Northeast Ohio is rife with youth baseball leagues that offer numerous opportunities for young, aspiring baseball players. I grew up playing on youth baseball teams across all of the following leagues with multiple teams and truly enjoyed my youth baseball experiences.
The Cuyahoga Valley Baseball Association (CVBA) is a regional travel youth baseball league that services the northern Ohio area. It is composed of three different divisions (Non-Bid, Bid, and Open), which all have teams for each age groups 8 through 18.
There is an application fee of $190 before Jan. 1 and $215 for team membership, which has to be sent to the league office (P.O. Box 946 Brunswick, Ohio 44212) by the date set by the board of directors. There is also a $100 forfeit/non-completion for teams of ages 15-18 and an $80 forfeit/non-completion for teams of ages 8-14. The forfeit/non-completion fee essentially acts as insurance, but is refundable.
Most communities or high school districts have teams that range through all ages, and there are usually tryouts for the teams. To learn about tryouts, please contact the desired team’s coach, whose contact information is on the CVBA website under their respective team. The competitive nature of the CVBA leagues changes across the divisions with Non-Bid being the easiest level of competition, Bid being an intermediate level of competitiveness, and Open being the most competitive.
Great Lakes Baseball League (GLBL)
The Great Lakes Baseball League (GLBL) another regional travel youth baseball league that provides the opportunities for young children and young adults to play baseball in the northern Ohio area. It more specifically serves the northeastern Ohio area and is less competitive and demanding than some of the upper-division of the CVBA, but it offers more games in a season usually. The GLBL has teams for age groups ranging from 8 to 22. Team registration costs $595 and can be completed online at the GLBL website. However, these forms must also be printed and mailed to the GLBL office at 7575 Tyler Blvd. Suite C-18 in Mentor, OH. To become part of a GLBL baseball team contact a coach from a desired team, whose contact information can be located on the GLBL website.
The Diamond League is the elite travel baseball league for youth athletes in northern Ohio. The Diamond League has team play for ages 15, 16, and 18 because they recently have let their 14-year-old teams play in the Ohio Prospect League, which is similar though less elite and exclusive as the Diamond League. Gaining admission to the Diamond League is on an invite-only basis, but there are often teams within the league that are looking to add additional players; these advertisements for players can be found on the Diamond League website.
Ohio Prospect League
Ohio Prospect League is a competitive travel league for baseball that has teams for ages 14, 15, 16, and 18. For any team that wants to join the league, an online application has to be filled out and submitted. Moreover, the registration fee is $250 per team with a $110 forfeit fee that is refundable.
General League Advice
As a resident of Cuyahoga County, an avid baseball fan, and an former travel baseball player in all the above leagues, it is important to register early as a team. The January before the summer season that you want to be in the league is usually the correct time to register if not earlier. Moreover, to gain admittance to more exclusive leagues such as the Diamond League it is a good idea to network with coaches and players that you play with in less exclusive leagues that also play in the exclusive leagues. It is also important to keep in mind if you are an individual player or a member of a player’s family that there will be other expenses that you will have to owe your team for equipment, uniforms, and tournament registration fees in addition to the share of the registration and forfeit fees that you will have to pay.
