President's Welcome Message

To all Parents, Players and Coaches:

On behalf of the KWBA Board, welcome to the 2010 season. We are looking forward to a fantastic year of baseball. The Board has been working diligently to secure and provide access to some of the finest fields and facilities for our players to develop and enjoy the great game of baseball. Please visit our website regularly to stay apprised of our exciting programs.

Online Registration – We have partnered again with Sports Pilot, an online youth sports web service, who will host our web site and provide Online Registration. You will be able to register your child, sign up to coach, pay via credit card and get an email confirmation of your registration. If you prefer, you can still pay by check but we strongly encourage online sign-up.
Clinics – We will be partnering with The Strike Zone and Illinois Baseball Academy for player clinics this season. We will also be offering expanded coach’s clinics and support materials for our coaches to enhance the baseball experience for all.
Travel Baseball – Our newly-renamed program (formerly All-stars) will compete in the brand-new Lake Shore Feeder Baseball League (LSFBL) and provide a highly competitive baseball experience for players aged 9 thru 12. The KWBA will once again host our Memorial Day and Midsummer Classic tournaments. Older players will be eligible for travel teams sponsored by the New Trier Trevian Pony Association. The travel teams will have out of town tournaments for both our 12A (Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament) and 12B (Field of Dreams/Summer Sizzler) teams.
Summer and Fall Season - The KWBA will continue to offer baseball in the Summer and Fall as these programs have been very popular. We will participate with Evanston, Glencoe, Lincolnwood, Skokie and Wilmette in these leagues for our players (Pee Wee and Bronco/Mustang) to get an opportunity to play against other baseball communities at their fields. The Pony players will play against other communities in the North Shore Youth Baseball Association (NSYBA) in the Summer and Fall season.
Fields and Parks - We have been working with our Park District partners in an effort to upgrade existing fields. The KWBA is very about the recent renovations to Kenilworth Pee Wee Field, as well as the wonderful opportunities that the new lighted fields in Northfield provide for our players.

Thanks again for your support. Be sure to check out the rest of the web site for additional information and to sign up to play. We would not be able to run this league without the enthusiastic support of the coaches and the strong support of the parents. Thanks and have a great year.

See you on the diamond!

Robert Anderson III

President, KWBA

About the KWBA

The KWBA (Kenilworth-Winnetka Baseball Association) was founded in 1971 as a non-profit organization. It’s mission then, as it is today, it to provide a positive baseball experience for children from 1^st through 8^th grades. In 2009, over 1,000 area children participated on either a spring, all star, summer, and/or fall league team. We serve children primarily from Kenilworth, Winnetka and Northfield.

The KWBA is an all-volunteer organization, with a Board of Directors of about 24 plus dozens of other adult volunteers who give their time to coach and instruct our children in the great game of baseball. Standing positions on the Board include President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Registrar. However, the Commissioners are the backbone of the board and run each league. Generally, there are two Commissioners per league. These selfless individuals do all the planning, organizing, and administration work necessary to make each league a success.

The KWBA sponsors several leagues, including Spring ‘House Leagues’ for grades 1 through 8, a summer All Star program (ages 9 through 12), a Summer league (grades 3 through 8) and a Fall league (grades 3 thru 9). The leagues are organized by grade and include Pinto (1^st grade), Stallion (2^nd grade), Pee Wee (grades 3 and 4), Bronco/Mustang (5^th and 6^th grade), and Pony (grades 7 and 8) .

Some general rules about league participation – all area children are eligible to join and play in the KWBA. However, we strongly discourage participating in multiple baseball leagues, primarily from a safety concern for the child, and fairness (due to potential attendance conflicts) to other team members. In addition, a child must play on a KWBA house league team to be eligible to play in the KWBA All Star program. We only allow 2 ¼” bats up to grade six while big barrel bats (up to 2 ¾”) are allowed in the Pony leagues. Finally, we use restricted flight balls for house league play in grades one through four.

The umpires for the KWBA are 7th graders through college age students. The philosophy of the KWBA is to allow young adults the opportunity to umpire games. For many their first job is a KWBA umpire. We ask all parents to support these young adults and remember they are not professionals. If your child is interested in umpiring this Spring, please click the umpire link on the website to sign-up.