Frequently Asked Questions
North Toronto Baseball Association
House League Registration FAQs
1. What is NTBA’s refund policy?
A player that withdraws from NTBA after registering is entitled to a refund of their fees, less an administration fee, up to April 1, after April 1st no refunds will be processed. The administration fee is $50 if the withdraw is prior to March 1st and $100 if after March 1st.
2. Why do returning players not get registration priority over new players?
NTBA is a not-for-profit community organization, and its registration philosophy has been to try to provide a fair opportunity for all families (including new families and those that have been wait-listed in prior years) to participate each year. Families of returning players and prior year waitlisted families will receive advance notice of registration dates and times by email, but are not guaranteed a spot at the expense of new registrants.
3. If my child is on a wait list when will we know whether they get in?
In every division a few spots open up due to cancellations, once this happens NTBA will contact players registered on the wait list in order. Wait list contacts will also receive advance notice of future registration deadlines. Do not contact NTBA to find out your child’s spot on the wait list, you will not receive a response.
4. What if my child wants to umpire at NTBA?
In February of each year, umpires and players 12 years-old and up will receive an email to recruit umpires for the upcoming season, as well there will be notification on the NTBA website. Once registered as an NTBA umpire you are required to attend umpire clinics held in March/April each year. Please see the NTBA website for further information.
5. I have volunteered to coach my son/daughter’s team, how do I let NTBA know I want to co-coach with another parent?
Co-Coach information should be added to your child’s registration form. If you did not add the information at the time of registration, send an email to admin@ntbaseball.com, indicate in your note the division your player is registered for and the coaches you would like to co-coach with. Please cc the other coach on the email to confirm it is a mutual request.
6. How can I volunteer my time to help NTBA?
The success of the NTBA is dependent on our volunteers and sponsors. There are many ways to volunteer to support the NTBA including as a coach or assistant coach, a convenor, or serving on one of several committees guiding the NTBA’s many facets (eg - House League Committee, Umpire Committee, etc). If you are interested in volunteering, you could indicate on your child’s registration form or send an email to admin@ntbaseball.com.
7. Why can’t NTBA satisfy multiple friend requests?
NTBA tries to honour one reciprocal friend request per registrant. However this cannot be guaranteed, as several other factors need to be considered when teams are rostered (e.g. coaching availabilities/requests, player skill level, etc). Creating teams is a very time consuming, manual task and multiple friend requests add extra parameters that dramatically increase the time spent creating teams by volunteers. NTBA simply does not have the resources to satisfy multiple friend requests. Please do note that from season-to-season, NTBA tries to keep as many players together from the prior season's teams as possible.
8. Why doesn’t NTBA create more house league teams to satisfy the demand?
NTBA has increased the number of teams over the past few years, and it will continue to pursue opportunities to expand its capacity going forward. Unfortunately NTBA does not have unlimited resources. NTBA has 3 major constraints that limit the number of teams it can field.
(a) Fields - Please contact your local city councillor and express your desire for NTBA to have more access to baseball diamonds. Each year NTBA competes with other leagues and community interests to obtain additional park permits. Many baseball diamonds in North Toronto are being used by adult softball leagues, ultimate Frisbee, soccer, cricket, etc. Get vocal with your councillor!!
(b) Volunteers - NTBA is comprised of volunteers who help over 1,400 kids play baseball every year. However, these volunteers are part-time and can only give so much of their time to provide an opportunity for your child to play baseball. Creating extra teams takes lots of work too. Consider offering your time to help more kids play baseball!!
(c) Umpires - Encourage your children 12 and older to join the NTBA umpire ranks and get certified, it’s a great summer job and we pay well!! You can help!!
9. How can I sponsor a team at NTBA?
Each year NTBA seeks sponsors for each division rather than for each team. This provides business sponsors with much more advertising impact in return for their support, and it significantly reduces the number of player families that we need to call on for their individual support. A divisional sponsorship is $1,250 for the 2018 season (approximately the same as sponsoring 2 teams in 2017), and provides sponsors with the opportunity to display their company logo on jersey sleeves for all of the players and coaches for between 8 - 10 teams (over 100 jerseys) depending on the division.
You can indicate on your registration form your interest in sponsoring a House League division. Or you can send an email to admin@ntbaseball.com.
10. Why does NTBA not allow players to “play up”?
NTBA policy is for players to play in their own age group which is defined by birth year. This policy supports three objectives:
(a) it aligns players with the level of play recommended for their age group (e.g. studies have shown T-Ball is best for the development of 6/7 year old players, no pitching until Mosquito, etc.);
(b) it maintains a balance level of play in each division (e.g. if more advanced players all move to older age divisions it weakens the level of play at the younger age divisions). If younger age divisions become weak then more and more players want to “play up”, but if NTBA sticks to its policy of keep players in their own age group it maintains the integrity of the league as a whole; and
(c) if the older division is full, a younger player “playing up” takes a spot away from a player who wants to play baseball in his/her own age group.
The largest age group requesting to “play up” is from T-Ball Sr to Minor Rookieball. To address this, NTBA implemented rule adjustments to the T-Ball Sr division to create more structure
11. But my child is really really good…..
The above philosophy holds true regardless of a parent’s perception of their child’s ability. NTBA has a very successful Rep and Select program for those who want their child to play at a more competitive level. See the NTBA website for more details on those programs.
12. What happens if a parent falsifies their child’s birth year on their registration form?
As outlined above, NTBA policy is for players to be assigned to divisions according to their birth year. Falsifying a registrant’s birth year to “play up” or “play down” a division is unfair to other families who then get wait-listed. If NTBA determines that a parent has falsified a registrant’s registration information, it reserves the right to cancel that player’s registration and re-assign the roster spot to an registrant on the waiting list. Registration fees will be refunded less a $75 administration fee.