will be in one place. Registration will be in one place and you can now get multi-child discounts across both leagues. How's that for cool!

We are still working through some of the season details for the softball, but you can bet as soon as they are ironed out, we will have them posted here.

The online registration system already has been loaded up with Softball (in addition to the baseball options), so feel free to sign up your sons and daughters! 

Spring 2012 registration is officially open! Get signed up early and save $10 per child.

Plus, as an added convenience, if you'd like to sign up for the Spring Baseball Camp at the High School on 2/11, you can just add it to your Spring Registration. Full info on the camp can be found in another news entry.

On Saturday Feb 11, 2012, Granbury High School will be hosting a baseball camp for Kids from Kindergarten through the 8th Grade.

At the Camp, your child will receive instruction from High School Baseball coaches & players.  This camp will give you the foundation for solid baseball drills and skills used by the Granbury High School Baseball Program.  This camp is a great way for coaches and players to prepare and have a solid foundation for the Spring Baseball season.

It will be at the High School Baseball Field.  Registration is $45.  T-Shirts will be provided. The camp is divided into an am session (9am to 12pm) and a PM session (1pm to 4pm).  Your registration gets you both sessions and a 1 hour break for lunch (on your own).

Registration is limited to 200 kids so go ahead and get signed up.  The registration form and informational flyer can be opened in the handout link below. Or, you can add your registration to your online registration for HCYBA.

For more information, call 817-243-4398

Bats standards have been updated by ALL of the major youth leagues and I need to pass along to you all what those new standards are.  We will be playing under these standards from here on out.

USSSA has published the new standards for 2012 and beyond. Here is a link to the full standard:

New USSSA Baseball Bat Marks and Grandfathering Rules 

Here is our summary.

• All big barrel bats (2 5/8" & 2 3/4") MUST have the new USSSA logo (see image) on them to be used in 2012. If a big barrel bat does not have the new logo, it cannot be used.
• Small barrel bats (2 1/4" and smaller) can be used if they have a BPF rating of 1.15 printed on the barrel. They DO NOT have to have the new logo, just the 1.15 rating.

The 2012 model bats are showing up in stores and online so they are available, but some of the old bats are certainly still out there. If you buy a big barrel bat (and this includes the CP or Coach Pitch bats) and you want to use it in 2012, it MUST have the logo. Big barrel bats just having a 1.15 (and no logo) will not be allowed in league play.