The Waterford Outlaws are committed to providing an environment that allows players to develop their full potential while having fun, learning life lessons, and creating memories on a baseball field that will last a lifetime. Our ultimate goal is to prepare our players for high school and college careers.
The Waterford Outlaws offer different playing options at each age group to allow players to play Little League to Major level while staying within one organization. We feel it is important to put each player in a position to succeed and provide them the opportunity to play at the appropriate level for their skill set.
The Outlaws welcome all players, parents, and coaches who support our philosophies. Our program allows players to improve their skills dramatically through instruction and playing against some of the top competition.
OUTLAWS HISTORY
Outlaws / WLL
PAST...PRESENT...FUTURE
In 2008, few men were watching a baseball game in South Farmington. It was a beautiful day and while they were enjoying the game, these few insightful men, who, by the way, had just met for the first time, came up with an idea! Why not start a extended league for the youth in Oakland County? Hence the birth of The Waterford Outlaws League! ( 10-12-2008 ) Steven Campbell, the founder of the Outlaws, with Paul Scally, Randy Redburn, Kevin Boyd and Craig Borowski formed the first Outlaws team outside WLL ever, a team of U9 boys, to play in Wixom Mi. ( Total Sports )
Over the next few years more Outlaw teams were formed and The Outlaws became a force throughout Oakland County. One of these teams won two league championships in a six year span. The Outlaws placed more players on the Waterford Little League league's All-Star / District little league World Series team than all the other Oakland County teams combined! Their record was 36 victories, 0 ties and 9 losses in all division offered. By 2014, the Waterford Little league was producing District Champions three times. A U13 team coached by Ed Rhue and a U14 team coached by Dave Kaminski, went all the way to the state tourney in 2013 and three games away to regional tournament also with Dave Kaminski, Robert Vaught & Paul Scally in 2012. As you can see, Outlaws Baseball was well on its way!
Even though things were progressing nicely, something was missing. The person who ran the league wanted to make baseball available to all children in Oakland County who wanted to play. In the summer of 2013, with the help of Alison Swanson ( Parks N Rec ), the director of the Athletics Recreation Department, Alison and Steve Campbell formed a affiliation program. This was quite a task considering our town's youth were already involved in the football, basketball and soccer programs in town. In addition, travel baseball was considered a foreign sport! Nonetheless, about 50 children signed up to play in the first season.
Baseball Travel fever began to spread rapidly throughout Oakland County! The following fall saw an increase of over 500% with 270 boys and girls signing up in the Waterford Little League founded by Steve Campbell in 2010. It was then that the first slate of officers were elected in 2013. It was Rick McIntosh, Outlaws Coordinator, with help with Waterford Little League : Steve Campbell, President, Dave Kaminski Vice President, Dale Dikes, Treasurer.
The aim of our club was to make baseball as open as possible to any child in our community with the goals of participation, learning and fun topping the list. While travel teams fulfill a certain purpose, there clearly was a need for baseball to be generally available. What our founders didn't realize was how successful their program would become in such a short period of time. By 2013, only six years after the introduction of the program, the membership had grown to over 500 children in Waterford Little League and a max of 6 teams this year for the 2014 Outlaws!
Through the WLL, the Outlaws grew and added events such as Parade Day, Field Day and Awards Night. Travel teams proudly represented Outlaws in the wildly growing Oakland County League. The Board of Directors also Grew, taking on more hands to do more work.
The season became a time of transition. Our needs began to change and we had to adapt with them. The children wanted to learn more. The coaches wanted to become better teachers. The parents became more knowledgeable spectators. Why? Its simple. Travel baseball took off in the U.S.A. in 2004. It surpassed baseball leagues as the number one participation sport in the country. That's why the Outlaws are under the umbrella of the Waterford Little League.
Why? Its an easy yet highly skilled game to play and it's equipment is comparatively inexpensive to other sports. The Outlaws was not immune to this phenomenon. So this is what we have done...
Three years ago the WLL added a Pee Wee ( 3/4 ) program that runs in the spring. These preschoolers are our youngest players. They play small sided T-ball games so they have the opportunity to "touch" the ball more. We also incorporated a 7-8 Coach Pitch Division into the WLL program. They too, play games the kids learn to pitch in this division at 7 & 8. The practices and games are a wonderful first experience for both the young players and their parents!
Bat-O-Thon, which was our annual skills' competition. Hit, Pitch & Run is our intramural skills competition through WLL in Waterford Mi. where all of the teams from all Division and higher, play a series of shortened skilled games throughout the day with finalists receiving awards. The kindergarten Division children participate in skills' competition and can't wait until next year when they play like the big kids! Hit, Pitch & Run is also the day when we award participation trophies to all players in the intramural program. Its a resounding success with lots of fun, food, and great baseball.
Summer, fall & winter baseball Camps / training were introduced about two years ago and have become very popular. We now hold three sessions each season with approximately 100 children per session honing their baseball skills and having fun. Feedback from the parents is that these camps are the best buys in summer, fall, & winter activities!
Due to the demand for competitive baseball, our program has grown to six teams. We are part of the Waterford Little League, which now oversees about 40 teams, with about 500 players! Our teams have won Division Championships, Tournament Championships, and is affiliate with the USSSA League and receives points for playing hard. Last year we ran our first Winter Indoor Tournament / League at the Oakland Yard. Over 10 teams from all over Michigan. The caliber of the skills of our players is evidenced in this year's.
Our registration fees are among the lowest in Oakland County. We are able to contain our costs by fund-raising activities that help fund our programs. This money has also helped us with our two "scholarship" programs. First, we are able to register children in our program whose families cannot afford the registration fee. Secondly, we are able to give scholarships towards college tuition to graduating Waterford High School seniors through the partnership with the Waterford Little League who have played ad Outlaws and have volunteered to help in the Outlaws / WLL while in high school. Your participation and generosity in these activities is greatly appreciated.
Skills have increased dramatically through training. For several years we have experimented with professional trainers to see what would be the best for our club. We have hired baseball Coach's from Wayne State University, Matt Nokes ( Former Tiger / Yankee great ) Baseball City and Virtual Baseball to name a few to train our intramural teams and coaches from kindergarten through 18U. They were also assigned to help our travel teams in their quests for greatness! Training is now a part of our club. We will continue to deliver this tremendous advantage to all children in our program. Because of Outlaws Baseball the Waterford Little League was berthed and there season started in 2010.. Where do we go from here? We will continue to offer the things that make our clubs a great success. We will fine-tune the areas that need attention. We will change when times tell us to do so. We are positioned to take the Outlaws into the next adventure and are excited to have you join us for the journey! We've had awesome Waterford-Outlaws Travel-Team Directors resigned ( 2013 - 2016 ) his name was Ricky James McIntosh but I'm happy to say we are going into a new direction we are looking into not only Little League & USSSA tourney's but also our group of players / teams are playing in NOBF, League Sports, Pal and KVBSA. With Kevin Prater as the point of contact for the New look Outlaws we expect to grow quickly Kevin has help with four more and no more : Toshi Aasi, Kyle and Aimy Gauthier, Kirk Tippery and of course me Steve Campbell we'll keep Baseball exciting in Oakland County & Mi. Please contact us at waterfordoutlawbaseball@gmail.com or waterfordoutlaws@gmail.com for future events & Tryouts... www.waterfordoutlaws.com
* We have a annual Alumni game yearly when we bring back boys that played in a Outlaw uniform most are in college, married, serving our country in the military, etc. they play as a Old Timer vs. our current 16U-18U teams they merge and play as a The Young Guns this happens every year during the Woodward Cruise weekend ones a Outlaw always a Outlaw it's a great time young and old we are a great family ordinated organization to be part of as time moves on you'll hear great story's remember ( Young Guns Vs. the Old Timers ) see you all soon. From 2012 - present .. In 2021 our be members & Toshi Asai who became our Outlaws North Commissioner overseeing 14 Outlaw clubs currently from 8U - 17U and in 2024 Kyle Harvey became our Outlaws South Commissioner overseeing 10 Outlaw clubs from 7U - 14U adding Austin Texas to our family is exciting news for our Organization. We are also excited for our Lady Outlaws who play Softball in our community.
