Youth Program - Lake County Stars

Stars Youth teams compete at the 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U, 13U and 14U levels in spring/ summer league and tournament play.

The goal of Lake County Stars Youth Baseball is to provide the absolute best coaching and competitive environment for players who wish to compete, develop skills in preparation for high school, and enjoy the game.

League Games: the Lake County Stars usually participate in leagues such as the Lake Shore Feeder Baseball League (LSFBL), the Mid-Suburban Baseball League (MSBL), or similar. Each Stars team will enroll in the appropriate skill level for league play. The leagues consists area teams at each age level which play in and around the Lake County, IL. The regular season typically runs about 16-20 league games and finishes with a championship tournament. Note: 8U typically has about half the games of the older divisions.

Tournaments: in addition to league play, each team will participate in local tournaments (IL or WI). We place teams in tournaments based on team skill level and our past experience with these tournaments. Most tournaments have a three-game minimum guarantee (weather permitting). 

11U – 14U teams can optionally participate in an major out-of-town tournament each season. Decision to participate is based on majority vote of the families. These tournaments have an additional charge and teams are encouraged to fund raise to attend these tournaments.

Typically, the tournament plan is:

• 8U 4 tournaments, generally local
• 9U, 10U: 3 tournaments, generally local
• 11U: 3 local tournaments
• 12U: 4-5 local (IL or WI) tournaments included
• 13U: 4-5 local (IL or WI) tournaments included
• 14U: 4-5 local (IL or WI) tournaments included

Each team has a paid professional Head Coach, or a parent Head Coach who has proper experience/pedigree in playing and/or coaching baseball. Player package includes Winter Training, Uniforms, and Spring/Summer Season with league play and local tournaments. Fees include private 1-on-1 lessons, as well as group clinics with a Stars coach. Costs for major out of town tournaments such as the Dells, Cooperstown, Omaha, Myrtle Beach, etc. are not included. Therefore, parent vote is required before these are booked.

Schedule: the following is a typical season schedule in our youth program (varies by age):

• October - December: individual lessons with a professional Stars coach
• January - March: indoor team practices
• April - June: regular season games and tournaments
• June - July: league playoffs, late-season tournaments

During the regular spring/summer baseball season, we expect that the Stars team is our athletes' first sports priority. However, the Stars encourage our athletes to participate in other sports as well for a variety of reasons:

• multi-sport athletes are typically less prone to injury from overuse of the same muscles from a single sport
• young athletes can get burnt out and lose interest if only participating in a single sport
• a large majority of athletes that are successful at higher levels are multi-sport athletes

As such, the Stars does not sponsor a fall ball program. Some of our coaches (or even parents) and teams do form fall ball teams on their own and participate in fall leagues in the area. We love to see our athletes form a bond with their coaches and teammates and are happy to have them enter their own Stars team in fall leagues. When this occurs, we understand our players may have other priorities and teams usually have larger than normal rosters to account for conflicts. Fall ball is generally low pressure, fun and relatively short season. Please talk to your coach if you're interested in participating in fall ball with a Stars team!