The Edina Travel Baseball goals center on providing a positive baseball experience for players and families through the development of baseball skills, teamwork and sportsmanship; thereby growing the love and appreciation of baseball for all. While winning is not the primary focus, competing and striving to win are important parts of the program.

Key goals of Edina Travel Baseball:

• Provide those interested in playing competitive baseball the opportunity to play and enjoy the game at a level that is consistent with their current skills, competitiveness and commitment.

• Provide skill development opportunities for all participants to improve.

• Seek to maximize the potential of every player in the program.

• Develop players and teams that can compete at a top level.

• Provide the opportunity for competitive fun, achievement and excellence, personal and team, at all levels.

• Foster an environment of teamwork and understanding that all team members play an integral part in the success of the team.

• Coach to sportsmanship and high standards in all baseball activities.

Equitable Play Policy: The guiding principles regarding playing time starts and ends with developing all baseball players at every level and every age. If players do not play, they do not develop. Given the structure of our leagues, the talent level from the top of a roster to the bottom should not vary dramatically; therefore, playing time should also not vary dramatically. We have developed guidelines for all our coaches to follow in the pursuit of developing a large and extremely talented group of baseball players. 

• Playing time should be as equal as possible throughout the season.

  • 9U-13U: Within the season, no player should play more than 10% more than any other player; measured in innings played and plate-appearances.

  • 14U-15U: Within the season, no player should play more than 25% more than any other player; measured in innings played and plate-appearances.

• Playing time should be managed effectively from game-to-game and within a game.

  • 9U-13U: No player shall play more than one inning more than any other player in league play and no more than two innings more than any other player in tournament games. 

• All players should have the opportunity to play different positions.

  • 9U-11U: All players shall play in at least 2 of the following 3 classifications of positions in the field: 1) infield; 2) outfield; 3) pitcher/catcher during each regular season and playoff games.

  • 12U-13U: All players should have the opportunity to play in different positions.

  • 14U-15U:Players should have the opportunity to play in different positions based on their interests along with the best interest of the team. Player's roles become more defined as they get older and while the players will have the opportunity to play different positions, some players will be in specialized roles (e.g., Pitcher). This may impact their playing time and positions played.

Equitable playing time is reinforced; however, coaches are afforded latitude to temporarily reduce time for players who exhibit poor conduct or a distinct lack of commitment to the team. Coaches are required to communicate the specific reasons for playing time reductions to the player and parents, and to work with the player to help rectify the situation; see the Travel Commitment Policy.