At T&C each age division has its own field, so almost all recreational league games will be played on the same field at the T&C facility. There are some exceptions to this with interleague games, open team leagues, tournament games and others so it is best to confirm game location with your coach if you are unsure. 

Times may change from season to season depending on issues like the number of teams and availability of umpires. You should always follow the schedule handed out by your coach and check the schedule page for updates. During the season, each team typically plays one game during the week and one on Saturday. During the week, the first game typically starts at 6:00 pm and the second game begins 10 or 15 min. after the first game is completed. On Saturday, games for all leagues typically start at 9:00 am and are played through the day with the last games starting around 5:00 pm

Each league’s games last different lengths: 5-6U games are 1 hour, 7-8U games are 1:10, 9-10U games are 1:25, 11-12U games are 1:35, 13-14U games are 1:45 and 15-18U games are 1:50.

It is recommended that players arrive at the field 1 hour prior to game time so managers can warm them up and get the line-up cards ready prior to the start of the game.

Prior to the beginning of the season, teams will usually practice twice during the week and possibly once on the weekend.  When the season starts and teams are playing up to 2 games per week, most teams will reduce practices to once or twice per week.  The volunteer head coach for each team will determine what works best for their team.

Coaches will often use an offsite facility, typically a park or school, for some practices.

Practicing on the fields is a primary benefit of participating in recreational baseball at Town & Country. While practice slot availabilty will be limited by the number of teams, every effort is made to maximize their use. The registration cost for players includes a limited number of practice slots for teams. Head coaches can choose to purchase additional slots. The process for requesting practice slots is covered during pre-season coach orientation.

Depending on the date of the league’s team drafts or team formation, T&C baseball leagues try to start practicing 2-3 weeks prior to opening day games for the season. Practices typically start the Monday after the team draft and are scheduled once the manager has his roster and contacts his team members and parents.

The Spring season typically starts near the beginning of March while the Fall season typically starts after Labor Day weekend. Please check the calendar page for league dates and events.

The Spring season has about 12-13 games and usually lasts about 10 to 12 weeks while the Fall season has 8-10 games and usually lasts 6-8 weeks.

The registration fee includes a jersey and cap for each player to use during league games. A uniform consists of a pair of baseball pants, a baseball jersey and a baseball cap. You will need to provide a batting helmet, belt, socks, pants and cleats. The pants are usually gray or white. Be sure to check with your coach and team parent prior to buying new pants for the season. Only players in 14U divisions are allowed to wear metal cleats. All other divisions must wear rubber molded cleats. Coaches are provided with catcher’s gear for the team’s use.

A quality leather glove is a must. Vinyl and simulated leather gloves are less expensive, but often cause the player a great deal of frustration because it’s very difficult to form a pocket in gloves made of vinyl or simulated leather and the ball tends to pop out when the player attempts to catch it. You should not buy a glove that is too big for the player. Gloves range in size from about 10″ to 14″. You shouldn’t buy a large glove anticipating that “he/she will grow into it”. The glove should be bought to last for about 2 years of play.

Players will also need a bat. Aluminum bats come in a wide range of prices, sizes and quality. Coaches are familiar with the T&C Bat rule, which governs approved bats based on current national standards. You can consult with your local sporting good suppliers for a size chart or see the bat manufacturers on their web page. As with gloves, bats need to be appropriate for the age and size of the player.

It is strongly recommended to get input from your child’s coach before buying a new bat or glove.

If at any time you have a problem or just want information, please go to the Baseball Board page and you will find a list of baseball officers and coordinators. You will also see job descriptions and e-mail addresses for them. Typically, you should bring up concerns or questions to your age division commissioner first. If the league commissioner can’t resolve the issue, you should next contact the age division’s Vice President (there is a VP for the 5-10 year old age divisions and another for the 11-18 year old age divisions). You can always contact any of the board members or officers if you feel you need to. Please note that our Baseball Board is an all volunteer organization and we may not be able to respond to you within the same day, however, we should be able to get back to you within 48 hours.

You are also welcome to attend a board meeting and express your concerns directly to the commissioners and officers. We usually meet on the second Monday of each month. Please e-mail the President if you wish to be added to the agenda for the next meeting and to confirm the meeting location and time.

Please refer to the section on “How are children placed on teams”. While buddy and coach requests are considered for the formation of Tball (6U and under), placement of players on the same team as their friends or preferred coach is NOT GUARANTEED. Buddy and coach requests for 8U and older are reviewed by commissioners prior to the player selection draft, but placement of players on team is per the process described. Coaches will make an attempt to accommodate these requests where possible, but parents and players should understand that this often cannot be accommodated.

No, not after the draft. Only in extreme cases do we allow children to switch teams after the teams have been formed. Such requests must be made in writing to the league’s Board of Directors. First you need to contact your league commissioner and give him the request in writing. The request should include the reasons why you would like to change. The commissioner will then bring this request to the board. If the commissioner thinks the issue can be worked out between any parties concerned or via a method of help, your assistance may be requested to this first. If for any reason you feel you cannot go through your league’s commissioner, then feel free to make the request directly to the board officer that heads your child’s league. See the Baseball Board page for assistance with who to contact.

If you request to drop prior to player assessments, then you will receive a refund of your paid registration fee less a 10% holdback due to hard costs associated with your player’s online registration. If you request to drop after player try-outs, but before the first game, then you will receive a refund of your paid registration fee less a 25% holdback due to uniforms already having been ordered and costs incurred. Once games begin, no refunds will be given.  No refunds are given to decal orders, donations, late fees, or because of team placement.

The refund request form can be found here: https://www.tandcsports.org/about-tc/tc-office/

The manager (head coach) for each team is allowed to protect their own children as well as their assistant coach’s child prior to draft. This so that the manager and assistant coach can work together to manage a team. Some divisions during some seasons allow for a few additional protections please contact your Coach or the specific division coordinator to find out how many Protections are allowed for your Division. (Additional protections usually only apply during the spring season.)

Tball players are placed on teams by commissioner and league officers, with the intent of grouping players from the same neighborhood as much as possible. Players for all other age divisions are placed on teams through the process of player assessments (try-outs) and a draft. At the “tryouts” players are given the opportunity to show their skills in front of all of the coaches for their particular league. Each coach will use this evaluation to select players during the draft. If you child does not attend tryouts, they are not draftable. They will be selected for a team through the hat pick method. With the exception of protected players, there is no guarantee that players will be placed on a specific team.

During both the fall and spring seasons, all players except 4-6U (T-ball) and protected players should attend player assessments to be drafted onto a team. Players that do not attend assessments will be placed on teams via a “hat pick” process.

The assessments give the managers within the league an opportunity to evaluate each player prior to the draft. Assessments consist of players fielding ground balls, throwing balls to first from shortstop, and hitting with a coach or a commissioner pitching.

We try to hold assessments in a non-intimidating environment. Assessment times for each division are generally posted a few weeks before assessments on the main baseball webpage.

In all divisions, all children participating in player tryouts will be placed on teams during the draft. All players missing the tryout will be drawn blindly and placed on teams.

No, in 5-6U T-ball, we use a Reduced Injury Factor (“RIF”) baseball. It is the same size as a regulation baseball, but softer. Your child’s first introduction to a regulation baseball will occur in the 7-8U division.

No pitching is allowed in 5-6U T-ball. All players must hit the ball off the tee. 

This is the player’s first introduction to competitive baseball with the primary focus of the AA division being more instructional. There is also a AAA division if we have more than 50 players who register to play in AAA. AAA teams are usually made up of 2nd year 8U players, but there may be some first-year players. The AAA division is more competitive from an overall player performance perspective, although we keep track of the scores and standings in both leagues. AAA teams will sometimes play other AAA teams from area leagues such as Cedar Park with games being at either T&C and/or the other team’s league field.

No kids pitch in the 8U Coach Pitch league. Only coaches are allowed to pitch in both the AA and AAA leagues of 8U. 

AA leagues are regular “recreational” leagues. This is usually offered in the spring season for the 7-8U and the 9-10U year old divisions. They will play other AA T&C teams in their league. All the games will be held at the T&C fields. They may also play in mid-season tournaments. This is the division that most of the players in these age groups play in.

The AAA division is usually offered in the spring season for the 7-8U and the 9-10U year old divisions. AAA leagues offers the more experienced players a more competitive environment over our regular AA division. Teams will be picked through tryouts and a draft conducted at Town & Country. To be considered for the AAA division a player must attend tryouts. About 20% of the players in each of the two divisions will be selected to participate in the AAA division. If a player signed up for AAA is not selected in the AAA draft that player will automatically be place in the AA draft pool. AAA teams for the ages of 7-10 typically play only at T&C but will occasionally travel to play other AAA teams from surrounding leagues.

Open leagues offer a highly competitive environment compared to our regular league play. Players are usually between the ages of 11 to 14. Each team will typically be age specific. i.e. – all kids on the team will be of the same age. Players are selected by the team’s coaches. Players are not drafted. Each team will conduct one tryout at T&C Sports usually in the fall or January. Open teams will often travel to play other open teams from Georgetown, Old Settlers Express, Sam Bass Baseball, LCP, and Lake Travis. Most teams will play and travel to tournaments throughout the season. Each team will play approximately eight games at T&C and 8 games at other league games elsewhere. Open teams have additional costs for tournaments, uniforms, travel, and equipment not included in the registration cost. If you have an interest in open baseball, contact the team coach or the open coordinator. A list of open teams and information regarding those teams will be posted on our web site when the information becomes available.

This is the one day before each season starts (Spring and Fall) where we spruce up the fields and bring them to game-ready condition. We require all coaches – heads and assistants – to work field day. We also ask parents, or anyone interested in helping to come out and help. Some seasons, it is as simple as putting down some new dirt, painting, raking, and cutting back some grass. Other seasons it may require replacing bases, mounds, fencing, batting cage nets, etc. T&C Baseball is a completely volunteer organization. All board members and commissioners are volunteers and do not get paid a dime for their hard work. We ask you to volunteer some of your time to help make T&C a great place to play for our kids. Thanks for your help.

To become a coach, you must fill out a coach’s application during registration. You are also required to give permission for a background check. You need to give coaching background, if any, and character references. The Baseball Board will review all applications and select the coaches for that season.

All T&C volunteers, from coaches to team managers, must successfully pass a background screen and complete an abuse prevention course to be in compliance with the federally mandated Youth Safe Sports Act.  All volunteers who engage with players in practices or games in the dugout or on the field must complete the volunteer process.

To become an approved coach (or volunteer of any kind), you must fill out the SportsEngine Coach Application at the beginning of a season. The application will generate a criminal background check and direct you to watch an abuse prevention video.  Only those coaches that have successfully passed the background check and completed the abuse prevention training will be considered by the Baseball Board to be selected as coaches for the season. Both the background check and abuse prevention training must be completed prior to contact with players.

The certification is good for two years from the date of completion. Coaches whose certifications have expired will need to reapply following the process above.

The league cutoff date is April 30th. A player’s league age is determined by his or her age prior to May 1st. For example, if your player turns 9 on May 2, then the player is considered to be a 8 year old for that Fall or Spring’s play. Another player who turns 9 on Apr 29th is considered a 9-year-old since the birthday occurs before the cutoff date.

Players must play in the proscribed age division. This is critical to maintaining competitive balance, safety of all players, and promoting proper development. Particularly when a player’s birthdate is very close to the age cutoff, parents may be concerned about how playing in the stipulated age group will work out for their player. Each coach will lead a team composed of players with a range of experience and physical and baseball abilities, and each player will find success in the appropriate age level.

During the spring season each coach will be allowed to nominate players from their team to participate on a June-only tournament team which competes with other area league teams. After the date to submit nominations has passed (usually some time during the first week of May) all the regular season coaches from each division will meet to vote on the players to be assigned to the tournament teams. All regular season coaches may apply to be the head coach of a tournament team. Coach selections will be done by the coach selection committee.

The web page will be updated as soon as we can get the information that games are canceled. On large rain event days, it will be an easy call for our baseball board to make. They will contact us and we will update the page between 3:00 & 5:00 PM weekdays, and between 7:30 and 8:30 AM on Saturdays. On days when there is thunder, lightning, or light rain just before at or during game time, a commissioner will need to evaluate the fields and contact us with specific information about which fields are playable and which are not. We may not get the data updated until closer to or at game time on these days. 

On the front page, you will see a button titled “Field Status”. Clicking this will take you to the Field Status page which is updated daily at a minimum and more frequently during weather events. The field status is also updated on our Twitter account: @TCSportsAustin. 

Until the page is updated, or you have been contacted by your coach, you should assume games are being played. To be sure you are seeing the freshest information posted to the web page, click the refresh button in your browser’s tool bar.

The Town & Country Sports Complex is now monitored by a Thor Guard lightning prediction and warning system.  The Thor Guard system measures atmospheric conditions at the T&C campus and surrounding area.  When the conditions reach the threshold for potential lightning, an alarm will sound (one long blast of the sirens) and the strobe lights will begin to flash.

Steps to take when the Thor Guard sirens and lights are activated:

1.  EVERYONE on the T&C campus must take immediate shelter, either in cars or in the T&C restrooms (these are the safest structures).

2. Only when the Thor Guard system gives the ‘all clear’ (3 short siren blasts and the lights go off), may activities resume.

It is the responsibility of every adult on campus to comply with these steps, and to ensure that every child also complies.  This is a Zero Tolerance safety condition for participating at T&C.  Failure to comply is to do so at your own safety risk, and with possible expulsion from the T&C campus and future activities.

You may view the status of the T&C Thor Guard system from your smart phone or PC at this link: Thor Guard

Additional Common-Sense Steps:

In the unlikely event that you see lightning in the vicinity or hear thunder, and the Thor Guard system has not activated:

1.  Notify the Commissioner on Duty (COD) for your sport.

2.  The COD will consider this information and determine if activities should be suspended.  The COD may use additional sources of information, such as the ‘Weatherbug’ app, in making the decision.  Lightning strikes within 10 miles identified by the app warrant suspension of activities.

3. If the COD decides to suspend activities, he/she will retrieve the bullhorn from the lightning box by the main office, and trigger 5 long blasts.  Upon hearing these blasts, EVERYONE on campus, across all sports, must immediately seek shelter in cars or restrooms.

4. The COD who initiated the suspension of activities will communicate the ‘all clear’ 30 minutes after the last reported thunder or lighting.  This will be done through 2 blasts on the bullhorn.