Indy Ball Island

While major league and minor league spring training is getting underway, Frontier League teams are releasing information about their upcoming tryouts for the 2016 season. Besides the league-wide tryout and draft, we have also received information about six other tryouts with nine Frontier League teams being represented.

tryouts Frontier League Tryouts

March 26th, 2016 (Evansville Otters, Joliet Slammers, LE Crushers, Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League as well as Gary SouthShore RailCats of the American Association) at Woody Hunt Stadium, Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN.
Time – 9:00 am position players, 11:00 am pitchers
Cost – $75 (cash only) Registration will take place on the day of the tryout.

The camp is open to all free agent players age 18 and up. There is a $75.00 fee to
participate in the camp, payable in cash only upon registration the day of the camp.
Players need to supply their own equipment, including wood bats and catchers gear.

April 2nd, 2016 (River City Rascals) at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, MO.
Time – 8:00 am check-in, 9:00 am workouts.
Cost – $50 (cash or check only)
Registration form can be found HERE.

April 10th, 2016 (Florence Freedom with Sioux Falls of the American Association) at Air Hogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, TX.
Time – 9:00 am registration/check-in
10:00 am to Noon – tryout format
3:00 pm Simulated Game
Cost – $65 in advance, $75 walk up
Registration form can be found HERE.
Teams in attendance, but not limited to, the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League and the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association. Tryout will consist of a Pro Style tryout format along with a Simulated game.

April 24th, 2016 (Gateway Grizzlies) at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, IL
Time: Registration at 7:45 a.m., stretch at 8:30 a.m.
Cost – $60 in advance, $75 day of tryout
Must be 20 years of age or older
No players can be 27 years of age after January 1st, 2016
Registration form can be found HERE.

April 25 and 26, 2016 League Wide Tryout/Draft at the Corn Crib in Normal, IL.
Time – 8:00 am walk-up registration, 9:00 am workouts.
Cost – $62.49 for preregistration which is available HERE.
The workout will consist of:

a 60-yard dash
fielding and throwing drills for infielders, outfielders, and catchers
BP for position players.
Pitchers will throw 15-20 pitch bullpens.

Following the first day, the field managers will post a list of players invited back for inter-squad games on April 26. At the conclusion of the games, action will break for 30 minutes to prepare for the draft.

For the Frontier League, players must be at least 18 years old to attend and must have been born on or after January 1, 1989 to be eligible for the 2016 season.

April 30th, 2016 (Joliet Slammers) at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, IL
Time – 8:00 am registration, 9:00 am workouts
Cost – $50 in advance, $75 walk up
Registration form can be found HERE.

(Date TBA soon) ThunderBolts Post-Draft Open Tryout

The Windy City ThunderBolts will be holding an open tryout at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood, IL.

Time – 9:30 am check-in which will end at 10:00 am sharp.
Participants will be allowed on the field at 10:00 am.
The workout begins at 10:30 am sharp.

Cost: $60.00 to be paid at the ballpark. No advance registration. Cash and credit card will be accepted! No rain reschedule date.

MOLDED SPIKES & TURF SHOES ONLY.

For more information about other independent tryouts and instructional leagues, check out our INDY BALL TRYOUTS page.

If you haven’t heard of Pat Smith and his effort to change the toxic culture in sports, you will soon.

After Smith, a former semi-professional baseball player who once played for an elite youth baseball team in Canada, found out that his former youth coach, Dan Bleiwas, had been suspended on charges of sexual assault of a player, he knew it was time to stand up and tell his story.

Although he was never sexually assaulted, he was a part of the negative culture of mistreatment and abuse that happened with the Ontario Blue Jays.

Immediately, he felt the need to address what had happened and reach out to the victim and to anyone who has been subjected to abuse through sports. The next morning, Smith made a video and posted it to his Facebook page.

The video, which currently has over 67,000 views, is making its rounds on social media throughout the baseball and sports world.

“While the response to his initial video has been overwhelmingly positive, Smith has already noticed that many are hesitant to make a video themselves” Think Progress reported. “He certainly understands the fear — even before posting his original video, he was afraid that his former teammates would watch it and call him a ‘pussy.’ But he recognized that fear as left-over baggage from when he was 17, and knew he had to speak up for himself. Now he just hopes others will do the same.

“‘If I’ve learned one thing over the last couple of days, it’s that too many men are suffering in silence,’ he wrote. ‘We need to make this a safe space. They don’t have to carry this forever.'”

Now he has taken to Twitter, reaching out to others to make a video showing their support like the one he tweeted HERE.

You can read more about Pat Smith and his story on Think Progress.

Or if you would like to make a video of support to include in his project, you can send it to: athletescantalk@outlook.com

Writing and sharing stories about Independent Baseball.

Indy Ball Island

2016 Frontier League Tryouts

Pat Smith – Changing the Toxic Culture in Sports

Writing and sharing stories about Independent Baseball.