Organized off
season high school baseball in Fort Bend county is
coordinated through the Fort Bend baseball
Association (FBBA) summer program and the South West
Baseball League Association (SWBLA) fall program.
The roots of these two leagues date back to the late
80's when teams from Dulles and Clements formed the
FBBA league to play off season summer baseball. The
SWBLA was formed in 1991 by teams with Kempner and
Clements to play off season fall baseball at a time
when the existing Kyle Chapman inner city fall
league was closed.
The Fort Bend
Baseball Association was affiliated and sanctioned
with the AABC national organization until 2003 after
which it switched affiliation over to the Gold Glove
league based in the West Houston area. AABC operated
under division formats called "Mickey Mantle" for
the junior varsity and "Connie Mack" for the varsity
level. These are still the names that many people
refer to when describing high school team league
divisions today. In 2008, the FBBA league changed
it's affiliation from the Gold Glove league and
became an independent league format that it is
today.
Both leagues
have enjoyed many successes over the years. Hundreds
of players have gone on to play college level
baseball. Many have also have fulfilled their dream
of playing professionally such as Matt Albers
(Clements) Baltimore Orioles, Chris Young (Bellaire)
Arizona Diamondbacks, James Loney (Elkins) Los
Angeles Dodgers to name a few.
These leagues
have been organized and coordinated by long time
Sugarland resident John Lowrie. Mr. Lowrie has a
passion for creating a competitive environment for
high school players to play their off season
baseball in their own back yards at a reasonable
cost.
"The lure of select baseball has increased
the challenges for all high school team oriented
off season leagues. We offer the best non select
option to the finest high schools in the state
of Texas"
Fort
Bend Baseball Association (FBBA) Summer
A
competitive summer league for high school baseball
teams from Houston ISD, Katy ISD, Lamar Consolidated
ISD, Brazosport ISD with Fort Bend ISD teams being
the controlling members of the league. FBBA operates
with Varsity, Jr.Varsity and Freshmen divisions.
Games are played Monday thru Friday and begin the
last week of May ending in mid July. FBBA is
currently not affiliated with any local, state or
national sanction.
South West
Baseball League Association (SWBLA) Fall
A
competitive instruction/developmental fall league
open to all high school level teams and select teams
with players having high school eligibility. Under
18u and 16u division formats, the league allows free
substitution and continuous batting orders. Games
are played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and
begin the first week in September thru the end of
October.
