BaseballRegister

Registration is now open for CYAA Spring Baseball. The Program is open to any player attending a Catholic School in Lancaster County or (for 8U and below) a member of a Catholic Parish in our surrounding area.

CYAA Baseball encourages you to sign up for spring baseball as soon as possible due to league commitments, planning purposes, team placement guarantees, and to avoid any late fees.

CYAA Baseball offers baseball programs for beginner and recreational players ages 4 to 8 years old where games are played against local teams. For T-Ball (6U) teams play in the Hempfield Rec League and our 8U teams play in the Donegal Pee-Wee League.

Additionally, CYAA Baseball programs compete in the Lancaster County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) for baseball players starting with 10U through 14U.

Spring Baseball Program

CYAA Baseball offers several programs across many age groups. Age groups are based on the LCYBL Age Chart, but there is some flexibility to best fit players onto teams where s/he is best suited. You can locate that age chart as well as other important documents for the LCYBL at https://lancoyouthbaseball.org/.

• Tee Ball: Ages 4 to 6 (recreational and plays at either SLTG or Hempfield
• 8U: Ages 7 to 8 (playing at SLTG or Fields in Mt Joy, Marietta, Manheim, Columbia)
• 10U: Ages 9 to 10 (teams playing in the LCYBL)
• 12U: Ages 11 to 12 (teams playing in the LCYBL)
• 14U: Ages 13 to 14 (teams playing in the LCYBL)

Age Chart

Birth Start	Birth End	Age	League
5/1/2020	4/30/2022	4-5	6U (HYA)
5/1/2019	4/30/2020	6	6U (HYA)
5/1/2018	4/30/2019	7	8U (Donegal)
5/1/2017	4/30/2018	8	8U (Donegal)
5/1/2016	4/30/2017	9	10U (LCYBL)
5/1/2015	4/30/2016	10	10U (LCYBL)
5/1/2014	4/30/2015	11	12U (LCYBL)
5/1/2013	4/30/2014	12	12U (LCYBL)
5/1/2012	4/30/2013	13	14U (LCYBL)
5/1/2011	4/30/2012	14	14U (LCYBL)

Registration Fees

• 6U (Tee Ball): $100
• 8U: $125
• 10U: $185
• 12U: $210
• 14U: $225

Registration

Register

The early registration deadline is January 31st. Any registration after the Registration Deadline may be subject to an additional fee.

Field Clean-Up Day (Early March)

We rely heavily on Volunteer participation for the annual Field Clean-Up. Volunteer participation and support have been fantastic in recent years. Please lookout for notification of the date for this event. It is typically on a Saturday morning in early March.

Fundraiser(s), Concessions and Volunteering

We receive generous support from the St Leo the Great Parish for use of their baseball fields and a portion of our on-going maintenance costs. These field maintenance costs are significant – especially in years where we experience consistent rain. To fund costs to keep the fields and necessary tools and equipment in condition for safe and competitive baseball, we added a fundraiser during the Spring 2025 Season. The fundraiser was a huge benefit the Baseball program but was supported by very few. Many local programs have mandatory fundraising requirements or minimum participation charges – which we choose to avoid currently. Many of our volunteer coaches that are focused on players and their development are the ones that are committing additional time keeping the grounds in order and equipment organized.

Please look out for additional information about our fundraisers and volunteer opportunities. This will also be a topic for scheduled parent meetings. Meeting dates will be circulated after registration is closed.

Coaching Needs

Each player is required to have a hat, glove, baseball pants and rubber cleats for practices and games. As part of the registration fee, players will receive a jersey and hat. Sizes and uniform number preferences are requested during the registration process. Player provided uniform pants must be gray with no piping.

Batting gloves, mouthguards, chest guards, and equipment bags are not provided by CYAA Baseball. CYAA baseball is not responsible for the loss or damage of any player owned equipment.

In past years, CYAA Baseball Coaches had conferred and decided that all players from 8U and above are required to wear batting helmets with a protective C-Guard. This is not at the discretion of a parent or player. Any player not complying will not be permitted to enter the batters’ box or receive a pitch. Please keep this in mind if you are purchasing a helmet for your player. We have team helmets available with the guards. Many helmets also have the option available to attach a guard to your existing helmet.

Most players at 10U and above have their own preferred bat, helmet and positions specific equipment (Cathers gear). It is mandatory for any catcher to wear a protective cup, It is highly recommended for all players.

8U leagues and above have specific bat requirements. We will review these at initial practices and any scheduled parent meetings. All players on 10U and 12U playing in LCYBL will be able to use bats that comply with 2017 pre-USA bat standards or the 2018 USA bat standards. More simply, the bats must be stamped "USA Bat" or "BPF". 14U and older players must use bats stamped BBCOR. The clearest explanation of legal bats in the LCYBL is the Ripken Baseball Bat Rules.

Refund Policy

If a refund is requested, we reserve the right to reduce the refund by any costs that we’ve incurred. Examples of those costs are registration fees, uniforms, league fees, etc. Submit your request via email to rcfink1@icloud.com with the player’s name and reason.

What Happens After Registration

6U (Tee Ball)

Practices will begin in late March or early April at which point you'll hear from your coach with more details about the season. Typically, a team will practice 1-2 times per week. Each coach makes their practice schedule according to field availability and other variables. No events are scheduled on Sundays unless weather cancellations require make up games. The season typically ends in early June but your coach will provide your schedules once they ae published by the league. Please note any scheduling conflicts during registration and we'll try to accommodate.

8U (Kid and Coach Pitch)

Practices will begin in late March or early April at which point you'll hear from your coach with more details about the season. Typically, a team will practice 2 times per week. Each coach makes their practice schedule according to field availability and other variables. This group plays in the Donegal PeeWee League (this is a travel league). Away fields are generally no more than 20 minutes from SLTG. No events are scheduled on Sundays unless weather cancellations require make up games. The season typically ends in early June, but your coach will provide your schedules once they are published by the league Please note any scheduling conflicts during registration and we'll try to accommodate.

10U/12U/14U Teams

For Age Groups where we will have more than one participating team, we will assess skills to best place each player on a team. All players will be evaluated fairly and placed on teams based on what’s best for the player, team, and program. Players will be assessed on Hitting, Fielding, and Pitching.

Program Coordinators and Coaches will decide the best placement of players to best assign players to the appropriate section and team. There are league mandated playing time requirements for all 10U teams and 12U3 teams. Our program has not cut players due to roster sizes, which can occasionally make roster management very difficult. If we have sufficient registration for more than two teams at both the 12U and 14U level, all rostered players will receive routine playing time; otherwise, player game involvement will be at the discretion of the team’s coach.

All 10U/12U/14U rosters will be determined by early March and coaches will then communicate team practice schedules and season expectations. Your coach will determine their team's practice frequency and schedule but you can usually expect 3-4 practices per week and then 12 games per week beginning in April. The regular season ends in mid-to-late June and if playoffs are achieved then the season may continue through mid-July.

Coaches may also enter their team into tournament(s). Tournament options will be explained at the beginning of the season.

Optional Development Sessions

We will conduct several optional player development sessions. Once schedules are available, we will circulate the available sessions to any registered player. If you are interested in these sessions, please reach out to Ron Fink at 717-471-9831 or rcfink1@icloud.com. There will be an additional charge for these sessions.

Crusader Youth Athletic Association

As a youth athletic program, the Crusaders Youth Athletic Association (CYAA) Program strives to instill positive characteristics in our players through the demonstration of sportsmanship, teamwork and showing respect for others. The focus of your child's involvement should not be about winning and losing but on learning the fundamental and technical skills of the game, developing teamwork qualities and having fun. Parents or guardians of a child participating within the CYAA Program are asked to reinforce this goal and to conduct themselves in a supportive manner by demonstrating positive support to players, coaches and officials. Please remember, the attitude shown by parents and guardians towards players, coaches and officials can influence a child's values and behavior towards sports.

"The goal is to always have fun while learning new skills."