Our focus is to create teams in the southern part of Minnesota including southern suburbs for those who want to be a part of the Minnesota Blizzard but may not be able to make the drive down on a weekly basis.  Players and parents should expect the same consistency in coaching, training, competitiveness and culture players have been a part of since 2003.

The Blizzard program’s schedule starts after the Minnesota Legion season in July and is done before high school officially starts their season in March.  IF we were to travel in the summer and/or spring, we require our players to communicate and get permission from either their spring or summer coach.

Typically, we don’t like our pitchers (at the Varsity level) to get over 90 pitches in any outings and we do our best to stay under that.  In order to have a team, over half of the players on the team need to be a quality pitcher in order to equally distribute pitching time and manage pitch counts and stress on the arm.

The Blizzard Blue teams will have the top 12-13 players/prospects from the tryouts on the team.  Players who are graded out 13-24 will placed on the Blizzard Black roster if the staff feels like they can compete on a national level.  Our Fall program is defined by Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Teams will carry a roster of 12-13 players.  We will carry additional members on the team if that additional member is a P.O. (pitcher only).  Pitcher only players will not play a position or hit during the tournament unless required to.

Every year, players are unable to go to some tournaments for extenuating circumstances.  Our staff will be responsible for picking players to fill that void.  That player will be put in a position where he is going to be able to help the team the most.  It might be the starting shortstop, 3-hole hitter, additional outfielder or relief pitcher.  We’ll communicate with the team what everyone’s role is during the season and make sure everyone is on the same page with additional or add-on players.

Extra players or pick-up players are typically picked from our Fall Blizzard teams or from scout referrals.  Every year, our program picks up approximately 12 players to travel on the elite teams with us.  All of those players came from our Fall Blizzard program.

Tournaments are usually 4-game guarantee (2 games on Friday / 2 games on Saturday) Players will bat in continuous order 1-12 with players receiving relatively equal defensive playing time.  If the team earns a playoff spot, the coach can opt to play 9 players.  In addition, one of the determining factors is the tournament rules.  If the tournament states we can only bat 10 players, we’ll rotate the other players in throughout each game.

Blizzard members have an automatic invite, but they must register and pay separately.  Non-Blizzard members must have a scout reference.

If you play other sports that are going to interfere with a commitment to the Blizzard, please take that into consideration before trying out for Fall Blizzard or Blizzard Elite.

You can tryout as a pitcher only and/or you might be chosen as a pitcher only.  If you are in one of these two scenarios, you will receive lessons to compensate offensive playing time.  Each player will be a case by case basis.

Yes.  Each team will have a chaperone on the road – either a coach or a parent to do bed check, etc.  All players are expected to follow the Blizzard guidelines and rules which will be covered in depth at the Blizzard meeting. 

At most of the tournaments the Championship game is played at around 3pm on the last day of the tournament.  A 2-hour game would have it completed at around 5pm.  Therefore you DO NOT WANT TO ARRANGE A FLIGHT ANY EARLIER THAN 8PM on the last day of the tournament.

Players who are traveling alone, regardless of their age will be picked up at the airport by a coach, chaperone or a Blizzard parent.  Your flight information should be forwarded to our staff as soon as it is booked.  If your son is staying an extra night because his flight leaves the day after the tournament, a minimal hotel fee will be charged (usually $50)