| The
Greater Aurora Baseball Association was organized
in the year 2000 when a group of dedicated
baseball enthusiasts and coaches decided that
there should be varying levels of baseball play
in our area. For those baseball players that
wanted to just have fun and spend some time with
friends - existing local, in-house, recreational
leagues were exactly what they needed. However,
for those desiring more time on the baseball
fields, more competition, and a dream to play in
a World Series, there were limited places to go. The Greater Aurora Baseball Association was then formed as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization to fill this need. Furthermore, three goals were set forth: (1) To prepare our players to be able to compete at the next major level, whether it be high school, college, or beyond; (2) To have more concern for the all around development of our players, than in securing wins; and, (3) To strive to have our Managers ASEP/IHSA coaching certified. GABA, as we have come to be known, has, in our few short years of existence, (1) become one of the only organizations in Illinois to field travel teams from the 10 year old to the college age levels; (2) through encouragement of our policy to play at school grade age levels, GABA has consistently placed most of our 14U (8th Grade) players on high school teams; (3) have had several former GABA players selected in the Major League Baseball draft, as well as, numerous current/former GABA players selected on all-area high school teams; (4) have team managers with high school coaching experience and professional baseball backgrounds; (5) have brought multi-aged level National World Series tournaments to Aurora; (6) sustained itself financially through the generosity of corporate and business sponsorships and player fundraising; and, (7) consistently, year after year, continue to have many of our teams qualify and participate in National World Series baseball throughout the country, as well as, be ranked among the top teams in the state and sometimes the nation! Click here to learn more about our Tradition of Accomplishments. GABA believes that there is room for all levels of baseball within our area. To this end, GABA reaches out to all surrounding communities in the Aurora metropolitan area to find the best players with the desire for this type of intensive, competitive play. This results in our family of players coming from Aurora, Naperville, North Aurora, Oswego, Batavia, Yorkville, and other Fox Valley communities. GABA is dedicated to our goals and our players. We work with the players to better themselves, both on and off the field. This can include providing exposure in national high level tournaments, and communication with college coaches for our older players, or high school coaches for our younger players. Baseball is more than an individual physically swinging a bat or throwing a ball. It is a mental and team game that will ultimately assist the players in other areas of their lives. We at GABA like to refer to this process as providing our young players with "Bases to the future..." |