| BBF Southern Youth Conference looking for more teams for 2010 season |
The British Baseball Federation's Southern Youth Conference is planning to run leagues at Pony and Bronco age groups in 2010, and would like to attract more teams to play in them. The Pony age group is for players in school years 9-11 and the Bronco age group is for players in years 6-8, but there is some flexibility for players in year 8 to play Pony and for players in year 5 to play Bronco.
Last season, three teams played in the Bronco Conference schedule and four in the Pony Conference. But the BBF's Southern Conference clubs have already given a clear indication that they are willing to rise to the challenges facing youth baseball in the south as a group.
It is the intention to recognise different levels of development in affiliated youth organisations by including weeks in the schedule where games can take place between teams playing in the Conference League, teams in local leagues in places such as Herts, Horsham and Plymouth, and developing teams such as Broadwater and Tonbridge that are not ready to commit to playing baseball every week.
|
|
Leagues and Tournaments
The regular Southern Youth Conference season will begin on April 17 and conclude by July 24. After that date, a schedule of tournaments will be drawn up, each to be hosted by different organisations, during the school summer holidays.
At the same time, a playoff structure will be developed and all affiliated youth organisations will have the opportunity to enter a team into those playoffs, probably in early September, which will decide two teams to represent the Conference at the National Youth Baseball Championships to be hosted this year in the North.
Southern teams did well in the 2009 Youth NBC, with the Bracknell Tornadoes winning their second consecutive championship at Pony age level while the London Mets were crowned national Bronco champions.
New Organisations Welcome
Any new clubs or organisations that wish to have teams included in the schedule, whether as a developing programme wishing to play occasional games, a local league wishing its teams or a representative team to play games against other teams or a new team wishing to play in the Conference league schedule, should contact Southern Conference Commissioner Paul Vernon by email immediately through the Contacts Page on the BBF website.
The schedule for the season will be drawn up by March 20 and it will be difficult – though not necessarily impossible – to include teams after that date.
|
|
