SWOL Team
- Thread starter WoodyBoyd
- Start date
BobcatBomber
Well-known member
Do you already have a team and are looking to join?
If yes, then just a $500 check to Larry Redwine. That will buy you a list of coaches numbers to schedule games.
If yes, then just a $500 check to Larry Redwine. That will buy you a list of coaches numbers to schedule games.
93 red ls
Well-known member
Securing a field doesn't have anything to do with SWOL. that would be on you to secure a place to play UNLESS you just scheduled all of your games away. (which wouldn't matter b/c I believe SWOL still flips for home team anyway)
I have coached summer ball within the same organization since 2017
we were SWOL our 1st 4 years. you would pay Larry $500 to be in SWOL every year and for YEARS the only benefit was a contact list on their website.
the past 3 years we have not entered SWOL and just scheduled games vs those same teams our self.
only in recent years have they started to award anything to teams that win the league. prior you got a hand shake and bumped up a division.
with the emergence of Cincinnati Youth Baseball and Ohio travel baseball pages on FB you can get directly in contact with coaches that way. and not have to spend $500 to do so. Being a SWOL member you still have to schedule games , schedule umpires, secure your own fields.
I like Larry , but luckily have not helped fund his corvette addiction the past 3 years! HAHA
I have coached summer ball within the same organization since 2017
we were SWOL our 1st 4 years. you would pay Larry $500 to be in SWOL every year and for YEARS the only benefit was a contact list on their website.
the past 3 years we have not entered SWOL and just scheduled games vs those same teams our self.
only in recent years have they started to award anything to teams that win the league. prior you got a hand shake and bumped up a division.
with the emergence of Cincinnati Youth Baseball and Ohio travel baseball pages on FB you can get directly in contact with coaches that way. and not have to spend $500 to do so. Being a SWOL member you still have to schedule games , schedule umpires, secure your own fields.
I like Larry , but luckily have not helped fund his corvette addiction the past 3 years! HAHA
BASESWIMPARENT
Well-known member
Depends at what age group and don't forget the web page but for 13 and older SWOL doesn't offer much. I think there is some insurance included in the fee but I may be wrong. I often wonder why certain programs that are aligned don't create their own league. I still would not play in Knothole or Little League
93 red ls
Well-known member
Some of the teams in our organization have joined CWBC (Cincinnati western baseball conference) I would say that its comparable to knothole.
A lot of the catholic teams from 8u-13u have joined over the years.
We have about 1 team in every age group that is "independent" and a hand full that go w/SWOL
from 13U to now next season 16U I have kept our team out of SWOL and just scheduled games vs those teams our self.
BASESWIMPARENT
Well-known member
16u is about the time to go tourney only and/or round robin. I am starting to not like the tourney only concept because the weekend density of games is stupid. Today a friend of mine's team who runs a very respectable program just won a local tourney and played 5 games in two days. There is no good reason for that. Years ago, a very respected high end travel team wouldn't do it if a tourney required it. They would just go home after two games even if they won the semi-final on Sunday. Good luck with your team!
I see pics of teams on FB or X that have 12/13 total players at 16U/17U. How the heck do you play and/or win any tourney over the span of 4 days and minimum of 5 games with 12 players? Where does the pitching and catching come from?
BASESWIMPARENT
Well-known member
I hear you. This team has a handful of PO's and access to another age group team's pitchers if necessary. But yes 5 games in two days doesn't simulate reality in any way.
Larry still running the show down there? Going on 40 some years for my guy!
Smarty2022
Well-known member
500$ Check to Redwine. Depending on age, 12 Playerss who parents are willing to pay the Team Player Fees. May also have to Pay for a Field. Not a whole lot of very good TTeams in SWOL anymor
Yep - Not sure if he is running the show but he is for sure collecting checks!
Like many have said, SWOL is great when the kids are younger to gain a database of names and contacts. You figure out who you want to play and schedule them on your own once leaving SWOL.
I always hated going to the “mandatory “ SWOL meeting, but they did offer solid Diamond balls at a reasonable price. I went a few years ago, when I wasn’t a member of SWIL but still needed baseballs, and the quality of ball was terrible.
Before I joined SWOL (9/10u), I would schedule games on the side and SWOL teams would drop me all the time after I had scheduled and even at the last minute to play a SWOL game. At one of the last meetings I went to, Larry talked about not scheduling games against non-SWOL teams. Said it was a bad look on his organization
Years ago, not sure if they do this or not now, the winner of each division would have their team’s SWOL fee paid for the following year. I liked that idea… gave you something to play for, the drawback was teams getting the wins they needed against the lower teams in their division and then not playing the better teams. Definitely some shady stuff going on with that…
I always hated going to the “mandatory “ SWOL meeting, but they did offer solid Diamond balls at a reasonable price. I went a few years ago, when I wasn’t a member of SWIL but still needed baseballs, and the quality of ball was terrible.
Before I joined SWOL (9/10u), I would schedule games on the side and SWOL teams would drop me all the time after I had scheduled and even at the last minute to play a SWOL game. At one of the last meetings I went to, Larry talked about not scheduling games against non-SWOL teams. Said it was a bad look on his organization
Years ago, not sure if they do this or not now, the winner of each division would have their team’s SWOL fee paid for the following year. I liked that idea… gave you something to play for, the drawback was teams getting the wins they needed against the lower teams in their division and then not playing the better teams. Definitely some shady stuff going on with that…
93 red ls
Well-known member
yea SWOL seems to really is for the 8-14 teams (I am surprised there were that many 14U teams this year)
301 teams @ $500 per (I THINK this is the fee) = $150,000 and one happy Mr. Redwine!
I am not sure what his expenses actually are but cant be too crazy. He only has to secure fields for the league tournament, and buys 16 team sets of rings. Maybe a Limited Liability Insurance policy. Some $ in marketing/ website. Past that I cant see him having much more money going out. He may throw the Age group coordinators a bone.
8U = 30 teams
9u = 48 teams
10u = 41 teams
11u = 59 teams
12u = 53 teams
13u = 33 teams
14u = 28 teams
15u = 9 teams
16u = 0 teams
17/18 = 0 teams
the emergence of K sports in West Chester I am sure has taken some teams from him over the years too.
I am not sure how many teams they had in spring and summer BUT they have 65 teams signed up currently for fall ball.
For K sports you don't have to find fields or umpires either.
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Coordinators used to get their team’s fee paid for them.
I am sure there was some type of insurance, website coordination that Redwine has to pay for and some incidentals. The website also had advertisements running so I am not sure if SWOL or the website was getting that money. SWOL also afforded you membership in USSSA and some other organizations. Not sure what that would cost.
Definitely a lot of money to be made and with the amount of time he has done it…. Yeah, he could afford a lot of nice things with that cash. Does he have a “real job” or is this his gig?
93 red ls
Well-known member
I believe baseball is all he does. I know awhile back he was the President/CEO of CABA as well.
USSSA sanctioning is roughly 80 bucks if you do it via their website so that could/would help save a team there a few bucks.
I'm not harping on the guy (heck at the younger age groups we played in his league) but once you have for a few years there really is no benefit in it any longer.