North Bothell Little League Travel Ball Program – Baseball

Travel Ball is a Little League program that provides a select team experience for Little League players without the full cost of select clubs.  The Travel Ball season may run from September through the end of May.  The Travel Ball Season includes but is not limited to, travel tournaments, winter training, individual training, & scrimmages with local teams etc.  The Travel Ball program is multi-sport and obviously little league friendly program.  Per Little League Rules for Travel Ball, players must be registered in a local league and
actively participating on a regular spring season team in a local little league program (North Bothell Little League)

Bothell Thunder Baseball (formerly Bothell Cougars) was started in 2007 with a group of boys that you may have heard about…..the 2011 Washington State Little League Champions from North Bothell Little League that made it all the way to the Regional semi-finals in San Bernardino, CA.  As this program continued to grow and develop, a 9U team was added in 2012/2013 to the existing 9U, 10U, 11U, and 12U teams, and it continues to maintain all four age levels.

This is a Travel Ball/training program where the goal is to provide a head start for NBLL baseball players who have the desire to play baseball at a higher level.

We start in the fall with Friday/Sunday night workouts to build baseball fundamentals and skills, so the players are ready for the upcoming season.  In addition, the players in this group will participate in multiple tournaments between November and June/July.  In these tournaments, the players gain the experience of playing against other Select caliber teams

Bothell Thunder teams will consist of players and staff, all located within the North Bothell Little League Boundaries.  This is a program requires both financial and time commitment, however, this program provides your son/daughter the opportunity to advance his/her skills for the upcoming little league season.  Although we understand that baseball is not the primary season during the winter training months, it is strongly encouraged that your son/daughter attend as many training sessions as possible.

Training Schedule:
We traditionally start winter Training around November 1 and train indoors and outdoors until the end of May.

Fall/Winter Training is held at the Mariners Training Center (MTC) – Woodinville.  Winter training for the 9U/10U teams are every other Friday night with MTC instructors and every other Friday night teams have cages/field practices with their team coaches. The 11U/12U teams will have professional training every Friday night with MTC instructors.

In addition to Friday Night trainings, each team will practice with their coaches every Sunday night during the fall/winter training months.  Each training time will be for 1.5-2 hours.  Thunder teams do not practice during winter break.

Spring Team Practices REQUIRED.  Once the regular little league season starts, we will start outdoor field practices once a week on Sunday’s.

Tournaments we plan on traveling with 12 to 13 boys/girls at each age level. The tournament fees will be divided among the players playing in the tournament.  These fees usually run in the $50 per player plus travel expenses.  We are anticipating attending a minimum of two to three local tournaments with the potential of playing additional out-of-town tournaments (This will all depend on the interest Level and what tournaments are available).  Tournaments are typically during Spring Break, Memorial Day weekend, Father’s day weekend, and over the summer,. Coaches have the flexibility to play more tournaments if they are able to field a team.

Costs:
The following costs are close estimates and may change slightly when we get closer to the beginning of the each season and establish final agreements with facilities.
9U/10U Program will range between $900-$1,050
11U/12U Program will range between $1,500 – $1,600
The fees can be paid upfront or can be spread out to be 3 or 4 monthly installments.

Uniform/Gear costs are in addition to the above cost. You will be responsible for purchasing a jersey, pants, a belt, socks, a
helmet, a pullover, and a hat.

While this is may fell like a significant financial commitment, the cost of professional training typically runs in the $75 per hour for a group lesson and $135+ per hour for a one-on-one instruction.  Our program cost ends up averaging around $10-20 per hour of training. Comparative to other programs our program is significantly less expensive with similar training/game opportunities.  In addition to all the training, we will provide a positive & energetic environment to develop friendships and positive life lessons through the game of baseball.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out

Andy Walker
NBLL Travel  Ball Director – Baseball
Bothell Thunder
[email protected]
925-207-0263