Los Altos-Mountain View Pony Baseball

We are pleased to offer this program again in 2017 and all LA-MV Club Teams will be known as the Mavericks. Please read the program description below to see if it fits your interests, commitment, and desired level of play. Click the Club News link below to check recent highlights of our teams.

If you have any questions, email the LA-MV Club Team Director.

The Club Team Program is designed for those players who desire a more intense baseball experience within our league. Club Team members, both players and coaches, are expected to put forth considerable time, effort, and commitment beyond that for a typical regular season. Participants will be rewarded with more frequent playing opportunities under more challenging circumstances with more intensive coaching and training. Players who wish to extensively vacation with family or friends during the Club Team season, who have personal or academic restrictions, or who have other time-consuming commitments are discouraged from signing up for this program.

Club Team players and coaches participate on two teams - a regular season team and a Club Team. Player must actively participate in a regular season team of the same division as the applied-for Club Team. Active participation requires participation in a minimum of 50% of all games (regular season and playoffs).

Club Teams begin practice and play shortly after the Club Team are formed in late January, playing home and away games, including double-headers, against other local teams. Once the regular season is underway, Club Teams confine their weekly play to Sundays and possibly one practice per week. Club Teams also play in three or more Bay Area tournaments before and during the regular season, often on holiday weekends and conclude their season with a Memorial Weekend tournament.

Players who wish to try out for a Club Team should sign up when they register, and participate in their regular division tryout in January. Shortly thereafter, players who signed up for Club Team will be invited to a more rigorous Club Team tryout. The schedule for club team tryouts can be found here. Players are selected from the top tier of tryout candidates in their one-year age bracket. Pre-formed club teams will not be allowed into the program.

Please include the $390 Club Team Deposit ($160 deposit for the Pinto Club Team) along with your Regular Season Registration payment. Players who don't make the club team will be refunded their Club Team fee and may choose to be placed on a Club Team wait list.  Should an additional player be required by a Club Team, such player shall be selected from the respective wait list with a pro rata payment of the Club Team fee. Players who wish to sign up after Club Teams have been formed may request to be placed on the wait list, at the discretion of the Division Director, the Player Rep and the Registrar.

Club team fees are separate from and in addition to the regular season registration fee. A $390 per player has been set by the League for the 2017 season, $160 for the Pinto Club Team. This fee includes (approximately): tournament fees ($1,500-$2,000/team), umpire costs for scrimmages, field usage and insurance fees ($500/team), amortized cost of equipment and uniforms ($800/team), but does not include travel costs for events outside of League boundaries. The League will assess additional fees for the Cooperstown Club Team.

All-Star Selection: Club Team players shall be eligible for post-season “all-star” selection, but only under their regular season team. No Club Team play shall interfere with regular season play-offs or post-season play.

Pitching Limitations: For their Club Team and regular season team combined, pitchers are subject to PONY-national pitching rule limitations. For their regular season teams, Club Team players are subject to League pitching rule limitations with no more than three innings pitched in a regular season game if they have a scheduled Club Team game within 40 hours. Similarly, Club Team players may pitch no more than three innings in a Club Team game if they have a scheduled regular season game within 40 hours. Club team players and their coaches shall work with their regular team coaching staff on innings pitched and vice versa.

No Required Play Rule: There shall be no required play rules for any Club Team, no matter what the age division. Play shall be determined solely by the individual Club Team coaching staff in strict accordance with PONY-national tournament rules. In other words, a Club Team player may suit up, but not play any innings at the discretion of the Club Team coaching staff. However, player feedback from Club Team participation may be used by the League in assigning future coaching assignments.

Player Disqualification: A suspension, resignation, or drop (as determined by the Division Director and Player Rep) from the regular season team shall automatically be a withdrawal from the Club Team and vice versa. Any Club Team player suspended, resigned or dropped at any time during the Club Team season is not eligible for a refund, prorated or full, of their Club Team fee. A player who is suspended or who is dropped may appeal that decision to the Club Team Suspension Appeal Committee. A player who voluntarily resigns his or her Club Team may appeal their automatic suspension from their regular season team to the Suspension Appeal Committee, but shall not play on the regular season team until the Suspension Appeal Committee approves of the reinstatement to the regular season team. The appealing player must be present at the Suspension Appeal Committee meeting.

Code of Conduct: Club Teams shall report to their respective Division Directors and shall in all ways be subject to the Codes of Conduct practiced by the League.

Field Assignments: Club Teams shall practice only at assigned times and play only those pre-season (regular season) and Sunday games within League boundaries on fields assigned by the respective Division Director.

League Umpires: Club teams must utilize League umpires for all within-League-boundary games. All Club Team play shall be judged on PONY-national tournament rules.

League Uniforms: Club Teams shall be issued and exclusively play in their own, separate and distinctive uniforms from the regular season teams, which clearly and prominently show their affiliation with the League. All Club Team uniforms shall be issued solely by the League.

Same Operation as League: Issues not discussed within this description of Club Teams must be addressed in the same manner as they are addressed in the regular season operations of the League. A special Club Team Advice Committee has been formed to address issues not defined adequately by this description and the governing rules of the League.

Coach Eligibility and Commitment

To be eligible to be a Club Team head coach or assistant coach, the coach must actively participate on a regular season team either as a head coach or as an assistant coach. A suspension or resignation from the regular season team shall automatically be a suspension from the Club Team and vice versa. All additional members of the coaching staff shall be selected from the pool of parents/guardians of the drafted players or from individuals specifically approved by the respective Division Director.

Like Club Team players, Club Team coaches are expected to make an extra commitment in time and effort. While upholding the highest standards of the League’s Code of Conduct, Club Team coaches must learn and then practice first-class leadership and baseball coaching skills. The reward is to bring the best out of our players while representing our League throughout our area of play.