10U Rec Softball

Goals

We are looking to reinforce the skills and knowledge from Softball 8U with 

1. Individual Skills

   1. Pitching mechanics.

   2. Play behind the plate for catchers.

   3. Identifying where pitches were located in the strike zone grid and evaluating which zone they hit best.

   4. Strategies for batting.

   5. Bunting.

   6. Stealing bases.

   7. Sliding into bases.

2. Team Skills

   1. Communicating the number of outs before each play.

   2. Communicating where critical plays may occur.

   3. Relay plays.

   4. Defending against stealing.

   5. Picking off runners.

3. Understanding the game

   1. Understanding "tagging up" on fly balls.

   2. Knowing where force out play are possible.

   3. Understanding which plays are best before each pitch.

Time Frame

Spring Season  - March through mid June

• Team assignment is by draft.  If your player is new to the division you will be contacted with a date and time for a skills evaluation event in March.  Immediately after the skills evaluation the coaches will draft players.  If your play can not attend, or misses, the evaluation, their name will be placed in a "hat".  Each coach is given the opportunity to draft a specific player from the players at the evaluation, or to pick a random player from the "hat".  Players returning to the same division as the prior spring do not need to come to the evaluation.

• Practices:

  • We offer weekly indoor skill sessions from late January - early February though March.  Check our website for details.  We encourage all Rookie age players to come out and get ready for the upcoming season.

  • Team practices start early April.  

  • We schedule three practices a week.  Two will be on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening from 6:00PM-7:00PM.  These will be the same night each week.  The third will be early or late Saturday morning.

• Games start late April.  Early in the season games will be on Saturday and one weeknight with a practice on the other weeknight.  Later in the seasson it may be necessary to schedule two weeknight games.

Tournament Team

We offer tournament play for those players looking for more playing time and a chance to compete at a higher level. 

At the beginning of team practices each coach will announce the date for our tournament team tryout.  We will select a team upto 15 players with the possibility for alternate players. 

Tournament team practices will be held Sunday afternoons throughout the season and continue through July.

Fall

This season is for players rising from Rookie to Minors and returning players who will play Minors the next Spring season.

FAQ

1. What night will we practice, my child has another activity on xxxday.  You let us know about the nights that work best in the "Special Requests" section on our registration page.  While we will do our best to avoid conflicts the players team is determined by draft.

2. Equipment You Must Provide

   1. Baseball Glove.

   2. Shoes -Cleats are recommended at this level, they must be plastic. Metal cleats are not allowed!

   3. Grey baseball pants.

3. Equipment We Provide

   1. Team shirt and hat.  We require baseball pants at this level. Please get grey pants to everyone with baseball pants match.

   2. Batting helmets.  Each team has enough helmets for all base runners and the batter. If you want to get a baseball helmet please make sure it fits your child well.

   3. Bats, each team has a selection of age appropriate bats.  If you are thinking about getting your child a bat please click here for more information on how to pick an appropriate bat for young children.  We recommend using the team bats for a couple practices to see which size works best for your player.  Remember young children grow quickly, but they don't put a lot of wear and tear on their equipment. Since they may out grow a bat in a year or two, so it might be a good idea to check with friends who have older players who may have out grown their equipment.

   4. Catcher's gear.  Each team will have at least one complete set of catcher's gear.  We rotate children through all nine fielding positions, based on each players ability, so there is no dedicated catcher on the team. Children grow very quickly, so we recommend waiting before buying this equipment.