SPYA Softball offers teams at the Prep/8U, 10U, 12U, 14U and 18U levels. To ensure adequate playing time for each player, each team will be capped at 12 players. Once the cap is reached, SPYA will continue to register individuals and form a second team at any age level provided there is a volunteer coach to lead the way.

Registration is first-come, first-served. Please take advantage of the early bird discount rate and register your player today!

Registration Fee

The early bird registration fee for each participant playing 10U and up is $105 and expires on 01.24.20. Regular registration is $130 beginning on 01.25.20 and ends on 02.07.20. Late registration (if space is still available) costs $150 and begins on 02.08.20. These funds are used to purchase jerseys, pay league fees, insurance, umpire fees, and rental fees, maintain the playing fields and purchase and/or rent equipment.

Additionally, there is a $50 volunteer deposit/buyout assessed to each family at the time of registration. From those families who commit to volunteering on a regular basis (coaching, statistician, field maintenance, background check coordinator, etc). throughout the 2020 spring season, a $50 volunteer deposit will be assessed. This fee is refundable if certain criteria are met and confirmed by team coaches. Families also have the option to “buyout” volunteer hours in lieu of volunteering time to the softball program at a cost of $50. This fee is non-refundable.

Need-based financial assistance may be available to registrants. Contact me for more information.

Team Assignments

When signing up your child, she will be assigned to the age-appropriate team according to her date of birth. The age of your daughter on December 31, 2019 will be used to determine team placement. In other words, if your daughter was 12 years old on December 31, 2019, she will play 12U (12 and under), even if she turns 13 on January 1, 2019.

After registration is concluded, if spots remain open in a particular age category, the commissioner may deem it necessary to move younger players up to an older age category with parental consent. Also, in the event a team is short of players for a game, we may solicit a player from a younger age level to play “up” for that game in order to avoid a forfeit. If your child is young and a first-year player, she can be signed up for Prep. Prep Softball is primarily for players who are new to organized softball.

I encourage special requests on team assignment with the understanding that not all requests can be honored. This may include requesting your daughter be placed on a team with another player due to the need to share travel, siblings playing on the same team or requesting placement with a particular coach. While every attempt will be made to honor such requests, I will be limited to honoring those that meet league age requirements and allow for the placement of a proportionate number of players on each team as well as the player’s ability, the number of volunteers for each team, etc. If your registration is dependent on a special request to be assigned to a specific team, please do not register as I cannot guarantee special requests can be honored. Refunds will not be authorized due to a rejected special request.

Uniforms and Equipment

All registered players will be provided with a personalized game jersey, use of fielders’ face masks for pitchers (required used by ALL pitchers), and use of catcher’s equipment.

Each participant will need to provide their own softball glove, softball helmet*, ASA-approved bat*, rubber bottom softball cleats (no metal cleats allowed). The following items will also need to be provided by the family: softball pants and socks (color TBA) and an optional fielder’s mask (we recommend that all players wear a fielder’s face mask). We will be switching uniform colors this season. More information will be forthcoming on these requirements.

*some used helmets and bats may be available for purchase from SPYA softball. Please email me if you want to explore this option.

Practices

Practices and team rosters will be announced by the first week of April. Practices are typically 1.5 – 2 hours two to three times per week, often two during the week and one on the weekend until the games commence. The practice schedule is determined by the volunteer coach of each team. Each coach works with her/his team to develop a practice schedule that ensures that players can make most practices.

Please note that coaches often have to work around their own work and personal schedules plus the schedules of several other SPYA softball teams. We field teams at five playing levels, often with two teams at each level. It takes quite a bit of coordination to schedule the fields so please be patient with the volunteer coaches who work to develop the practice schedule.

Practices and home games are played at Springhouse Middle School fields.

Games

The Parkland Spring Softball Season runs from the end of April through the first week of June followed by the playoffs and All-Star games during the second and third weeks of June. This year, opening weekend will be April 25-26. The last regular-season games will be in early June. Championship games will follow as will the league all-star games.

Game schedules are determined by the Parkland Softball League<https://www.eteamz.com/ParklandSoftballLeague/> (PSL) of which SPYA is a member organization. PSL releases the league schedule to the commissioners about two to three weeks prior to the first game of the season. The league includes many from the Greater Lehigh Valley and as far north as Jim Thorpe. While most games will be played within a 30-minute radius of our home field at Springhouse Middle School, others may require up to a 50-minute drive to away games.

The Parkland Softball League will send coaches the draft schedule before the season starts. The schedule will then be sent out to the parents/players. At that time, it is imperative that you review this schedule and inform the coach if there are any scheduling conflicts with your daughter attending any game. Every team has about one week to try and reschedule games prior to the start of the season. Once this time elapses, the league will not allow games to be rescheduled unless it is weather-related.

Voluntary Winter Workouts

We will be starting Winter Workouts on Monday evenings in the next few weeks. These workouts will be based on the number of volunteer parents/coaches we have. Each week, an email will be sent to families of all registered SPYA players, soliciting an RSVP for the upcoming Monday workout. We will need to have a minimum of one adult volunteer for every five players. If you do not RSVP directly to the email address provided by the deadline listed, your player may not be able to participate in the next workout. (This is volunteer dependent.)

The workouts will be held at the SPYA Building at Grange Park. These workouts will focus on some fundamentals, conditioning and team-building. Depending on participation, there may be two timeslots with players broken into groups by age and experience. Please watch for emails about these workouts.

While more details will follow, please note that these workouts are for 10U and up players. They will not be offered for Prep players. Also, participant numbers will be limited.

Pitching Lessons

Every great team needs at least 1-2 good pitchers. If your daughter has a real desire to hone the skills she already has, she may have the opportunity to participate in an SPYA sponsored pitching clinic with the staff of 7 Deadly Spins.

This year, we hope to have the clinic take place at the 7 Deadly Spins location in Whitehall. The number of participants will be restricted and a commitment must be made to participate in all six sessions. Participants must either have experience pitching in a game in prior seasons or have been taking lessons for a period of time.

Once the details are set, an email will be sent to all registered players inviting them to register for the lessons.

Closing

In closing, I encourage every parent that has some time during the season to volunteer to assist in our program. Speaking from my own experience, it is extremely rewarding to provide our young ladies with an opportunity to participate in a program that heightens their confidence, lends itself to both physical and emotional well-being, and provides them with benefits and skills that last a lifetime.

If you have any questions, please contact me via email.

SPYA Softball Commissioner
softball@spya.org

Posted in Softball

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