The Heat has one team at each of six age levels (U9, U10, U11, U12, U13 and U14). Any resident of New Berlin meeting the age restrictions is eligible to tryout for a Heat team. No player may be older than their age group prior to May 1 of the current year. The Heat does allow players to tryout for a team above their age group to stay with their school class, and allows 8 year olds to tryout for the U9 team. The Heat will also make allowances for players to tryout for a team above their age group if it is in the best interest of both the player and the team.
Because of City of New Berlin restrictions, a player may NOT participate in the NBAA recreational baseball program and a select baseball program such as the Heat or the Magic.
Preseason practices typically start in April. A coach may however call a few indoor practices over the winter. Each coach determines the number, length, and location of practices. Typically two practices per week before games begin and one per week after that.
Games start in May and go to the end of July. There are typically 15 to 20 league games, and 4 tournaments of 3 or 4 games each. Most league games are played Monday through Thursday in the evenings. Most tournaments are played during the day on weekends. So that's an average of about 1 or 2 league games per week plus some weekend tournaments.
All teams play in their league games as part of the Wisconsin State Youth Baseball League (WSYBL) which includes teams from Sheboygan to Racine, and from Milwaukee to Oconomowoc. (Typically a team will not travel to both Sheboygan and Racine in the same year.)
Tournament games are typically played on weekends anywhere the team is willing to travel to (most are within an hour of New Berlin).
U9, U10, U11, and U12 play their home games at Calhoun Park - South Field. U13 and U14 play their home games at Malone Park - Field #3.
The New Berlin Heat baseball program is a SELECT program. Players must tryout for a team. Players with the top 8 scores attending the regularly scheduled tryout or a make-up tryout (scheduled by the coach) automatically1 make the team. After that a coach may choose up to 7 additional players to round-out the team. Additional players added by the coach are to allow for inclusion of players with skills needed to field a team not possessed by the players with the top 8 ratings. Catchers for example are sometimes hard to find but you can't field a baseball team without one (with a select team like the Heat that might play two or three games on a hot weekend, a team actually needs 2 or 3 people willing to play catcher). A coach may also want to add good hitter or two if his team is loaded with good fielders but no hitters. We have learned over the past years that blindly taking only the top scores does not lead to the best team, and is not in the best interest of the kids. See our Evaluator's Tryout Guide on this site for more details.
Note 1: The exception to the automatic top eight rule is the coach's right of refusal rule. We will not force a coach to deal with a bad situation created by a less than positive attitude (player and/or parent attitude).
The player participation fee (which includes uniform expenses) is yet to be determined for the 2008 baseball season . Some level of help to staff concession stands at the Heat tournament is expected (2 to 3 hours). There are no other fund raisers, no selling candy or pizzas, no raffles, you get the idea. Travel expenses to away games and tournaments are extra.
Concession stand staffing is essential because the player participation fees do not cover all of the expenses associated with fielding a team. Tournament registration fees paid by the teams we host just barely cover the expenses associated with hosting them. The Heat program, like almost every other program that hosts a tournament, makes its money on concession sales.
If finances are a problem the Heat will reduce or waive the participation fee. We do not want to exclude any child because they cannot afford it. We cannot however do anything regarding the travel costs.
Contact the Heat coordinator (Joe Izzo 262-782-0159) if finances are a problem. No one else on the team, including the coach, needs to know about any individual financial arrangements.
Each age group has a different coach. Go to our Coaches page on this site to see who is coaching the different age groups.
If you have Adobe Reader on your computer, you can fill out a Player Registration Form on-line, print it, and bring it to tryouts. If you don't have Adobe Reader on your computer, or have problems accessing the form, you can get a registration form at tryouts or from the coach for your age group.
Payment should be remitted as soon as the coach has informed you that your child has made the team. (Money is needed for uniforms and equipment that ordered during the off-season.) Please make checks out to the New Berlin Heat, and send them to the Heat Coordinator:
Joe Izzo
13480 West Linfield Dr.
New Berlin, WI 53151
The Heat and the Magic are two organizations that provide select baseball opportunities to the youth of New Berlin. The teams from both organizations play in the same leagues and are eligible to participate in the same tournaments. They each sponsor their own tournament in New Berlin parks.
The Heat is chartered under the New Berlin Athletic Association (NBAA). It is run by a coordinator under the direction of the NBAA Board of Directors. All policies, financial and other, must be consistent with those of the NBAA.
The Magic is an independent organization with their own structure, including a board of directors, and their own policies.
Contrary to some popular beliefs, the Heat is NOT a New Berlin West feeder program, and the Magic is NOT an Eisenhower feeder program (or vice-versa depending on who you talk to)! Both programs have players that intend on going to both West and Ike, as well as, other public and private high schools. Any resident of New Berlin of the appropriate age is welcome in both programs.