Dear Medway Youth Baseball Parent, In 2009, the Medway Youth Baseball Board of Directors made a policy change regarding Farm and AA league age date cutoffs. This policy change only affects 3rd Grade players. The change allows children to “play up” with their school grade even if they do not qualify for the May 1st age cut off. As background, in 2006, Baseball America and Little League changed the age cutoffs for all age groups to May 1st versus August 1st. The chief reason for the May 1st date was to allow players on a team to spend the majority of the regular season at the same chronological age as their league age. For example a child with a July Birthday in our AA league would be 8 throughout the season while most of the other players are 9 already. The new policy states that any MYB player born after the May 1st cutoff date, but currently attending school in the 3rd grade may request a “Play Up Exemption”. This decision will need to be made by the player’s parent or guardian during registration in order to facilitate the creation of teams. The decision should be communicated to MYB on the registration form. Once the exemption is granted, the player will continue to move up with their grade level through the MYB Major League. If a player opts to continue to play with their age group and not their grade (not choosing the exemption), they will continue to play with that age group through Majors. In both cases, the decision will be binding and you will not have the opportunity to change this decision in future years. Further Details * No changing decisions once a game has been played at that selected level. * Once the exemption has been selected no Requests to “Play Down” will be allowed even if the player is older then his classmates. * This proposal is just for in-town Medway Youth Baseball leagues. Since the tournament and summer league rules are set in conjunction with the other towns that participate, those changes will be set by the tournament committees for Tondorf and Sizzler. o If the tournaments do not allow players to play up, these players will have to play in those tournaments with the lower grade. For example, if you choose to play up in AA this year and Sizzler does not allow people born after April 30th, your son/daughter will not be allowed to play on the Medway Sizzler 9 team until next year. o In 2009, Tondorf allowed the players to Play Up - Sizzler did not. * The choice to play up is entirely up to the parents/guardians and their child. They accept the risk that their “younger” child will be playing with “older” players. You should seriously think about this decision before making it. If you would like to discuss the pros and cons in more detail, please feel free to contact Rob Faichney, the MYB Director of Leagues, at 508-533-8767 Cutoff dates for 2010 season Current New Policy top cutoff bottom cutoff Play Up Exemption for Grade Majors 5/1/1997 4/30/1999 n/a AAA 5/1/1998 4/30/2000 n/a AA 5/1/2000 4/30/2001 3rd Farm 5/1/2001 8/31/2002 n/a Coach Pitch 5/1/2002 8/31/2003 n/a T-Ball 5/1/2003 8/31/2004 n/a This same exemption has already been given to the AAA and Majors players in previous years. Those grandfathered decisions will still apply. The cutoff date for Instructional and Farm is already August 31st, so this does not affect those players.* Pros and cons that you can use to weigh your decision. Examples of reasons to have your child “play up” 1. Players may be more mature physically and emotionally 2. Player would not have as much fun if they are not playing with all of their grade 3. Want to be playing Senior League (big field) in 7th and 8th grade. If they stay with their grade, these players will have 2 years of senior league before starting High School – 7th and 8th grade. If they play with their age, they will only 1 year before high school – 8th grade. 4. Risk of not playing tournament baseball as a 12 year old. If the tournaments stick with the April cutoff, these players will be in senior league when they are 12 and therefore would no longer be eligible. Examples of reasons to have your child NOT “play up” 1. Confusion over tournament eligibility – May have to play with one age during the regular season and another age in the tourneys. 2. Want to play an extra year of Little league. If they stay with their grade, these players will have 4 more years of little league. If they play with their age, they will have 5 more years. 3. Player may not be as mature physically and emotionally. 4. An extra year of Farm league will make them better prepared for baseball in the future