Fall 2022 Season Updates!
We hope you are as excited as we are about the upcoming fall season of softball!! Our Board has been working hard this offseason! Our goal is to make each season better than the last for our players and families. During the spring season, we focused on revising our rules and draft procedures to ensure the girls were learning "how" to play softball, and not just how to win games.
This fall our focus will be on player/coach development. We are providing age-specific evaluation sheets to each coach and will ask them to evaluate their players at the beginning of the season, and again at the end of the season. Our hope is that each player will improve in all aspects of the game! Additionally, we will be providing our coaches with the necessary teaching materials and resources to ensure that each coach/team will be teaching the same fundamental skills in similar ways. We are very excited to introduce new tools each season, which are all designed to benefit our girls!!
NEW THIS SEASON- PLAYER EVALUATIONS!
We will be holding player evaluations on Saturday, August 6 (weather permitting). All players in 8U-16U are required to be present during their specific time slot. If your daughter is unable to attend, they will be auto-drafted, rather than chosen by a coach during the draft. Board members will be facilitating each session, running the girls through a few basic drills and allowing the coaches to observe and take notes. THIS IS NOT A TRYOUT - ALL REGISTERED PLAYERS WILL BE DRAFTED TO A TEAM!! Our goal is to ensure that each team has a mixture of both beginner and experienced players in order to create as much parity as possible at each age division.
Pitcher evaluations will occur at the end of each session. Any player who is not interested in pitching will be released after the basic skills portion is completed.
Session times will be announced by Monday, August 1. We will begin around 9am and each session will be one hour or less.
Players should wear practice appropriate attire (see below).
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
In order to keep you as informed as possible, we would like to share as much information as we currently have regarding the schedule for this fall.
July 29: Last day for prospective head coaches to register their child
August 4: Last Day to Register (no exceptions!!)
August 6: Player Evaluations
August 7: Player Draft (for coaches only)
August 8-14: First week of practice
August 20: Opening Day for all age groups!
September 24: Fall Tournament (8U & up)
PRACTICES
After head coaches are selected by the board, they will be offered practice days/times on a FCFS basis. Each coach will choose one weekday and one weekend practice time. On Sunday, August 7, at the conclusion of the draft, coaches will reach out to their players to introduce themselves, and to inform families of their practice days/times. If your coach has chosen Monday's, be prepared to practice the next day!!
Safety is always our first priority! With that said, the following attire/equipment is required for practice:
- T-shirt or jersey
- Pants that cover the knees (softball pants required beginning at 8U)
- Molded cleats (beginning at 8U). Metal cleats are not allowed in any age division.
- Batting helmet WITH facemask
- Fielding facemask
- Softball glove/mitt
- Softball bat
We understand that the cost of this equipment on top of the cost of registration can be difficult to manage. We have collected many generous donations of gently used equipment to lend out to any player who needs a little assistance. If you would like to borrow from the league, please indicate this on the registration form and/or email ftsoftball@gmail.com so we can be sure to have adequate equipment available.
GAMES
All age divisions will play double headers on Saturday's, on each of the following 4 dates:
Saturday, August 20
Saturday, August 27
Saturday, September 10
Saturday, September 17
Additionally each team will have two weeknight games in September. There will be a single elimination tournament on Saturday, September 24 for 8U-16U. 6U teams will play their final double header games on this day.
Players will be provided a team jersey and socks. If the weather is cool, please layer clothing UNDER the jersey to ensure the player's number remains visible. Players will need to provide their own black pants for games. The pants at this LINK are an affordable pair that many of the younger girls wear, and can be found in store at Dick's Sporting Goods.
Weather can be brutal for fall sports. We will always do our absolute best to reschedule games that have been canceled due to weather, but cannot guarantee that all 10 games will be played.
ALLIANCE TRYOUTS
New this season!! We will be offering a year-round Alliance league!
We will field one team for each of the following age groups:
- 8U (birth years 2014 & 2015)
- 10U (birth years 2012 & 2013)
- 12U (birth years 2010 & 2011)
- 14U (birth years 2008 & 2009
See THIS link to pre-register for tryouts! (pre-registration is NOT required, but is appreciated!)
I hope this answers some of the questions that you may have. More information will be coming, so be on the lookout for additional emails as the season approaches! Please also follow us on facebook at Franklin Township Softball League!
Thank you to all of our families for your continued support! If you could help us by forwarding this email to anyone you think may be interested in registering for the fall season, we would really appreciate it! We can't wait to see everyone on the fields!