Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League (ABGSL)

2013 Registration

 

Registration Is Open! Register Now for ABGSL's Spring 2013 Season!

Registration for the 30th season of the Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League is now open. Please enroll your daughters at the earliest possible date. Early Bird registration with reduced fees ends on December 31st and Registration closes on January 31, 2013.

To register, go to Sportability (http://www.sportability.com) and search "ABGSL" under "Find Your League".

$20 INCENTIVE FOR 'ANY' DAY SCHEDULE

In order to better balance our teams and our schedule, we are continuing a new incentive for families who can play on either of our two schedules - Mon-Wed-Sat or Tue-Thu-Sat. Families that register their daughter and choose to play any days of the week will receive a $20 discount. Just choose "Can play ANY" in the contact information tab and then enter "ANY" in the discount code on the Payment tab.

FEES

ABGSL's Registration fees are discounted in December for our Early-Bird period. Regular fees apply for all registrations on and after January 1, 2013. As in past years, younger siblings of registered players receive a $20 discount, except in the Micro Division.

-Micro (1st Grade) $90 (Because Micro fees are lower there is no Early-Bird discount)

-Younger (2nd and 3rd Grade) $170 until December 31st/ $190 on or after January 1st

-Middle (4th and 5th Grade) $185 until December 31st / $205 on or after January 1st

-Older (6th thru 9th Grade) $200 until December 31st / $220 on or after January 1st

SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE

As in past years, scholarships are available and must be requested and finalized upon prior to completing the online registration. To request a scholarship, please send an email to registrar@abgsl.org or call the ABGSL Hotline at 869-4277.

CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO ABGSL

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to ABGSL when registering online as it benefits many girls whose families cannot afford the full fees. ABGSL is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) so donations are deductible as allowed by law. Our tax ID number is 94-2958214.

HERE'S HOW ONLINE REGISTRATION WORKS

To register your daughter for the Spring season, please follow these steps:

1. Go to the Sportability website at http://www.sportability.com/abgsl.

2. In the "Find Your League" window, search for ABGSL.

3. Find your daughter's Division in the menu and complete one enrollment for each player.

4. Sportability allows the option to create a SportReg Account, which will make it quicker to register in future seasons.

5. Enter the player and other information as requested on the website.

6. Credit cards are the only online payment option. If this is a hardship, write to president@abgsl.org.

7. If direct entry of your Registration presents a problem, please send an email to registrar@abgsl.org.

PRACTICES DAYS/ SCHEDULING CONFLICTS

On the website you will be asked to indicate which days of the week each girl can play. Micro players all play on Saturday on the same field. Younger, Middle and Older girls play either Monday, Wednesday and Saturday OR Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

FRIEND REQUESTS (MAKE SURE THEY ARE RECIPROCAL)

You may specify friends you would like to have on your team. ABGSL will make every effort to accommodate requests, but cannot guarantee that requests will be honored. Be certain to check that friends are available on the same practice days and that a reciprocal request has been made on the friends' registration. Part of the fun of ABGSL is that girls get to play with their friends and that families need to organize car pools. We also know that many new friendships develop when girls play with different team members over time. A fundamental component of ABGSL is the mixing of teams from year to year, which presents a great opportunity to meet families from other schools and greatly adds to the fabric of our League.

ABGSL IS AN ALL PARENT VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION

ABGSL runs entirely on volunteer labor, which means that every family in the League volunteers for both a Team Job and a League Job. Indicate on the volunteer portion of the registration website whether you wish to sign up for a specific League or Team Job. If you do not sign up for a specific job, then you will sign up for both your team job and your league job at your team's parent meeting at the start of the season. Other than the Head and Assistant Coaches and Team Manager, ALL Team Jobs will be described and assigned at the parent team meeting at the start of the season.

Our Coaches and Managers are an essential component of our League. Without them we would not be able to field teams. Being a coach or team manager fulfills BOTH your Team and League job requirements. If you sign up to be a Coach or Manager, the League will contact you before the season starts. Being a coach is a tremendous amount of FUN!

IMPORTANT DATES

The Spring calendar will be posted on the ABGSL website shortly and will highlight the following important dates:

1/12- Mandatory Player Assessments

1/19- Mandatory Player Assessments

2/23- Coach/ Manager Orientation (10am to 12pm)

3/2- Opening Day

3/4-9- Practices begin for all Divisions

3/9- First Micro Practice/ Teams Announced

5/4- Bat-a-Que

5/27-6/1- Last week of Games/ Team Parties

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU REGISTER

Players in Grades 2-9 must attend one of the Player Assessments on January 12th or January 19th. These assessments are used to balance our teams and are NOT a tryout. You must be registered in order to participate in the Assessment Days. Team assignment and practice schedules will be announced on Opening Day, Saturday March 2nd at Fielding Field.

TEAM FORMATION

Teams are formed by our Division Commissioners. Coaches and Managers do not play a role in selecting their teams, although they will always coach their own daughter. Team assignments are announced on Opening Day and are not available before then. ABGSL has learned over the years that the best softball experience for our girls occurs when our teams start the season generally balanced by skill level within age groups. Consequently, we hold assessments in January that allow us to determine each girl's relative skill and to make sure the teams are balanced. These assessments are mandatory, and are not try-outs. Everyone who registers by the deadline will be placed on a team. Our goal is that all teams win half of their games and lose the other half. We want all girls to improve their softball skills while participating in a really fun activity.

EQUIPMENT

Included in the Registration fee is an ABGSL visor or hat, and team Tee shirt with the sponsor's name and each players number. All girls must provide their own cleats and glove. Micros can wear tennis shoes, but cleats are strongly recommended. The league has a large stock of donated equipment from prior years, and we will be accepting donations at our assessment days and Opening Day, and making the equipment available to
families on those same days. Please refer to the ABGSL website for more details on required equipment and recommendations.

KINDERGARTNERS

We have registered a few Kindergarteners in the League in the Micro Division in years past, and expect to continue to do so on a limited basis. The Micro Division is structured to work for the developmental level of 1st-graders. Girls with older siblings who have played softball or baseball tend to do better than those who have not seen the game in action. All 1st graders play in the Micro Division, so if your daughter plays Micro in Kindergarten, she will remain in the Micro Division in 1st grade. If you have any questions about our Micro Division please feel free to contact our
Micro Division Commissioner, Jane Hammond at jane@jhevents.com.

PLAY BALL!

We are incredibly excited about our 30th season of girls softball. For questions or more information, email me at president@abgsl.org.

Michael Saaf
ABGSL President