About Us

Travel Baseball Program and Tournament Team

The Westbury Wildcats Travel Baseball Program is designed to improve players beyond recreational or Little League play. The coaches purposely pair good players with developing players so they are working side-by-side so both benefit from each other in a mentorship/apprentice style. The skilled players are encouraged to help developing players on what techniques work for them, and the developing players have a great example of what they can become with hard work and persistence.

As a reward to players that show hard work, determination, and commitment to the program; the coaches will choose 11 players from each age group to participate on the Tournament Teams* and compete in events around Houston, Texas, or beyond. This gives the players a chance to show off their skills while matching up against other teams their age. Developing players can also attend as an observer to gain valuable experience that will help them on their development journey that may eventually give them a chance to be selected for a Tournament Team.

*Additional fees included to participate with Tournament Teams

History

Following the conclusion of the Westbury Christian Middle School baseball season in 2021, a group of players and parents approached Coach Murphy see if there were other opportunities outside the regular season to improve their skills. Coach Murphy went to the Westbury Christian School Athletic Director, Russell Carr, with the idea of starting a travel baseball team. Coach Carr loved the idea, but knew there were not enough players to make a complete team.

Coach Murphy reached out to some of his colleagues in the local area Little League organizations to find out if there were any other players looking for additional opportunities to play beyond the regular and all-star season. Fortunately, there were enough players that could field their first 11U tournament baseball team.

The team played all summer and fall together and achieved great success. Eventually after the word got out of the teams success, Coach Murphy was contacted by more and more players who wanted to play and practice with the Westbury Wildcats. Never wanting to turn a player down from getting better, Coach Murphy recruited several other qualified coaches to start the Westbury Wildcat Travel Baseball Program and now there is a 12U and 13U team. 14U Westbury Christian School players also have the opportunity to practice as well. 15U players that will be moving to HS also have the opportunity to practice with the HS team they will be playing on the next school year.

Philosophy

The sole purpose of the Westbury Wildcat Travel Baseball Program is to provide an additional opportunity for Westbury Christian School players to practice and develop at a higher level, outside of traditional baseball seasons. In order to fill a teams by age to represent the Wildcats in events around Houston, coaches will allow players not attending Westbury Christian School, to participate in the travel program. Some outside players have even decided to attend Westbury Christian School after being introduced through the travel program. Ultimately, the extra practice and reps prepare all players to contribute in baseball programs for High School, College and Beyond.

The program’s key focuses include:

Provide a Safe Practice Environment
Provide Weekly Disciplined, Organized Practices
Provide a Positive Environment for Players and Families
Provide Excellent Communication to Players and Families
Focus on Player Mechanics and Improving the Skills of All Players Equally
Provide Valuable Performance Information to Player’s Individual Instructors
Identify Players to Invite to Play on the Westbury Wildcats Travel Baseball Team
Most Importantly, to Have Fun Regardless of Skill Level

SAFE Practice Approach

Since exposure to a variety of sports is encouraged, the Westbury Wildcats Travel Baseball Program only allows players to participate in the program for six months a year (April-June & September-November) to allow players the time to participate in other sports such as spring school baseball, soccer, football, basketball, swimming, etc. This also helps prevent baseball specific injuries that may happen with overuse and playing all year long, while also providing valuable time for family vacations and bonding.

Unlike other programs, parents are encouraged to attend practices and sit alongside coaches, and their children, to help with attention, retention, comfort, and positive encouragement. This also gives the chance for the program directors to educate the parents on drills that they can take home and encourage the player to do on their own.

All practices are highly organized and structured to help maintain the attention and expectation of young players. Baseball drills and workout sessions are used to help player development and video technology is used to analyze pitching and hitting. Families can use these videos to provide valuable information to their player's outside hitting or pitching instructor that is providing private lessons.

Westbury Wildcat coaches believe that teaching team discipline and fundamentals should be the key focus during workout sessions. Individual batting and pitching lessons outside of team practices are not provided to any player by any member of the Wildcat coaching staff. Families and players are encouraged to seek outside batting and pitching lessons by qualified, certified, and experienced instructors. Coaches will happily provide feedback, videos, and evaluation notes to the player’s family and private instructors.

Coaches will also make sure that key points taught by private instructors are being worked on and reinforced during practice, games and workouts. If you need help with finding a professional instructor for your player, the Westbury Wildcat Coaches are happy to provide recommendations.

All About Family

The Westbury Wildcat Travel Baseball Program believes that all family members should be included and participate in the players baseball journey. To promote this philosophy several events outside of practice and games are planned including:

Pool Parties
Attending Professional Baseball Games
The annual "Wiley Awards" ceremony
Cookouts
and many many more

All of the parents are also encouraged to bring their personal talents to help the Tournament Teams including but not limited to:

Nutritional Consulting
Photography
Scorekeeping
Play by Play Livestream of Games
Yoga For Players (Lead by Moms)
Uniform Design
Event Planning

In the end, the players not only establish a strong brotherhood on and off the field, but the #WildcatFamiles establish lifelong friendships and bonds with each other that go beyond the game of baseball.

Giving Back

To help promote commitment and service, all family are encouraged to give back to the community that does so much for us. Players can accumulate one (1) service point for every hour they volunteer in their community.

A service point can be obtained by doing something in the community or home that is above and beyond a players regular expectations and chores. Examples of service are participating in voluntary work days for local non-profits, helping a coach of a younger team during their scheduled practice, and volunteering time during local Little League tournaments, etc.

Periodically, coaches will email the family of players with other opportunities to volunteer as a team for certain events. Players and parents typically find this to be a very rewarding experience because it gives them a chance to bond as a team beyond the baseball field.

The player with the most service points at the end of the year will be given a "Wiley Award" for Community Service