Age Advancement Policy

Niverville Youth Baseball Association (NYB) Age Advancement Policy

At the Niverville Youth Baseball Association (NYB), we believe that young athletes generally perform best when playing within their age-appropriate divisions. Success is often achieved when players compete with their peers, rather than with athletes from other age groups.

Safety First
Safety is our top priority. Even if a young player has the physical skills to play with older children, they may lack the emotional or social maturity required to succeed in those situations.

When Age Advancement is Considered
There may be cases where it is preferable for a child to “play up” to the next age level. Typically, these requests are seen when players from the 9U/U9 division wish to advance to the 11U/U11 division. In such cases, NYB will consider allowing players to attend pre-season evaluations for the higher age group.

For U13/13U and older divisions, (U11 advancing to U13) age advancement will be rare and approved only under exceptional circumstances. All requests must be approved by the convenors of the respective age group, in conjunction with the executive committee of the MMBA, and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Criteria for Age Advancement Requests
Requests for age advancement will only be considered if the player meets the following conditions:

• The player must have participated in the previous season at the age group they wish to move up from and be registered with Baseball Manitoba or Softball Manitoba. If the player was not registered with NYB in the previous season, proof of registration may be required.
• The player should not be more than one year younger than the minimum age category for the division they wish to advance to.

Decision-Making Process
After the pre-season evaluation, the following factors will influence the final decision:

• Safety Concerns: Permission will not be granted if it is determined that playing with older players could significantly increase the risk of injury for the child.
• Team Sizes: Approval depends on the total number of registrants and potential team sizes. If adding age-advanced players would create team size issues, the request will be denied.

The athlete must still be registered in their appropriate age division for the year. (However, they will pay the “age advanced” registration fee amount.

Player Development and Fairness
To ensure fairness and promote player development, any age-advanced player will only be eligible to play on the “A” level team for both baseball and softball (if NYB has an “A” team for that division).

2025 Guidelines for Age Advancement Requests

1. Registration and Notification:
   An email will be sent to all eligible players who have registered by March 24th, asking if they wish to request age advancement.
2. A response that they wish to be considered for age advancement needs to be received within 3 days.
3. Non-Refundable Fee:
   If a player requests age advancement but is not selected, no refund of fees will be issued.
4. Evaluation Fee:
   All players requesting age advancement will be required to pay a $30 evaluation fee.
5. 9U to 11U Advancement:
   For players wishing to advance from 9U to 11U, the top two players (based on evaluation criteria) will be eligible for age advancement.
6. Coaching Requirement:
• If a player wishes to age advance, either a parent must be willing to coach as either a Head Coach or Assistant Coach (with approval from the NYB board, preference will be given to those with prior coaching experience at NYB) or the player must receive permission from a coach to be assigned to their team. This option requires approval from NYB and may consider various factors such as the coach’s knowledge or relationship to the child.  In essence, if you would like to age advance you are best off volunteering as a head or assistant coach.
7. Discretion on Team Sizes:
   Depending on team sizes at the U9 and U11 levels, NYB may allow more than two children to age advance. However, this will be at the discretion of the board.
8. Rally Cap to U9 Advancement:
   Similar guidelines for age advancement from Rally Cap to U9 (Grand Slam) will apply.

This policy helps ensure that all players have the best possible experience, promoting safety, fairness and development in the NYB community. Please reach out with any questions or clarifications regarding the age advancement process.