NHBA Mariners Select is a high-level youth baseball program that was created by NHBA in the Fall of 2020. Like its sister NHBA Rec program, NHBA Mariners Select is a non-profit PONY youth baseball organization that is focused on player development in a fun, yet highly competitive and challenging, environment. Mariners Select serves the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa communities and is also governed by NHBA’s Board of Directors.
With Newport Beach being a coastal city in Southern California (situated between Los Angeles and San Diego), it is known for its large, boat-filled marina called “Newport Harbor.” Newport Harbor is the largest recreational harbor on the west coast and provided the backdrop for the names of the City’s first high school, Newport Harbor High School (mascot “Sailors”), founded in 1930, and our own Newport Harbor Baseball Association in 1983. Newport Beach is also home to “Mariner’s Mile,” a 1.3 mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway along the harbor, which serves as the nautical heart of Newport Beach. Given the nautical connections to Newport Beach, Newport Harbor, Mariner’s Mile, and the local high school, NHBA chose the nautical and marine-themed “Mariners” as the name for its high-level community youth baseball program.
Historically, competitive PONY baseball was advanced at the community level with Rec league play and All-Stars for the local top-tier players to compete against neighboring city All-Star teams in PONY district, regional, sectional, and World Series tournaments. Unfortunately, due to the proliferation of for-profit youth travel baseball programs/businesses over the past 10+ years, the community youth baseball landscape changed dramatically for the worse. Within NHBA, each year we were seeing our community’s most-talented players leave our recreation league around the nine-year-old age for the more aggressive and competitive travel baseball programs that
prioritize winning and growing their for-profit businesses over player development. This yearly exodus was diluting the talent pool and competition level within our community league—and it was not unique to NHBA, it was happening all around.
NHBA created the Mariners Select program to address this travel baseball phenomenon by providing high-level baseball opportunities at the local level in hopes of keeping more of our kids in the community. After just a few years, it has been a smashing success. This fall, Mariners Select is entering its fifth year and will offer seven teams from 8U-12U (with two 9U teams) with approximately 90 kids among those teams. Each team is coached by a minimum of two paid independent, professional coaches who have either coached and/or played at the MLB, minor league, collegiate, or high school levels. We currently have 15 coaches in our program who live both inside and outside the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa communities, and they come from very diverse backgrounds, races, and ethnicities, which adds even greater value to our program and kids: our amazing coaches are the heart of our program.
To foster a true merit-based, independent program, our professional coaches select rosters and set lineups. Open tryouts are held each July and are attended by all Mariners coaches from every age level who evaluate all participants from 8U-12U. Our entire coaching roster collectively selects all Mariners teams each year. Once rosters are selected, they are set for the entire year. Through our open tryout model, current players are required annually to earn a new roster spot and prospective players are given a fair opportunity to make a team. Our coaches also advance each year with their team, which promotes better continuity and chemistry, and more
productive player development over the years. And while the Mariners Select program is comprised primarily of local residents, starting at 11U there are no geographic requirements or boundary limits for participation in the program—individuals from any and all communities and locations are welcomed and encouraged to try out and join our program. Also, each year our 12U team participates in the renowned Cooperstown youth baseball tournament in upstate New York, which is one of the highlights of participation in our program and one of the most cherished baseball experiences our kids will ever have.
The benchmark of our Mariners Select program is wholistic (mind, body, character) player development with the end-goal of playing high school baseball and potentially beyond. When our kids reach the high school baseball field, our program’s aim is to hand off athletes who have learned to play the game fundamentally and the “right way,” and who are well-rounded individuals ready to compete and excel both on and off the field. And with baseball being a “sport of failure,” we emphasize the development of the mental side of the game. Coming from a very affluent community, the development of mental toughness and resilience in our kids (and parents) is at the
forefront of what our program and coaches seek to accomplish.
To achieve our goals, our program ensures that two important metrics are met each year: (1) top-level coaching; and (2) high-level competition. We believe these metrics facilitate the greatest on-field player development. Through our program, our players gain advanced baseball knowledge, skills, and experience from our highly trained professional coaches, top-notch Select league play, and highly competitive local and regional tournaments. Our Mariners Select teams compete and succeed against the best youth baseball players across Orange County and Southern California.
Most importantly, our program’s charge is to develop character, commitment, work ethic, sportsmanship, respect (for coaches, teammates, opponents, umpires), perseverance and heart, teamwork, inclusiveness, and community involvement in our young athletes. THESE ARE THE CORE VALUES OF OUR PROGRAM. We believe the development of these traits is vital to our kids’ future success both on and off the field.
In sum, Mariners Select is not a “for-profit” travel baseball business. We are a non-profit “hybrid” program that provides high-level travel baseball coaching and competition experiences for our kids, but at the local community level. While Mariners Select baseball is expected to be prioritized each season, we encourage and accommodate the playing of multiple sports as we believe it is more fun for the kids and produces even better, more well rounded athletes. Multiple sports participation also helps combat baseball “burnout” and arm injury potential, which are very real problems affecting many kids who play high-volume travel/tournament baseball exclusively
year-round. As part of our “playing the long game” philosophy, we are conservative with the number of games our kids play each season, particularly at the younger ages, and we take several months breaks between seasons to protect the physical and mental well-being of our young athletes, which is paramount to our program and coaches. Our job is to keep kids healthy, hungry, and excited for more baseball each season leading into high school, and not burn them out to the point of leaving the sport altogether, which is an increasing issue facing youth and high school baseball.
Finally, by providing a highly competitive baseball experience at the local level, it makes it easier for our kids (and parents) to attend practices and games, complete their homework, play other sports, and otherwise have more time just being a kid. These are essential components that we must preserve for our community and for the continuation of youth baseball. We appreciate and welcome any partnership or contribution to help us continue to meet these benchmarks and keep the game of competitive community youth baseball thriving.
Any additional questions please contact our NHBA Select Team Coordinator at [email protected]