About us

Nonnewaug Youth Baseball & Softball is a charitable, volunteer organization which aims to provide a positive environment for the development of sportsmanship, athletic skills, character and an opportunity for the players to express themselves physically and mentally.

Mission Statement

The mission of Nonnewaug Youth Baseball & Softball is to instill good sportsmanship, loyalty, courage, respect for authority and respect for each other so they may be well adjusted, stronger, happier children and that they may grow up to be good, decent and healthy citizens. These goals will be achieved by the continued dedication of the children, parents, volunteers and community in providing a safe, well organized league through our desire to provide the best fields, uniforms, equipment, managers and training possible every year.

As a league we work to accomplish this goal by organizing structured practices and competitive baseball games. The coaches must keep in mind that teaching our kids important values always comes before developing great athletic ability or winning games.
Nonnewaug Youth Baseball & Softball is run by volunteer members, electing an Executive Board to manage the day-to-day operations of the baseball programs. The membership makes decisions regarding all financial decisions, policies, and baseball programs during these monthly meetings.
The programs maintained by Nonnewaug Youth Baseball & Softball serve the greater Woodbury/Bethlehem youth from the age of 4 through the age of 18. Players aged 5 start out in Tee ball and can, at their own pace, progress all the way through the Nonnewaug Aggies Club Baseball Team.

History

Woodbury Youth Baseball has been a part of the community for over 50 years and has been run solely by volunteers. We participated in the Little League Baseball Inc. program and followed their rules. Bethlehem Youth Baseball had its own community league.

In the early 1980’s, there were no T-ball and Rookie programs. Participation started around 8-9 years old. The children played in minors, majors and senior leagues. Teams consisted of 13 or 14 players on a team!
Games and practices were held at Hollow Park and at Mitchell Elementary School. There were no dugouts at the Hollow, just unprotected benches that would occasionally topple over when unbalanced.

While girls occasionally played baseball, our softball programs had not yet begun. The Softball program was introduced in the 1990’s.
In 1995, Woodbury Baseball left Little League Baseball Inc. to join Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth Baseball. The reason was somewhat controversial due to rules within the Little League system. Woodbury Baseball had a 12U team (consisting of 11 and 12 year olds) that was disqualified by a Little League rule that prohibited any team from entering other tournaments before the start of the sanctioned Little League Regionals. Woodbury Baseball was not aware of this finite rule. The Woodbury 12u Baseball team entered a tournament hosted by a local team, which the Woodbury Baseball team won!!! Shortly after the victory, the 12u team entered the Little League regional tournament and we played a local town. Woodbury Baseball 12U won this game however the opposing coach learned we played in the Shepaug tournament and boycotted our victory. Woodbury was eventually disqualified and could not continue in the Little League tournament. Woodbury subsequently moved to the Babe Ruth Baseball

League and have been associated with it ever since.In 2016, Woodbury and Bethlehem merged into one baseball league (Woodbury Baseball and Softball) due to a decline in participation in youth baseball.
In 2023, Woodbury Baseball and Softball decided to rebrand and name our league Nonnewaug Youth Baseball & Softball (NYBS). The decision to rebrand was to fairly represent and be all inclusive to the geographic mix of registered players in our baseball and softball community. Approximately 25-30% of all players are located in Bethlehem.