About Baystate
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BAY STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
An Overview of Goals and Purpose Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions is a program of service to youth. It strives to establish the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play in a highly competitive and demanding schedule of summer baseball games for boys and girls of 'Little League' age. Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions inaugural season took place in 1983. It was formed to fill a void in organized summer baseball programs for boys and girls whose season typically ends at the end of their spring leagues. The national 'Little League' competition process is designed to eliminate teams in a tournament-like process and very often the participants find themselves without further games to be played upon elimination. Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions fills that void with a comprehensive and serious summer-long program of competitive baseball. The Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions program is for the young player who wants to develop and hone his/her skills through a continuing program of serious baseball while competing with a variety of all-stars from cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts throughout the summer. The competition is keen and skills are quickly developed through a comprehensive program running from the first week of July through the middle of August each year. Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions is
dedicated to the youth of Greater Boston and vicinity in the quest of promoting
the national pastime and Some History Prior to the concept and formation of Bay
State Tournament of Champions, later renamed to include the word 'baseball',
summer baseball programs consisted mainly of informal leagues and independent
tournaments. Typically the informal leagues consisted of loosely drawn schedules
for practice and 'tune-up' games. Those games enabled teams competing in summer
baseball to prepare for tournaments held in various cities and towns. As summer baseball grew in the middle to late 70s and early 80s, it became apparent that changes were needed and that informal summer leagues and tournaments could not meet all the needs of the many participating all-star traveling teams. Initially, the summer leagues were composed of, what was to be called later, "A" teams. The "A" team was typically composed of the best players in the community. This expanded to establishment of a "B" team which was composed of the second best team of players in the community. Finally, in 1976, the establishment of a "C" division took place and those teams were composed of players whose 'Little League' birth date was 10 and under. The problem of summer baseball with tournaments and leagues grew tenfold. At the end of the 1981 season, a group of men representing 5 cities and towns who traditionally held summer tournaments and who participated in the summer leagues, decided to address the issue. The men represented Brookline, Burlington, the Cambridges, Framingham and Sudbury. Preliminary discussions were held and initial plans were drawn. This group decided that after the 1982 season they would not hold further tournaments but would instead work towards a long-range plan to address the growing problem of accommodating all players with a workable schedule that could be predicted and allow families to plan their summers accordingly. At the end of 1982 season, the group representing the 5 cities/towns held many comprehensive meetings where a set of playing rules were formulated in order to standardize rules across the entire league. In addition to playing rules, other guidelines were established regarding rosters, schedule format, playoff format and more. The final document required in-depth discussions before final agreements were reached as to rules that would encompass the best of the playing rules of all organizations. Further, rules were devised to ensure equal playing requirements for all the participants, as well as rules to protect the players and young pitching arms. The final document was set to print and the Bay State Tournament of Champions was born! The next step was to develop a schedule and find teams willing to join the idea of the 'T of C'. Sixteen teams that regularly played in the summer league and who participated in tournaments were contacted and told the traditional holders of tournaments would not be doing so in 1983. They were invited to join the 'T of C' as an experiment and the concept presented to each. All of these teams joined and a schedule was formulated. The 1983 summer season was underway! The schedule format was constructed in the belief that competition could be balanced in such a way that all teams had a chance at winning a trophy, the very treasure baseball youth strive to win. With that thought in mind, it was decided that the schedule would be redrawn every two weeks, after each round, to make an attempt at balance. On the first weekend of each two-week round of games, all teams would play at a neutral site to create a tournament-like atmosphere where players could watch other teams play and enjoy the camaraderie. On the second weekend of each two-week round, a tournament weekend would be held, again at a neutral site, and trophies awarded to the champion(s) of the round. Finally, after three two-week rounds, the top teams would meet for a championship round of double elimination to determine the summer champion. (For the record, the very first weekend's games were played in Chelsea Stadium and the first championship game was played in Northboro.) The inaugural season was an overwhelming success. For the very first time, families knew exactly when and where they were playing and at what time, and could make vacation plans, while coaches and players were not full of stress at trying to find a tournament in which to play. Exhaustion of players, coaches and families was no longer an issue, and EVERYONE had high praise for the program. Of the original 16 teams, 9 won trophies. The players were very happy! Encouraged by the success of the 1983 season, the 'T of C' decided to expand and name the 'flagship' group of teams the "A Division", the group of players falling into the second tier of players or a team of all 11 year-olds would be designated as the "B Division", and a division of 10 year-old (or less) players would be organized as a "C Division". The "C Division", because of the younger age group, was created as an 'introductory' league and would play just two rounds with a less stressful schedule that ended in conjunction with the two older divisions. Teams were contacted to establish each division; the 1984 season was kicked off and everything exceeded the original expectations. The 'T of C' continued to grow and its former rule of limiting the maximum size of 32 teams per division was discarded in 2004 in order to accept all teams wishing to participate. In 2007, the first major change in the structure of the organization took place due to the growth of the number of teams exclusive to 11 year-old players and the imbalance created by B teams composed of 12 year-old players. In order to effectively balance the competition it was decided that beginning with the 2007 season, the A Division will hereafter be composed of 12 and 11 year-old players only, the B Division will be composed of 11 and 10 year-old players only, and the C Division will be composed of 10 and 9 year-old players only. No longer will 12 year-old players be allowed to compete in the B Division nor would 10 year-old players be allowed to compete in the A Division and 9 year-old players will be allowed to compete only in the C Division. The 2007 Tournament of Champions Finals were held in Winchester. As in past years, the skills gained during the competitive rounds resulted in wonderful, exciting baseball. The pitching, fielding and hitting were extraordinary and a testament to the value of a serious, competitive summer baseball program. The following teams were crowned the 2007 Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions Gold Trophy winners: "A Division" South End So concludes the history of the Bay State Baseball Tournament of Champions! There is much more to be written as we face the exciting and challenging future of youth baseball. The original organizers were: Dick Garber -- Brookline |
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Dale Clutter
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