Home / The Program
The Program
High-level instruction, competitive experience, and a standard of conduct that travels with our players off the field.
Our mission and values
Built on what quality youth sports should be
The Canyon Lakers are built on values that define quality youth sports in the Black Hills. Our goal is to develop athletes who are strong on the field and excellent teammates and community members off it.
Development
Long-term growth through quality coaching. We measure a season by what a player can do in August that they couldn't in March.
Sportsmanship
Competing with respect, team and personal effort, and integrity — win or lose, the handshake line is non-negotiable.
Leadership
Helping kids grow as teammates and young adults, with older players setting the tone for the ones coming up.
Community
Uniting Rapid City families through baseball, and giving back to the Canyon Lake Little League program our players came from and still play in.
Little League first
We exist as an extension of local rec ball. Nobody should have to choose, so we schedule around Little League and send our players back to it every spring.
Excellence
Setting a high standard for youth baseball in South Dakota — in preparation, in how we carry ourselves, in how we leave a dugout.
Enjoyment
Competitive travel opportunities without losing the enjoyment of the game. Kids who love baseball at 12 are still playing at 18.
Our approach
Development is a plan, not a hope
Every player is evaluated at tryouts and again mid-season across throwing, fielding, hitting, base running and position-specific skills. Those evaluations become a written development plan — two or three concrete things that player is working on, shared with the family.
Practices are built around those plans. We run station work rather than one long line of ground balls, so kids get reps instead of standing time, and coaches see every swing.
Kids don't get better at tournaments. They get better on a Sunday afternoon in April, taking ground balls nobody drove four hours to watch.
What to expect
The season, start to finish
A real sequence — each step depends on the one before it.
Tryout & evaluation
January for the coming spring. Players are assessed on throwing and fielding, hitting, base running and position skills, and coaches communicate results within a few days. Families who find us later in the year can still join when the roster cap and the schedule allow.
Roster & registration
Offers go out by age group. Families complete registration, submit a birth certificate and medical release, and choose a payment plan. Rosters are capped at 12 so every player gets real innings.
Off-season training
Optional hitting and pitching training runs October through February indoors at CLLL — 9U and 10U in the Brandt Facility, the older age groups in the Schnell Facility — and wraps up just before team practice starts in mid-March. Multi-sport athletes are encouraged; football, wrestling and basketball players are welcome to join whenever their season ends.
Spring practice
Team practices begin mid-March, 1–2 each weekend on Saturdays and Sundays, so weeknights stay clear for Little League and school. Position work, situational defense and live at-bats.
Tournament season
Every team is guaranteed three events from late April through July. Pool and bracket play run anywhere from Friday to Monday depending on the tournament — some are a straight Saturday and Sunday, others open Friday night or finish on a Monday holiday — so check each event before you book anything. Teams that want more baseball add events by age group. Most are within driving distance of Rapid City, with a few longer weekends published well in advance.
Season close
State qualifier, end-of-season evaluations with each family, and a team end-of-season party. Players leave with a written summary of their year and what to work on next.
What's included
In your program fee
- Professional coaching and instruction
- Entry fees for the three guaranteed tournaments
- Canyon Lakers uniform and apparel package (billed with the season balance, not the deposit)
- Player and team insurance
- Off-season training access at the CLLL facility, October through February
- Player evaluations and written development plans
- Opportunities for advanced tournament play
Not included
Family costs
- Travel, lodging and meals for out-of-town tournaments
- Personal equipment — glove, bat, cleats, helmet
- Optional winter clinics and extra spiritwear
- Entry fees for extra tournaments a team chooses to add