Pascack Valley Venom, a championship-winning club baseball program with roots in the Greater Pascack Valley, will host free tryouts this month as it expands into multiple age groups and teams.
Tryouts are open to local players ages 9U through 13U from Bergen, Rockland and Essex counties. Sessions are set for Saturday, June 6, and Saturday, June 27, at Rella Fields, 60 Annette Lane, Airmont, N.Y.
On both dates, 9U and 10U players will try out from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by 11U through 13U players from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required.
Players will receive coach evaluations in hitting, pitching, fielding and running through a series of stations. Teams are forming for Fall 2026, with select Summer 2026 opportunities available.
Venom is expanding to provide more player-development opportunities across several age groups. The program works with Grit Baseball and Northeast Supreme, which oversee more than 55 local club, travel and recreation teams.
Pascack Valley Venom began as a 12U club baseball team made up of players from the Greater Pascack Valley region, including several from Hillsdale. The team has won three championships, according to the program.
The team’s manager, Elan Ofeck, is a 2023 graduate of Northern Valley Old Tappan High School. He helped win the 2022 Bergen County championship and went on to pitch at Gettysburg College.
The program’s president and founder, Ryan Smith, lives in Hillsdale. Smith spent more than five years in professional baseball and Division I athletics as a front office executive and play-by-play broadcaster.
According to the organization, Venom aims to provide a consistent, all-inclusive baseball experience built around accountability, teamwork, sportsmanship and entrepreneurship.