Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League (ABGSL)

2012 Registration

 
ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN -- Early Bird registration ends December 31st!

REGISTER HERE on SPORTABILITY.COM

REGISTRATION FEES

Registration for the 29th 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, 2012.
To register, go to our online registration - http://www.sportability.com/spx/Leagues/Client.asp?ClientID=600

NEW FOR 2012 - $20 INCENTIVE FOR 'ANY' DAY SCHEDULE

In order to better balance our teams and our schedule, we are introducing 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 have remained unchanged for many years despite the league's increasing costs. Because of this new incentive and the costs of online registration and payment, we have increased our fees by $5 for both Early Bird and regular registration (Micro remains unchanged at $90). Regular fees apply for all registrations on and after January 1, 2012. 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 deductable 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. Find the Sportability link on the Registration tab of the ABGSL website, or locate the Sportability website directly at http://www.sportability.com/spx/Leagues/Client.asp?ClientID=600

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

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

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

5. Credit cards are the only online payment option. Payment by check can be accommodated but requires additional effort by our Registrar. If you wish to pay by check please send the proper registration fee to the ABGSL Registrar at 1700 Shattuck Avenue #28, Berkeley, CA 94709.

6. If direct entry of your Registration presents a problem, please send an email to registrar@abgsl.org or call the ABGSL Hotline at 869-4277.

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. By indicating that you can practice and play on ANY DAY you will increase the likelihood of receiving your friend request and makes it easier for us to balance the teams during the team formation process.

FRIEND REQUESTS (MAKE SURE THEY ARE RECIPROCAL)

You may specify up to 2 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 and Team Job, or whether you would like to be assigned both of your jobs at the Team Parent Meeting. 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! You will find the following volunteer jobs on the registration website:

* Head Coach
* Assistant Coach
* Team Parent Manager( not the Team Coach)
* Bat-A Que Coordination Team
* Equipment Management Team
* Field Maintenance Team
* Administrative Coordinator
* Photo Coordinator
* Sponsorship Coordinator
* Outreach/ Recruiting Coordinator
* ABGSL Hotline
* Trophy Coordinator
* Reporter Coordinator
* Coach/ Manager Appreciation BBQ
* Bat-A-Que BBQ/Staff

IMPORTANT DATES

The Spring calendar is posted on the ABGSL website and contains the following important dates.

1/14- Mandatory Player Assessments 8:30-1:00pm
1/21- Mandatory Player Assessments 8:30-1:00pm
2/25- Coach/ Manager Orientation (10am to 12pm)
3/5- Opening Day
3/5-10- Practices begin for all Divisions
3/10- First Micro Practice/ Teams Announced
5/5- Bat-a-Que
5/28-6/2- 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 14th or January 21st. 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 5th 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. Additionally, all girls in Middle and Older Division must have sliding shorts and sliding pads. Some girls prefer the long sliding pads, and some prefer the shorter ones. 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. There are certain things we think families should understand when they register their Kindergartener. The Micro Division is structured to work for the developmental level of 1st-graders. We know that some Kindergarteners are particularly mature, and that they have the necessary ability to focus to begin learning softball skills, while others are more distractible. Families have the best ability to evaluate whether their child is ready to participate for the two hours of practice and game on Saturday mornings. Our skilled coaches can also help assess your daughter's readiness to play. Girls with older siblings who have played softball or baseball tend to do better than those who have not seen the game in action. (This is also true of 1st graders, but
tends to be more important with Kindergarten girls.) 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. This works great for some girls, and others find two years of Micro to be less challenging than they would prefer. Kindergarteners will be registered on a space-available basis. If we have more 1st-graders than can be accommodated on our Micro teams, we will have to ask Kindergarteners to wait until next year, when they will be first on our list for registration. If you have any questions about our Micro Division please feel free to contact me at president@abgsl.org, or our Micro Division Commissioner, Jane Hammond at jane@jhevents.com.

PLAY BALL!

We are looking forward to another great season of girls softball. For questions or more information, please feel free to email our Registrar at registrar@abgsl.org or by leaving a message on the ABGSL Hotline at 510- 869-4277.