2024 Season

Valley Nine is a development focused select program. The main goal is to improve players baseball skills through practices in addition to playing tournaments throughout the year. Valley Nine Baseball is Little League friendly. We will slow down during Valley Little League's season so kids can focus on those teams. We also encourage players to participate in other sports throughout the year. There are no problems if players also play football, basketball, soccer, etc. during the year.


Schedule for 2024 Season


July 2023

August & September 2023
  • Team building activities

October 2023 - February 2024
  • Practice 2x per week
    • Location: Big Rock (regardless of weather)
    • ~34 total practices
  • No practice Thanksgiving weekend
  • No practices second half of December
  • Tournaments
    • 1 in February (indoor - Chehalis)

March 2024 - June 2024
  • Little League Season starts
  • Practice 2x per month
    • Location: Big Rock / RNLL Batting Cages
    • ~8 practices
  • Tournaments
    • 1 in March
    • 1 in April
    • 1 possible in May

July 2024
  • Practices 1x per week
    • Location: Big Rock
    • 2 practices 
  • Tournaments
    • 1-2 in July
  • Form 2025 season team
    • Tryouts for 12u team
    • Tryouts for 10u team 

August-September 2024
  • Team building activities


FAQ


Why should I play for Valley Nine?
We understand there are a number of select teams in the area, but none specifically in the Duvall & Carnation area. Two of the main reason we formed this organization is 1) to build a local team that can grow and play together for many years and 2) reduce travel times/cost on parents by having practices close to Duvall. 

What teams will you have for 2024 season?
Our current 10u team will move up to 11u for 2024 season. This team will carry over all interested returning players, but we will have at least 2 roster spots as we are increasing the roster to 13 players.

We are also potentially forming a 9u team which will consist of 9 and 8yo players.  This will only happen if we have enough interested players. We have the coaching staff identified and ready. 

Is there a tryout to join?
Yes. Please see our tryout page here for details. We are currently looking for players that would be league age 11 or 10 going into the USSSA season per USSSA's age calculator to play in tournaments. Any 2024 league age 11 or 10 is eligible to join the team.

What is the costs to join?
Cost for the full year is $1200 (+$75 for new players). Dues are collected via two options.

Fee Schedule for 2024 Season

Option 1 (pay in full, save $50 on season)
  • September 1st = $1200 (+ $75 for new players) [100%]
Option 2 (split payments)
  • September 1st = $600 (+ $75 new players) [50%]
  • November 1st = $325 [25% + $25]
  • January 1st = $325 [25% + $25]

Why is payment needed so early in the schedule?
Most of the cost to run the team (facilities, tournaments and uniforms/hats) is spent in the first 3 months (Oct - Dec) of the season in order to secure practice facilities, tournaments and order uniforms in time for the first tournament or scrimmage.

What is the money used for?
Practices will make up ~$500 for 9 months and 42 practices (October to June) per player. Plus additional 3 full scrimmages with other select teams. 

Tournaments make up ~$300 per player. This will cover 5 tournaments. Travel and hotel cost (if needed) will be an additional expense for families if we play outside the Seattle area. We plan to play 1-2 tournaments outside the Seattle area.

Remaining costs (~$400 per player) cover association fees (AAU), team services (TeamSnap, GameChanger, website), equipment (baseballs, buckets, etc.) and uniforms (hat, top, pants, belt, socks and swag). We will be formed under USSSA Baseball which provides team insurance that enables us to rent practice facilities. 

Are coaches paid?
No. All coaches are 100% volunteer.

Why is practicing so expensive?
We could jump on an open field and have practice for free, but that has a lot of issues with it. 1) We cannot schedule practices as we won't know if a field will be available week to week. 2) Most fields have rules that if you have organized practices you must rent the field or face losing access to it. 3) We wouldn't have insurance. 4) We likely wouldn't be on a good field that enables us to have a full practice (i.e. a mound).

To ensure we have rights to fields or facilities we must rent it. To rent a practice facility we must have insurance. Insurance is provided by officially forming a team under a baseball association such as AAU.  

Does Valley Nine take donations?
Yes! Valley Nine Sports (the org that supports Valley Nine Baseball) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. If you would like to donate to Valley Nine Baseball please reach out to Jason Lewis at valleynine (at) outlook (.) com.

Is anything changing from last year?
Yes. As coaches we learned a lot this year as well and have planned the following changes:

  1. We will begin practices in October (vs. September) to give kids 2+ months off of baseball). It's important for youth players to take time off, even if it's their favorite sport. Pitchers should not pitch during this time.

  2. We will practice 2x a week. Last season we practiced 1x a week from September thru December and noticed the kids were not improving much. Once we moved to 2x a week in January improvement really ramped up. We know this will cause some interference with other sports but we will do our best to pick practice days/times that minimize impact. We still highly encourage players to play multiple sports and we will do our best to support that.  

  3. We will practice mostly outdoors, even in poor weather. We found most teams in the area still practice outdoors even in poor weather as it gives them more time on the field where they can play catch, work on fielding and game situations.

  4. We will be more balanced with our practice instruction. Last season since we were indoors we focused most of our time on hitting and pitching. This year because we will be outdoors, we will have a much more balance of instruction across all aspects of the game. Including a big focus on fundaments of baseball.

Where will you play tournaments?
Tournament schedule comes out in the fall, but most tournaments will be anywhere between Chehalis and Everett. Most tournaments we play are through Premier Sport Tournaments (PST). We will play 1 to 2 outside of the Seattle area which will require additional travel and hotel expenses.

How much playing time will my son get?
We are developmental program at heart. To honor that we will use a continuous batting order in all games. Players will get ample time in the field as well, in both outfield and infield positions.

Will the program interfere with Valley Little League season?
Because we are a Little League friendly team we will slow down practices to 2x per month during Little Leagues season so players can prioritize their time with their Little League teams. We will play a couple tournaments during the season, but that will be over a weekend during the regular season for VLL.

Will the program interfere with other sports like football, soccer and basketball?
We will work to minimize impact on other sports during their seasons. We want and encourage kids to play other sports. During other sports seasons those sports take priority.

Where are practices?
Most of our practice will be held outside at Big Rock Ball Fields and with a few indoor practices at Redmond North Little League Batting Cages.

Who are the coaches?
The manager of the 11u team is Jason Lewis. All assistant coaches (Greg, Brian, Brady & Dave) are returning to the 11u team. You can read more about our coaches and coaching philosophy here.  

What happens for 2025 season?
Our goal is for our 11u players to stay with us as we move up to an 12u team.  If players decide not to play the following season we will look for replacements to fill out the roster.

What is the size of the roster for 2024?
We are looking to have 13 players on the roster.