8U Summer Baseball
Teams at 8U will be playing the Friendship League. The Friendship League does not have tiers and our teams will be as balanced as possible. Friendship League teams typically play two games per week and all teams qualify for playoffs. All players will attend an evaluation in the spring. This combined with feedback from spring coaches will be used to create balanced teams. This program provides a great introduction to travel baseball for younger players.
FAQ
Q: What's the time commitment?
A: Teams play 2 games a week (either on M/W or T/Th schedule). Given rainouts etc, the schedule may have to get moved around and there is the possibility of a weekend game but coaches typically try to avoid that.
Practices are up to the individual coaches. In the past some coaches had a weekend practice, some during the week and some not much at all once the season starts.
Q: How long does the season run?
A: The season starts the last week in June and goes until early August. In most years, the absolute final game was in around August 10 and most teams were done well before that.
Q: How much travel is there?
A: Teams play 8 regular season game, 4 of which are home games. Of the 4 away games, most will be local. Other teams that we have historically played are Wellesley, Dedham, Westwood, Walpole and Medfield. If teams advance deeper in to the playoffs, further travel may be required.
Here is the league website to see what other towns are in the league and how the schedule is structured:
https://www.mass-friendshipleague.com/
Q: How many teams will Needham field at 8U
A: As many as we can. Most seasons we have had 2 but some years we had 3. We target a roster size of 12-13, anything more than that and kids don’t play enough, much less than that and might not have enough for each game give vacations etc.
Q: How are teams selected?
A: The Friendship League requires teams be balanced. There isn’t an A team and B team like at the older ages. There will be an evaluation in the spring to help balance the teams. This evaluation will be used in combination with feedback from spring coaches to balance the teams the best we can. It isn’t a tryout. No one will be cut.
Q: Can you accommodate friend requests?
A: Because we need to balance the teams, it becomes difficult to honor friend requests. When possible, we will try to keep kids with kids from their spring team but not at the expense of strengthening or weakening a team.
Q: My child is in Single A but is a 9-year old per the Little League age chart. Can they play with the 8s?
A: Probably. The Friendship League uses a slightly different age system. Please contact summer director if your child fits in to this category.
