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Leagues Shaping Up for 2015

01/20/2015, 10:00am EST
By Mike Mazzolla

Determined to Deliver in 2015

We are growing, and last year was a challenge. It was a test of our model, a test of our controls, a test of our morals and a legitimate test of our ability to deliver an exceptional product with heavy distractions.

So while we worked to remedy situations that were ugly, and while these instances are being fabricated and used against us, our loyalty and honesty with our teams have not only helped us maintain momentum for 2015, it has also given us new leads for growth in the coming year. Are we proud of these events, absolutely not. What it shows is that we are trying to clean up our league, giving our well run clubs a better environment to play the game they love. 

It is with great pride we have begun our 2015 league builds, publicly on Facebook, as we have done since our inception year. This year, we expect to have almost 40 teams listed prior to our manager meeting which is incredible. We have never had so many early team deposits before, as well as potential new team leads. 

After the third week of January, we had already received phone calls or emails from approximately 20 new clubs for the 2015 Spring season. When you consider we had 91 unique clubs participate in 2015, the potential of adding 20 new teams is crazy. Not that I count on that number being accurate, but it does represent a tremendous spike in interest as compared to other years. I remind you, its only January 20th. At this time in 2013 there were 8 teams we were aware of coming. Last year, that number was close to 30. We've announced nearly 35 clubs already, and that doesn't include the teams we still have in our que. 

If we look around the league, our Premier Wood has the Clifton Slates, Garden State Senators, NJ Shockers, Pompton Chicos, Boro Brewers and Kearny Rangers announced. Within the next week, we will be adding to that number with some significant names. Premier Wood is going to return to a special league, in that teams there must "prove" they belong there and will be screened prior to being added in. Last year we were focused on 20 teams that we made some lapse in judgement. This will not occur again. League champions at the highest level of play, competitive clubs with established history, and notable rosters will all be part of considerations for Premier status. 

Our Intermediate and Amateur is scary. We have over 30 team leads for both levels of play right now, and fully expect to max out this year. Intermediate and Amateur may see some interesting developments in the coming weeks. We will talk in more detail about these levels at Sundays Manager Meeting.

In North Intermediate, we have announced our returning champions, Colt .45s, Jersey City Vipers, North Jersey Yellow Jackets, Livingston A's, Morristown Bulls all coming back. Our Metal Champs, the New Providence Reds are moving into the mix there with the Garfield Rockies, as is the Riverside Vets who move up from Amateur Wood. Las Aguilas played North Intermediate in 2013, moved to the South in 2014, and now are moving back for 2015. The Parsippany Shockers are the first new team addition to the league in Intermediate. As of now, we have 9 teams in place for North Intermediate. We will easily be at 12 in a weeks time, and the league is expected to surpass 16 teams for the first time in our history. It will max out at around 20-22 for 2015. 

In South Intermediate, we are growing and rebuilding it this year. With the addition of an Amateur South, our South Intermediate starts as a smaller league based on 2014 returning teams, but will grow with new faces in the fold. We have already announced the return of our 2014 Champion Dunellen Pirates, Edison Athletics, Somerset Clippers, South River Sharks, Union County Beavers, NJ Vipers & Jersey Reds for 2015. The Edison Cubs will enter their first Spring season with us this year, and the NJ Bulldogs will make the move down to Intermediate which should ignite the group. South Intermediate currently sits at 7, and others will follow shortly. Some new additions are expected here as well. We don't have a goal in the South, but clearly there is room for growth. We want to attract some quality clubs to help round out the competition in both our East & West divisions. 

Amateur Wood will get a lot of attention in 2015, with announcements expected shortly which will create a lot of buzz. While our South is slowly starting to build, we have announced the return of the Mercer COA, as well as the NJ Warheads. We have more to announce shortly, and will grow that level with new clubs and returning teams. Our North has a lot of familiar faces returning and we expect that these teams will continue to abide by the rules in place and keep it a special level of play for our teams. So far, the East Coast Blaze, NJ Red Wings, Bergen Buzz, Brick City Brawlers, NJ Cardinals, Paterson Black Sox are all back for 2015. The Wanaque Brew Crew enter their first Spring as well. We expect Amateur to have over 30 teams in 2015. The early announcement of 9 teams should make that number seem reasonable. 

We are very open about our league builds, as we believe clubs should see who their competition is and know that they have quality teams already committed to the upcoming season in each level of play. While a lot has been said about forfeits, our retention rate appears to continue to be a strength and overall an excellent indicator of how we treat our teams, how well we deliver on promises and how we run our league. We appreciate everybody's continued support, and it looks as if 2015 is going to be incredible one for the New Jersey Amateur Baseball League. Stay tuned, new team commitments (only those with deposits already paid) will continue to be announced daily. 

Tag(s): Blog