Macdonald Minor Baseball Association (MMBA) Age Advancement Policy

MMBA Age Advancement Policy

The Macdonald Minor Ball Association (MMBA) believes that it is normally in the best interest of young athletes to play in their age-appropriate divisions. In general, young athletes are best able to achieve success when playing with their peers, rather than athletes outside of their age group.

Safety is our primary concern. Even if young players have the physical skills to play safely with older children, many lack the emotional or social maturity to do so successfully.

However, circumstances may arise in which it could be preferable for children to “play up” to the next age level. Majority of those situations are from 9U/U9 wanting to age advance to 11U/U11. In such cases, MMBA will remain open to requests for these players to attend pre-season evaluations in the next age level. In U13/13U and up, age advancement will be very rare and approved only under exceptional circumstances. All requests must be approved by the convenors of the respective age group, in conjunction with the executive committee of the MMBA on a case-by-case basis.

Requests will be considered only if the player:

• Played the previous season at the age group they wish to be age advanced from, registered with Baseball Manitoba or Softball Manitoba. If they were not registered with MMBA the previous season, proof of registration may be required; and,
• Is not more than one year younger than the minor (youngest) age category in the division to which advancement is requested.

A decision will then be made after the pre-season evaluation. The following factors will be integral to the final decision:

• Permission will not be granted if we believe that there may be a significantly greater risk of injury for the child playing with older players.
• Permission approval depends on the total number of registrants and potential team sizes for that age group. If adding “Age Advanced” players to the division is going to create issues with team sizes, the request will not be approved.

The athlete must be registered in their appropriate age division for that year.

In the interest of fairness and MMBA player development, any age advanced player will only be eligible to play on the “A” level team for both baseball and softball (if MMBA has an “A” team in this division).

Policy approved by MMBA Board, Feb 1, 2024