Travel Program

• There are typically 2-3 practices a week and 1-2 league games per week. In total, you should expect 3-4 weeknights of baseball each week. Some could be more and some could be fewer, but 3-4 is what we tell people to expect.
• Fridays are typically only used when there’s a weekend tournament, though there could be practices or league games scheduled on Fridays. 
• EPBA schedules indoor practices during the month of April. Schedules will be entered into the team's schedule once we have confirmed dates and times.

• For each season, there will typically be 14 regular season league games. These games are normally scheduled for weeknights (Mon. - Thurs.) and can begin as early as April 15 for ages 9-14U and end of May for 15U (after the High School season has concluded).
• Regular season games usually begin around 6:00 PM; some games may be scheduled as late as 8:00 PM.
• Players are expected to report 30 to 60 minutes before game time.
• About half of those will be in Eden Prairie and the other half will be at other associations' home fields. We won't know which other associations are in the same region until closer to the season start (probably March), but they're usually pretty close - Prior Lake, Minnetonka, Burnsville, etc.
• Coaches may schedule additional scrimmages and occasionally, regular league games may be scheduled for weekends.
• League games are used for the development of players. While everyone wants to win, our coaches are told not to prioritize winning over player development in league games. League games are where players learn, grow, and try new things! Expect to see relatively equal playing time and players trying out lots of positions. 

• Teams at ages 9-15U will participate in 3-4 weekend state-qualifying tournaments. EPBA teams play in 3 metro-area tournaments and 1 “travel” tournament.
• One of the metro-area tournaments will be our Eden Prairie-hosted tournament for 10U, 11U, 12U, and 15U teams.
• The travel tournaments are usually far enough away that it requires overnight stay.
• While the tournament fees are paid for by the association, families are responsible for the costs associated with travel.
• Coaches may decide to add additional tournaments with the agreement of team families. These additional tournaments will be at an additional cost to families.
• Tournaments are more competitive as they are the opportunity to qualify for the two State tournaments - Metro Baseball Tournaments and the Gopher State Tournament of Champions. Each tournament has a slightly different situation, but in general, teams earn bids to one or both State tournaments when they win first or second place in a tournament. Since teams are playing competitively, expect to see coaches be more strategic about how they use players. Playing time may not be equal and players are more likely to play in the positions where they’re most likely to help the team be successful. 
• Coaches may choose for their teams to participate in Metro Baseball League (our league) playoffs, which typically begin in early July, take a break during the middle of July for state championships, and then resume at the end of July for teams who make the league championships. 
• Depending upon a team's success in qualifying play, teams at ages 9-15U may earn a berth in 1-2 state tournaments to be played in mid July. Tournament dates will be posted below. Tournaments are never/very rarely scheduled for Memorial Day weekend or Fourth of July weekend, making those weekends safe bets for scheduling family trips.
• It is expected that all players will be available for all league games, tournaments, league playoffs, and state championship tournaments.
• See this section full tournament schedule for this upcoming season.

If you want more information, check out this video for Travel parents (from 2024). Run time is 1:07 :00 at 1x speed.