We have complied a list of the most common questions asked about the L.I. Angels for 2009 We hope they are helpful

Question: What makes the Angels different from other youth baseball programs? 
Answer:   The Angels are a private youth baseball program,  focusing on building young athletes. Unlike other travel programs, we do not  recruit players based on their ability, but rather "build" players through our comprehensive training program. It is easy for any team to find the best twelve players on Long Island and bill themselves as the "best".  We pride ourselves in the fact that we provide resources to help train our players at a young age, therefore developing our talent. We believe any child with average athletic ability, provided nurturing training in the right environment can develope into an above average player. Our coaches are here to help teach our kids, not only baseball, but how to carry themselves as young men on the field, as well as good sportsmanship and team work. At the end of the day, wins and losses are not the most important thing, but the lessons we learn at this critical age will carry over for our kids as they begin their journey through their teens. Like I said, wins and losses are not the most important thing, but we have found that with our approach to training, we can indeed not only compete,but be winners as well!

Question: What is the difference between "travel" baseball and little-league?
Answer:   This questions can best be broken down by several points. Little League baseball is a community organization with strict geographic boundaries. You must be in the community to play in a specific league. Independent travel baseball, there are no boundaries. If you can make the commitment to make the practices and games, and you are willing to learn and try your best, you can play for us. Little league accepts all players who register, where as is travel baseball, you have to "make" our team. Where most travel teams only pick the best of the best, we at the Angels rarely will turn away a player willing to make the commitment to us. Often, a players parents can be a stumbling block to becoming an Angel. We stress good sportsmanship and team work. We will not tolerate parents who yell at umpires, criticize the coach, or become arm chair managers. In little league, your player is put on a new team every season. In travel baseball, teams are kept together season after season, year after year, this way players learn to play together as a unit. Most importantly, in travel baseball, we teach "real baseball". Little league plays it's games on a 60' diamond, with no leading and stealing until the age of 13. In travel baseball, only 9U divisions play 60' baseball. 10U moves to 65' with leading and stealing, 11U and 12U move to 75', and 13U and up play regulation 90' baseball. We feel this is the best way to prepare our young players for playing on their middle school teams. In the past, over 90% of our players who have played in our program have made their middle school and high school teams in their first year.

Question: If my son makes the team, will he guaranteed a certain amount of playing time?
Answer:   Although we rarely turn away a player, playing time is based on ability. Travel baseball is alot more competitive than little league. Most players find the most valuable part of our program is the practices and training. If a player works hard, he will have equal opportunity to "crack" the starting lineup.

Question: What kind of training will my son receive?
Answer:   Our training system will be multi-faceted, unlike any other travel program around. From Jan through March, we will be training once a week at the new PROSPECT SPORTS in Farmingdale. Each session will include circuit training with two paid trainers, as well as core conditioning. During season play, the league fee will include 1 professional coach assigned to each team to run structured practices and games,occasional training clinics with pros from our organization focusing on specific areas of the game, and each player will receive discounted individual batting, pitching, catching, feilding, and strength and conditioning lessons at PROSPECT SPORTS.  All of our teams will train the same, giving us the ability to cross train as an organization, sharing each pro coaches strengths in individual areas.

Question: My son already takes lessons from another coach, can I remain with that coach and still play on the Angels? 
Answer:   Although we would never tell you you cant continue with a current trainer, we have hand picked our hitting instructors, who we believe are truly the best in the game. The advantage of all our players using the same trainers is that we have developed a system for the hitting instructors to communicate weekly with the team managers. This will allow the manager to make in game adjustments with the player when he comes to bat. We have also negotiated a great deal due to he volume of lessons, therefore if you were to play for a travel team and paid for lessons on your own elsewhere, you would truly wind up spending much more money. Though we want all of our players to work with our trainers and coaches, it is your perogative to work with who you'd like. 

Question: How much will this cost?
Answer:   2009 prices TBD (Lessons will not be attached to the fees in 2009, though there will be a similar but slightly lower discount.)

Question: Do we have to play all three seasons? 
Answer:   No player is obligated to play all three season, therefore the fees are broken down by winter, spring, summer and fall. Roster spots are limited, and if a player where to leave a team for a season, the spot will be filled, and there is no guarantee the spot will be available when you want to come back.

Question: Can I help coach? 
Answer:   Although each team will be run by professional coaches, we welcome volunteers to help in practices, and in the games on the bench.

Question: Where are the games played?
Answer:   Until now, all games have been played at Basball Heaven. We will continue to play our main league games in this state of the art facility, as well as we will be exploring the option of playing in other various leagues and tournaments this year.

Question: Can a player play on the Angels and still participate in our local little league?
Answer:   Due to the amount of playing time we you will have with the Angels, we ask that players devote their time to us. If a player opts for little league, he can not miss ANY PRACTICES OR GAMES due to a little league event. Under no circumstances can a player play in the Williamsport tournament. That tournament will not allow your son to play with any other team, and if he were to leave us mid stream to play Williamsport, he will be letting down his Angels teammates who have worked so hard. 

Question: Are uniforms provided? 
Answer:   Uniforms are additional and are purchased directly from The Long Island Angels. Each uniform is customized, and can be used from season to season.

Question: How many games will you be playing?
Answer:   Between spring, summer and fall, we will play 50 official league games. We also will play aprox 10 to 15 scrimmages with other teams, as well as various tournaments.

Question: Will we be participating in any tournaments and how much?
Answer:   We will be choosing various tournaments to play in throughout the year. We are hoping to find sponsorship for many of these, but any player who wishes to play will be expected to help with the fund raising effort, and or shoulder the balance of any un-raised funds.  In 2009 Tournaments may be included in the fees, more details to come.