Foothill Little League Baseball (FLL)

If you want to be one of the best hitters in the Foothill Little League (FLL) scroll down further. A lot of the other information about the league is right here on this page.

FLL is an officially sanctioned league of Little Leauge Baseball. It's a baseball league for boys and girls ages 5 - 14 who live in and around the Foothill Little League district boundaries (see below) that plays between the months of March through June, with All-Stars extending the time of play for certain select players for at least one tournament and maybe more. For the 12 & Under (11 & 12 only) all-star team and the 13-14 year old all-star team this could culminate as late as August if they were to qualify for the Little League World Series.

Scroll through the page for all the information about Foothill Little League or use these links to take you to the information you want.

When and where to sign up for FLL baseball?

Does my child have to try-out?

What Age Group is your child in?

Where do you need to live?

What does it cost?

Is there any fundraising required?

What about sponsorships?

How is Umpiring done in Little League and how can I be one?

How to become a coach?

Who to Contact (People in charge of league)

History of the Foothill Little League

How are All-Stars Chosen?

Is there a Fall League (Fall Ball)?

Hitting Coaches in the Area

Pitching Coaches in the Area

Catching Coaches in the Area

High School Baseball in the Area

College Baseball in the Area

Batting Cages in the Area

When and Where to Sign Up

Sign-ups for Foothill Little League Baseball take place the one eveing in December and at least 3 dates in January.

The signups are at the snack bar at the Foothill Little League ball fields located at the end of Arroyo Verde Park, which is at the end of Day Rd. off of Foothill Blvd.

Tryouts

The day you sign up you will be told when your child will tryout. It will be by age group. Tryouts are only if they're going to play in the 10 and under division (Minors) and above.

This is nothing to fear. Regardless of ability, every kid gets to play. Tryouts are a way to try to let the coaches get a view of each of the kid's strengths and weaknesses so as to hopefully even out the teams as much as possible.

They will rate them on their ability to field grounders, catch fly balls, hit and throw. Pitchers and catchers are not tested on this day. They will just be assigned a team and tell their coaches of their desire to play those positions. They will not need to slide during tryouts.

What Age Group is your kid in?

The age cut off is May 1st of the year the league is playing. So even if your child will turn a certain age during the league, but their birthday is May 1 or after they will be considered the age they are as of April 30th for "league age" purposes. (For example, my son will be 11 in July, 2007, but will play as a league age 10, as he will still be 10 on May 1st.)

There are leagues for T-ball, 6 years old and younger (league age), Farm (a machine pitch league), 8 and under, Minors, 10 and under, Majors, 12 and under, and Juniors, 14 and under. While exeptions are made to these brackets, it's rare and not encouraged. They are normally granted based on similar skill sets of the player to the league they would best match. This can go in both directions, but players playing down are ineligible to make all-stars and normally face pitching restrictions.

Where can you live to be in Foothill Little League Baseball?

The league is very strict as to players playing within their league's boundaries. You will have to present 2 forms of verification of the address the kid lives over 50% of the time (utility bills, etc).

The Foothill Little League boundaries go from Telegraph Rd. to the south to the foothills to the North and Day Rd. on the west and Kimball Road to the east.

What does it cost?

It is $100. This covers the league fees and includes a hat and team jersey.

Is there any fundraising required?

In efforts to keep fees relatively low for people, the league relies on money coming in from snack bar sales, fundraising, and sponsoring teams. To keep the burden off of just a few people everyone is encouraged to help out in any way they can, including fundraising.

Every player will be encouraged to either sell one box of candy or you can opt out of this by paying half of the price of the box of candy.

What about sponsorships?

A great way to help the league raise money is getting businesses to sponsor teams. The businesses get to help the community's kids and get some advertising in return.

If you're a business person or know of someone who is, contact the person in charge of the league. You can find them under Who to Contact (People in charge of league)

How is Umpiring done in the league and how can I be one?

The Foothill Little League stands in the deep tradition of Little League Baseball using volunteers to umpire the games. While there are a committed few who do a large part of this work, they are always looking for more helpers and every team is encouraged to have one or two of their parents assigned to umpiring other games than their own children's.

Call the league at (805) 654-1937 and they'd be glad to get you involved and even provide training.

How to become a coach?

Coaches are chosen to coach in the Foothill Little League from the group of people who sign up to be a coach. You need to fill out an application and be reviewed by the board of directors. Background checks are performed on people who will interact with the kids.

Preference is given to returning coaches, but there is always room for new coaches. Former players are especially encouraged to apply, as are parents, but neither is a requirement.

Who to Contact

Officers of the league are voted upon each year and serve one year. And they can be re-elected for succesive one year terms if voted upon to do so.

For this year's Foothill Little League's officers visit this website and click on board members.

History of the League

Formed in 1962, the current location has been there since 1965.

How are All-Stars Chosen in FLL?

In the Minors, Majors, and Juniors, each kid in the league picks who they feel are the 9 best players and 1 coach to coach all-stars. The top 9 from all the votes make the team and the coach that is chosen chooses 3 more players to round out their team.

Is there a Fall League (Fall Ball)?

While there have been Fall Leagues in the past sponsored by Foothill Little League Baseball, there is currently no such league. Currently there isn't even any fall leagues in Ventura.

There is a tournament held in Ventura at the Montalvo LL fields in October, but these are for teams that don't sign up the same way as the league does and is not endorsed by the Foothill Little League, although some of the players in the league will be participating. Full teams are formed and enter as a team rather than individuals signing up and getting assigned a team.

The teams are responsible for coming up with the fees, equipment and uniforms. This can be done by sponsorships, fundraising, and player fees and varies from team to team how much they spend or require you to come up with.

Teams actually come from all over to play in this fall tournament. Teams from Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Fillmore, Ojai, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta, and as far away as the San Fernando Valley.

The teams are guaranteed 3 games minimum with pool play followed by a championship bracket. Games are played on the Montalvo Little League fields.

If you're interested in playing, the best way is to find a team or create a team. Going to the parks nearby when you see kids practicing or asking around as to who is forming teams is also a good way.

If you have a team you'd like to enter in the tournament or if you have questions, you can contact Chris Russell at 654-4141.

Hitting Coaches in the Area

Fortunately for you, if this is your league and you want to hit better than you do now or need more personalized instruction than your team coaches can give you you have Andy Collins, the Internet Hitting Coach, available to you. He lives in Ventura and has a batting cage at his house or you can work out right at the local parks.

I've had success working with a number of Foothill Little Leaguers.

For one such story, click here.

Phone: (805) 642-5827

Another coach in the area who's also on Foothill's board of directors is Rocky Hall.

Phone: (805) 477-0235

Pitching Coaches in the Area

Coach Andy also works with Little League age pitchers establishing proper throwing mechanics for acurate and safe throwing. Only fast balls and change ups are taught along with pitch location and the mental aspects of pitching for the more advanced players.

Phone: (805) 642-5827

Catching Coaches in the Area

Coach Andy Collins has taught many of the top catchers in the area. Many of whom have gone to college on scholarships. His top students have been All-League in High School, have caught for teams participating in national tournaments, with one acheiving 3-time All-National honors. And all of them that work with him for any length of time make the league all-stars for the surrounding leagues, as well.

Phone: (805) 642-5827

High School Baseball in the Area

Three of the local high schools benefit the most from the Foothill Little League program.

They are Buena High and Ventura High which are public schools, and St. Bonaventure, which is private. Each of these schools have Varsity and Junior Varsity and Freshman baseball teams.

If you want to play baseball in high school, but want to attend one of the other high schools in the area, such as Foothill, Pacific or El Camino, you need to go to the school who's district you're in and sign up to play with them. (These are different districts than the one for Foothill Little League.)

This is a perfectly legitimate way to extend the love of baseball you received from Foothill Little League Baseball.

College Baseball in the Area

Ventura College is the only college within Ventura to have a baseball program. They are a junior (2 year) college. Recently, they've had a number of successful years winning their league.

In a 50 mile radius there are Oxnard, Moorpark and Santa Barbara city colleges (junior colleges) and University of California, Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge that play Division I college baseball and California Lutheran University that plays Division II. Westmont College in Monteceito plays in the NAIA. The other colleges in that same area don't sponsor baseball teams.

Batting Cages in the Area

The closest batting cage is Who's on First at 961 N Rice Ave. in Oxnard. phone: (805) 485-4001. They specialize in baseball and slo-pitch softball.

Camarillo Bat-R Up at 487 Dawson Dr. Ste 3S in Camarillo Phone: (805) 987-2287 do have baseball machines, in addition to fastpitch softball and slo-pitch pitching machines.