About
NHBA Mariners Select is a high-level youth baseball program that offers youth baseball through Select league play, local and regional baseball tournaments, and participation in the Cooperstown youth baseball tournament. Players take part in advanced baseball activities led by professional coaches who manage rosters and lineups and guide teams through competitive games and tournaments.
• Ages: 8–12 years old
NHBA Mariners Select is a non-profit PONY youth baseball organization created by Newport Harbor Baseball Association (NHBA) in the fall of 2020 and is entering its fifth year. The program offers seven teams from 8U–12U, including two 9U teams, with approximately 90 kids across those teams. Each team is coached by a minimum of two paid independent, professional coaches who have either coached and/or played at the MLB, minor league, collegiate, or high school levels, and the program currently has 15 coaches from diverse backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. All Mariners coaches from every age level attend open tryouts each July to evaluate participants from 8U–12U, and the entire coaching roster collectively selects all teams each year, with rosters then set for the full year and coaches advancing with their team. Current players are required each year to earn a new roster spot, and starting at 11U there are no geographic requirements or boundary limits for participation.
The program’s mission states that it focuses on player development in a fun, yet highly competitive and challenging environment, with wholistic (mind, body, character) player development as its benchmark and an end-goal of playing high school baseball and potentially beyond. According to its mission, the program aims to hand off athletes who have learned to play the game fundamentally and “the right way,” and who are ready to compete and excel both on and off the field. The mission also states that the program emphasizes the mental side of the game, including mental toughness and resilience, and lists core values that include character, commitment, work ethic, sportsmanship, respect for coaches, teammates, opponents, and umpires, perseverance and heart, teamwork, inclusiveness, and community involvement.
NHBA Mariners Select is governed by NHBA’s Board of Directors, with Evan Williams serving as President and Marilyn Horsley listed as the NHBA website contact. The program is described as a non-profit “hybrid” that combines high-level travel baseball coaching and competition with a local community setting, and it serves primarily local residents while welcoming individuals from any community to try out and join starting at 11U. The program states that it ensures two metrics each year: top-level coaching and high-level competition, with players gaining advanced baseball knowledge, skills, and experience from professional coaching, Select league play, and highly competitive local and regional tournaments, and its teams compete against top youth baseball players across Orange County and Southern California. The program notes that Mariners Select baseball is expected to be prioritized each season, but it encourages and accommodates playing multiple sports, which it states is more fun for kids, produces more well-rounded athletes, and helps combat baseball burnout and arm injury potential.
Last updated June 24, 2026.
• Ages: 8–12 years old
NHBA Mariners Select is a non-profit PONY youth baseball organization created by Newport Harbor Baseball Association (NHBA) in the fall of 2020 and is entering its fifth year. The program offers seven teams from 8U–12U, including two 9U teams, with approximately 90 kids across those teams. Each team is coached by a minimum of two paid independent, professional coaches who have either coached and/or played at the MLB, minor league, collegiate, or high school levels, and the program currently has 15 coaches from diverse backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. All Mariners coaches from every age level attend open tryouts each July to evaluate participants from 8U–12U, and the entire coaching roster collectively selects all teams each year, with rosters then set for the full year and coaches advancing with their team. Current players are required each year to earn a new roster spot, and starting at 11U there are no geographic requirements or boundary limits for participation.
The program’s mission states that it focuses on player development in a fun, yet highly competitive and challenging environment, with wholistic (mind, body, character) player development as its benchmark and an end-goal of playing high school baseball and potentially beyond. According to its mission, the program aims to hand off athletes who have learned to play the game fundamentally and “the right way,” and who are ready to compete and excel both on and off the field. The mission also states that the program emphasizes the mental side of the game, including mental toughness and resilience, and lists core values that include character, commitment, work ethic, sportsmanship, respect for coaches, teammates, opponents, and umpires, perseverance and heart, teamwork, inclusiveness, and community involvement.
NHBA Mariners Select is governed by NHBA’s Board of Directors, with Evan Williams serving as President and Marilyn Horsley listed as the NHBA website contact. The program is described as a non-profit “hybrid” that combines high-level travel baseball coaching and competition with a local community setting, and it serves primarily local residents while welcoming individuals from any community to try out and join starting at 11U. The program states that it ensures two metrics each year: top-level coaching and high-level competition, with players gaining advanced baseball knowledge, skills, and experience from professional coaching, Select league play, and highly competitive local and regional tournaments, and its teams compete against top youth baseball players across Orange County and Southern California. The program notes that Mariners Select baseball is expected to be prioritized each season, but it encourages and accommodates playing multiple sports, which it states is more fun for kids, produces more well-rounded athletes, and helps combat baseball burnout and arm injury potential.
Last updated June 24, 2026.
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