Ironbridge Academy’s 10U baseball team winning on and off the field

CHESTER, Va. — This incredible group of baseball players began their travel ball career at Ironbridge Academy in 2019. Since the IB 10U Team formed, they have played tournaments everywhere from Florida to Maryland. Each year, the season begins in March and runs through July, and they travel most of the Southern Region competing in National Level Tournaments. They have several championship wins under their belts as well as many 2nd place trophies coming away from several highly competitive tournaments. The Fall season is much shorter and less intense, and January through February is reserved for training in Iron Bridge’s Winter Academy, fine-tuning their skills with the Academy instructors.
Head Coach, James, the team’s other coaches, Tony, Travis, and Benny, and the players all have a goal to maintain a .900 percentage throughout the season by winning as many tournaments as they can. Tournaments at the Shipyard in Charleston, SC, the All-State Nationals in Memphis, TN, and the Virginia State Championships are among their top targets. The team is currently ranked #2 in Virginia and #59 in the Nation. Their ultimate goal is to improve their ranking into the top 30 in the Nation. The coaches stress to the players, “work hard and eat well”, which means when you put the work in, success will be the result.

There are no designated team captains. However, the players vote every Monday following a weekend tournament for the player who led the team with good play and character that previous weekend. The captain leads the stretches and warm-ups along with other leadership duties. As a pre-game ritual, the team has taken a page out of  Virginia Tech’s playbook with their lunch pail tradition. The lunch pail symbolizes hard work and commitment. Each player writes down two goals they would like to achieve in the season and submits them to the pail. The pail goes to all the tournaments and the team circles around it and has a prayer before games.

“We try to teach a life lesson that sometimes it doesn’t look like things will turn out good, but if you can continue to work hard and focus on what’s in front rather than behind you, then you always have opportunities to make a change,” explains Coach James.

The team’s off-field goals are all about character development and giving back to the community. The entire team and their families come together every December for a volunteer activity. In 2020 they participated in Wreaths Across America and in 2021 they helped out with Richmond Food Bank distributions. When they are out of town, the team goes out to dinner together. During Summer tournaments, they will grill or cater food in by the hotel pool, have a party and watch movies on the pool deck. They are always looking for new ways to celebrate.

The boys and coaches welcome new players with open arms. Guest players come to play with the team at national tournaments, traveling from states like Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, and Montana. The boys stay in contact with their out-of-state teammates through social media. “It’s cool getting pictures of the boys wearing their IB hats or jerseys in their hometown communities,” says Coach James.

Everyone involved with this team; coaches, players, and parents, are motivated by the team’s past successes. Recently the team was recognized by the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), a nationwide, highly prestigious travel baseball organization that ranks teams in state and national power ranking points. The IB 10U team was selected by the USSSA Virginia State Director as the only 10U AA team to represent Virginia to compete in the National Tournament in Memphis, TN July 31-August 6 of this year. Coach James explains, “These boys are motivated because they are out in front of their competition, and we plan to keep it that way.”

If you’d like to follow the team during their 2022 season, check out their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/IronbridgeTravelBaseball/.

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.