FAQ
How is New York Empire Baseball different than other youth sports programs?
New York Empire Baseball is unique in our culture, content and coaching.
Culturally we are focused on creating an inspiring experience for all of our players, individually and collectively - and we weave life lessons throughout everything that we do. We do everything we can to create a culture in which children are taught the correlation between hard work and success.
In terms of content, everything we teach is rooted in science, not in personal anecdotes. We study physics, geometry and biomechanics to understand how to move - and we’ve created some fun and exciting methods for teaching it all to players of all ages. Baseball as it’s taught traditionally is pretty boring - as children stand on a line and wait their turn - we engage and teach the sport differently - we want the players to understand that every player is moving and involved in every play - and that they need to be prepared before the ball comes their way.
Our coaching takes a different approach than what most people have come to experience - our coaches’ priority is not to win a game. After safety, our priority is to train, prepare, motivate and inspire every player - and if we do that well, then winning will be a product of that preparation and inspiration. We know that our players will succeed and fail and want them to learn from every experience. Our focus on process over outcome is at the heart of everything that we do.
Ages & Programs:
Is this right for my “n” year old?
Our programs are suited for ages 3.5 and up - and our oldest player is 75!
Our coaches are specifically trained instructors that are skilled in communicating and coaching different age groups differently - and most importantly, we group players by age & skill to ensure a terrific and individualized learning experience.
Can I drop in for one class?
We’d be happy to have a player in for their first class so that they can get a great sense for our program - but our classes build on content from week-to-week so we aren’t a drop-in/pay-per-class program.
Do you have a sibling discount?
We don’t have a sibling or any other discounts. We want everyone in our program to know that our integrity is paramount, and that no family pays a different price for anything that we do. We do have a generous financial aid program for families in need, as we would never allow money to get in the way of a player that wants to be in our program!
What programs are available for my child?
We have 362 days a year of baseball - with after school classes, private lessons, group lessons, classes, our own Club League, Travel Teams, Day Camps, Summer Camps and we do events and parties, as well! In all of our programs, players are grouped by age & skill to ensure a terrific and individualized learning experience.
What age groups do you coach?
Our youngest players are about 3.5 and our oldest players are late teens, with some young (and older adults), as well. Our Club League ranges in age from 4-12 and our travel teams are 7/8 - 14 this year.
Are there any parent coaches?
No, all of New York Empire Baseball’s coaches are independent of the parents. Our parents are encouraged to support their child’s efforts on and off the field, but not to provide instruction or coaching during the games.
What are the age cutoffs?
For our Club League we seek to place every player in the right place for their own development, so if they’re on the cusp of an age group, we’re happy to place them up or down to ensure a great experience for them and the players around them.
For Travel Baseball, we defer to the leagues and tournaments in which we play, most of whom still use a May 1 age cutoff - that is (for example) a player in “10U” cannot turn 11 in that calendar year prior to May 1. Players remain in that age group for the duration of the calendar year.
How does it work in Club League with a range of ages?
We do our best to group the players by both age and skill, and we’ve tweaked our age groups so that they are Rookies (T-Ball/Coach Pitch 4-5), Single-A (Coach pitch 6-intermediate 7), AA (Coach Pitch Advanced 7-Intermediate 9), AAA (Player pitch Advanced 9 - 10) and Senior League (Player pitch Advanced 10—13). It’s not perfect, so we’re happy to have players in for a free evaluation to determine their best fit in our League.
Are there girls in the league?
There are, indeed! While there aren’t many, they are treated the same as all of our players, and we’ve had some pretty amazing success stories, with one of our girls so far going on to play softball at Yale.
Do you have an all-girls team?
We don’t - as we don’t segregate the children by gender - only by age and skill.
Do you train girls?
We do - the mechanics of baseball and softball are nearly identical - so we teach softball, as well - but we don’t currently teach windmill fast-pitching.
Do you train adults?
We sure do - with our oldest player at 75 years old! We train players of every age and skill level and have coaches that are appropriate for every level.
My son is a beginner/has no experience – is your program a good fit? I heard you guys are pretty serious.
We’re known for our instruction – and every program is tailored to the skill level of the players – and we break down eveyr program further by age & skill to ensure an individualized learning experience – we’re here to teach & inspire players, and we have a very interactive experience in our training programs and in our Club League games.
What is your Club League? Is it just games? Just training?
Our Club League is coached by our coaches & instructors – not by parents – and offers a very developmental yet competitive experience for all ages and skill levels. In our younger groups (Rookie, A and AA, ages 4-5, 6-7, 7-9), each week begins with one of a series of structured lessons with our instructors and coaches, followed by a competitive game in which our coaches are in the dugouts and on field coaching and teaching throughout the game. From time-to-time we even stop the game if there’s a teaching moment that will benefit everyone.
Our older players in AAA and Senior League have weekly practices and play competitive games each Sunday. The coaches are working on player and team development each week to ensure that players improve each season and learn valuable lessons on- and off-the-field.
Do players get to play many positions?
In our Club League, players rotate positions every inning and are taught how to play every position – so that they can better understand the game and learn how to play everywhere – as they get older they’ll become more specialized based on their interests and strengths and the needs of their teams. Our after school program is a series of instructional lessons that build from week-to-week in which players learn every aspect and position in the game.
Locations & Content:
Where do you play?
We are based in our own two-floor 5,000 square foot training facility, The Arena, at 251 West 60 Street between West End Avenue & Amsterdam Avenue. Weather permitting, our after school programs are in Central Park, and our teams play at a variety of fields in Manhattan, including Central Park, Jefferson park (1st/112th), Wagner Field (2nd/120th), DeWitt Clinton (11th/54th) and sometimes on Randall’s Island. We’re excited to have field permits from the Parks Department for all of our programs, as they aren’t easy to come by!
Our travel teams also travel to other organizations’ fields throughout Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau. We also attend tournaments in Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland.
What is the content of the class?
We teach every aspect of the game - from the very foundations of throwing and catching and hitting to the most detailed and challenging concepts. We do it all in a very fun and engaging way - and our coaches’ passion and energy are contagious! We also focus heavily on the mental/emotional approach to baseball - which is difficult because it’s a game of failure - and worse off, a game in which a player can’t control the outcome - you can hit a ball perfectly and it gets caught - and players need to be prepared to deal with that. They need to accept that great process, over time, will yield great results.
That said, ultimately, we want the players to have an amazing experience - one that is both fun and developmental.
Do you do private lessons?
We do - and for players of every age. Our lessons are specifically geared to each player and their particular interests, age and skill level, and all of our coaches teach the same material and methods - even with differences in personality. Some of our coaches focus on some skills, but we all teach the same techniques.
Lesson prices are $125 for our Associate Instructors, $150 for our Senior Instructors and $250 for our Master Instructors. All of our coaches teach the same models & methods and are appropriate for all ages, but our more experienced coaches work on more difficult concepts and performance training, and our Master Instructor best addresses the mental/emotional & neurobiological aspects of performance and has the most experience of our trainers.
My child is experiencing elbow pain. What should I do?
Elbow, or any other pain, is the body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. Medical attention should be sought from a specialist that understands the youth physique and sports injuries. A diagnosis of “little league elbow” and a prescription of rest before returning to the activity is an irresponsible course of action. Injuries are caused by accidents, mechanics or muscular imbalance/physiological issues.
Accidents are often impossible to avoid. Muscular imbalance and other physiological issues can be dealt with through targeted exercise and physical therapy. Pitching-specific imbalances often lead to injury – as young elbows and shoulders may be weak links in the throwing chain – and underdeveloped back muscles may contribute to injuries as they are responsible for deceleration of the arm.
Mechanical issues should be identified and addressed immediately, with one of the most common mistakes that can lead to injury being “throwing over the top” as opposed to throwing from a player’s unique and natural arm slot – and one which can be seen when the player’s head is straight while delivering the baseball.
Is my son ready for travel?
We’d be happy to have him in for a free evaluation - and it would be best to do it during that team’s practice so that you and your son can meet the coaches and other players, and also get a great sense of the level of play along with the coaching and playing experience in our travel program. We like to ensure that every player is placed in the right situation to maximize their own development and the development of the players around them.
My son is a beginner - I heard you guys are very serious - are you too serious for him?
Too serious? No way! All of our players are grouped by age and skill - so while we do offer very advanced training for our most capable and demanding players, we have a huge focus on teaching beginners how to really learn and play baseball. The game is a skill sport, and we’re very focused on teaching in an engaging and fun way to ensure that beginners can develop nicely. We aren’t a baseball babysitting staff - all of our programs are instructional - and that may be atypical of many youth sports programs, as it’s easier to administer a game than it is to teach all the time. We want every player to leave every experience better than when they arrived - and more passionate about the game and their development.
My son is advanced - he should play up with the older kids - what can you do for him?
Sounds exciting! We want every player to have the best competitive and developmental experience that we can offer - so we’re happy to have your son in for a free evaluation!
What’s the difference between Club & Travel?
Level of competition and in-game instruction & development. Our Club League is a developmental program that maintains a very healthy level of competition, while our Travel Teams are extremely selective in their rosters and play a more advanced level of competition. Roughly 5% of our players qualify for travel baseball. Our Club League is far more advanced than most, as it’s trained and coached by our full coaching staff, and games are preceded by one of a series of structured lessons for the players - and with coaches on the field throughout the game, players are learning as they go. We take advantage of teaching moments throughout every game to instruct individual players and sometimes both teams at once with a stop in play.
How can my son prepare?
We have a variety of training options from our after school programs to training classes and private or small group lessons. To learn and focus on individual skill development, lessons are a great start, but the group environment will not only work on those skills, but also do it in a peer group so that players learn together and also learn game situations.
My son wants to play {position} - what do I do?
That’s terrific - we like to ask that players approach the coaches with their requests so that we can help the players to take responsibility for their own development. As for certain positions, like Pitcher, First Base and Catcher, there are specific skills that need to be learned prior to playing those positions, and we should address that in training - we’re happy to have a player in (at no charge) anytime to evaluate them for a particular position.
Equipment:
What glove is right for my son?
Contrary to popular belief, bigger isn’t better, and for young players, won’t help them to “catch more balls.” Making it even more complicated is that the size in inches doesn’t tell the whole story - as important as the quoted size is the size of the “hand stall” into which your son’s hand will fit. If the stall is too big, the glove will be falling off of your son’s hand and will be difficult to close when/how he wants to. We’ve carefully curated an entire selection of gloves from Wilson, Rawlings, Easton and Vinci to fit virtually every player and skill level!
What bat is right for my son?
In spite of some strange methods that we’ve heard (holding the bat out for 5 seconds, measuring from your armpit to fingertips, measuring to your hip) - the correct way is to figure out which bat your child can control land swing the hardest - that is, once swing speed is slowing down, the chosen bat is too heavy - bat speed is the #1 priority in determining how hard and far a player will hit the ball, so that is the critical thing to measure. With the youngest kids, you can see a loss of control and speed, but as players get older, we should measure them on HitTrax or SwingTracker to get a perfectly quantifiable and meaningful and scientific answer and to which bat is best!