Q. How many teams do you have?
A. Blue Wave fields 12 to 16 teams each season and continues to grow each year.
Q. What are the age groups for your teams?
A. Blue Wave has teams in each of the following age divisions: 10U, 11U, 12U, 13U, 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U, and 18U.
Q. What are the age requirements?
A. The cutoff date is May 1 and a player may not turn older than the age division he plays in before that date. For example, if you play 12U, you cannot turn 13 prior to May 1. All players move up in age division on September 1 each year.
Q. What is the youngest age you will allow to play with Blue Wave?
A. 9-years-old playing on a 10U team.
Q. What is the oldest age you will allow to play with Blue Wave?
A. League age 18U. We only play high school graduating seniors for the summer season after they graduate.
Q. When do they play?
A. Blue Wave Baseball is a year-round club baseball organization. We field teams in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter seasons for 10U through 14U teams. High School-level teams (15U and up) do not play with Blue Wave in the Spring during their high school season.
Q. How often do you play?
A. In General, Blue Wave tries to get 6 to 8 games in per month for each team, either through league play, tournament play, or combination. More advanced teams can play as many as 10 to 12 games a month. Blue Wave’s Juniors Teams (10U through 14U) play on Sundays during the Spring season when many players also participate with the Little League or PONY teams. Blue Wave teams typically play one to two games each weekend and participate in a tournament once a month as an average.
Q. How often do you practice?
A. Depends on the age of the team, field availability, and time of the year (Daylight Saving, etc.). Typically, all Blue Wave “Juniors†teams (10U through 14U) practice twice a week, once for hitting, once for fielding. Blue Wave’s Seniors teams (15U through 18U) typically practice once a week, depending on high school baseball schedules and student commitments (Finals, SATs, Proms, you name it).
Q. Can you play for other teams or play other sports at the same time?
A. You cannot play for Blue Wave Baseball and another club (travel team) at the same time unless given specific permission by the respective Blue Wave coach to play as a “guest” on another team at any age level. Players on 10U, 11U, and 12U teams can participate with their Little League and PONY teams while playing for Blue Wave as long as: (A) Blue Wave games are given priority over rec league (PONY or Little League) games and (B) Blue Wave practices are given priority over rec league team practices. Little League and PONY games are given priority over Blue Wave practices during the recreational baseball league season. At 13U and 14U, we prefer players give Blue Wave total priority and not play recreational baseball if they are on teams that are part of the Blue Wave high school player development program.
Q. When do you have tryouts?
A. Blue Wave Baseball conducts periodic tryouts. To be notified of a tryout, you need to be on the organization’s eMail contact list. Players may also tryout with our teams before, during, and after the season depending on the coach. However, once we commit to a player for the season, we do not bump them for new players. We only add players during the season when someone is hurt or to fill out our roster.
Q. How many players are on a team?
A. Blue Wave rosters are 12-13 players per team for ages 10U, 11U, and 12U. As players move up to high school preparation programs, rosters range from 12 to 15 players at 13U and 14U. High school-level team rosters (15U, 16U, 17U, and 18U) range from 15 to 20 players depending player availability, pitching, and position depth.
Q. What does it cost?
A. Blue Wave charges: (1) a one-time New Player Registration Fee of $199 that includes admin setup costs and the players first shirt and cap; (2) a Season Fee that covers the cost of coaching, coaching, insurance, field rentals, equipment, etc.; and (3) Tournament Fee or League Fee to cover the cost of the games, tournament fee entry, coach’s travel, etc. Season Fees can range from $450 per three month season to $795, depending on the number of coaches, field costs, age division, number of players on the team, etc. Typically, our younger teams (10U-13U) average $495 for a three month season, up to $795 or more for high-school aged showcase teams. Local tournament fees are typically $60 per player per tournament – travel tournaments are more, depending on location and length of stay. League fees are also higher, depending on number of games played. Uniform costs are also additional.
Q. What if I cannot afford the fees?
A. Blue Wave Baseball provides a comprehensive letter writting kit so parents/players can easily raise funds to cover fees. Reduced fees and payment plans can also be arranged for those in need.
Q. Does the organization make money?
A. Blue Wave Baseball is a fully compliant 503C non-profit organization run by volunteer administrators. Coaches and professional trainers are paid stipends. The organization is operated on a break-even basis and does not make a profit.
Q. Can players be cut during the season?
A. Once the team commits to the player for the season, they cannot be cut unless the player does not come to practice or games or is a discipline problem. However, Blue Wave reserves the right to cut a player at any time.
Q. What if the player quits during the season?
A. No refunds are provided if a player quits or cannot player under any circumstances.
Q. What are your codes of conduct for parents?
A. All parents, siblings, family, and friends are to remain in the stands at all times. No one is allowed on the practice or game field unless specifically invited by the coach. No one is allowed in, around, or behind the player dugout in a game or practice unless specifically invited by the coach. All comments directed at players, coaches, umpires, and other teams are to be positive on and off the field. Negative comments to umpires, other teams, coaches, and players will result in automatic suspension from the team.
Q. What your policies in regards to alcohol and tobacco?
A. No alcohol or tobacco is allowed at any game or practice even if city or country rules grant permission. No alcohol or tobacco is to be visible by any member of the team at any time. Any violation results in automatic dismissal from the team. If any parent, friend or family, is suspect of being under the influence or alcohol or drugs their child will not be allowed to leave in a vehicle with them and local authorities will be called to deal with the issue.
Q. What about uniforms?
A. Each Blue Wave player is provided a cap ($25) and game/practice shirt ($40) as part of the players initial New Player Registration Fee. If additional caps and shirts are needed, they are priced and sold separately. On occasion, Blue Wave teams purchase special jerseys that are also priced and sold separately. All players must purchase their own pants (White and Gray), Navy belts and socks separately.
Q. Where are your teams based, are there residence requirements?
A. Blue Wave Baseball is headquartered in Irvine, California, and maintains residency requirements needed for field allocations from the city. However, nearly 40% of Blue Wave players come from surrounding communities (Tustin, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach/CDM, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, etc.).
