The University of Iowa Baseball Club is a student run organization that is affiliated with the University Of Iowa Department Of Recreational Services (http://recserv.uiowa.edu/Apps/Programs/SportsClubs.aspx). We participate in the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA), which is comprised of 200+ teams around the country broken up into two divisions. Each team is assigned a specific conference, which is a part of a region. Each region consists of three or four conferences. Winner of each conference is invited to the regional tournament and the winner of the regional tournament is invited to the NCBA College World Series (www.clubbaseball.org).
The University of Iowa Baseball Club competes in the Mid-American North Conference with Iowa State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota State-Mankato. Each spring, we are assigned a schedule that consists of both home and away games based on a rotating schedule. We also schedule several non-conference games, pending the budget and schedule. Each series is determined by the winner of a three game series, but most teams play four games (two doubleheaders), with the fourth game counting only towards the overall record. On average, we play around 20-30 depending on the weather.
We also participate in the NCBA Spring Training Showcase, which serves as our spring break trip to Tampa, Florida. We play a total of 8+ games including going to MLB spring training games, team dinners, beach days, etc. over the course of the entire week. Participation in the spring training showcase is completely optional for each player and usually costs around $300.00, covering hotels and games. Transportation is provided by the club; however, if players choose to fly, they will have to pay for their flights themselves.
Uniforms: The league is sponsored by Rawlings; therefore, we get a 55% discount on top quality uniforms. We have two set of jerseys (white jersey, black jersey), plus white pants (regular or pro flare), undershirt, and two Richardson hats (black, black/White panel), which by league rule, all players must have. The total cost of the full uniform is about $225.00 pending on the style of pants you order. Plus we have optional apparel, which include sweat pants, hoodies, underarmour, BP jackets, and t-shirts.
Dues: Since, we are a student organization, we are completely self sustaining, which means each player in responsible of contributing two annual payments to the club to offset the costs of traveling, hotels, league fees, games, umpires, field rentals, etc. There is a fall dues payment ($50-100), and a spring dues payment ($300-400). “Your first season with the team is always the most expensive." However, there are several ways to reduce your dues payment. It is possible not to pay anything excluding your uniform.
Fundraising: Over the course of the school year, we participate in several activities in order to fundraise for the program. We work University of Iowa athletic events, like soccer, field hockey, swimming, volleyball, basketball, and gymnastics. Plus sorority socials, sponsorship letters, etc. Players will be required to fundraise for the team and for themselves. Meaning that, for every dollar that you fundraise, we substrate that amount from your overall costs. For example: Spring Dues and Spring Training costs equal $600.00, and you fundraise $500, then all you have to pay is $100.00 not including fall dues and uniform.
Tryouts: Each fall semester, we hold tryouts. The date for tryouts depends on the home football schedule. We try to do it either the first away football weekend or Labor Day weekend. During the two day tryout, several returning players will evaluate all aspects of baseball: pitching, mechanics, footwork, arm strength, hitting, base running, 60 times, etc and most importantly – attitude. During day two, we will divide up all tryout participants and have a scrimmage game where you have a chance to show us what you can do. Depending on how many players attend tryouts, the necessity of an initial cut or just a final cut will be determined. Before tryouts, we make a list of all returning players and their positions, determine how many players we can bring on, and what positions we need to fulfill. But that does not mean we will completely ignore a player if we don’t need that player’s position. Sometimes, once you have made the team, we may convert your position, or make you a pitcher only. Plus, we may look towards the future of the program, for example, say that you are an infielder and we have several senior infielders that will be graduating, and you are too good to cut. We want you on the team to take over once those seniors have graduated. Players who have attended tryouts come from all different backgrounds of baseball. Over the past couple of years, we have had: high school players, high school all-state players, transferring community college or junior college players, highly recruited players who choose to come to Iowa, former Iowa NCAA walk-ons, and former Iowa NCAA players.
Competitive Level: Understand that just because we have the word “club” in our description, does not mean that we don’t take the program seriously. Over the past couple of years, we have become a dominant program within the league and our players work very hard to keep the program running smoothly and develop a competitive team. Other teams in the league focus on just playing baseball, but our team focuses on creating a brotherhood that gets to play baseball on the side. Our network of alumni is very strong and players continue moving on to all types of careers, but still keep in touch with their former teammates. “We are a fraternity of baseball”
