Correction to Juniors Schedule

The Juniors schedule posted yesterday contained an error that we have now corrected and shaded orange on the schedule.

• On May 13, the original schedule showed Kraai vs. Tuuk. This should have been shown as Primus vs. Tuuk. The time and field are unchanged.
  

As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it via email to make sure everyone knows. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Juniors Schedule is Now Available

The Juniors schedule is now available here. Games begin on Saturday, May 3. Please contact the webmaster if you see any errors.

You can always find the latest schedule and standings by clicking on the schedule and standings links along the top banner of our website, just under the big baseball.

Minor League Schedule Change for May 10

We have changed the scheduled time for two minor league games on May 10:

• Vulpetti vs. Matthews is now at 9:00am on the West diamond (previously at 1:00pm)
• Rohen vs. Sayfie is now at 1:00pm on the East diamond (previously at 9:00am)

These games have been shaded orange in the schedule now to indicate that they are different from the original schedule.

If you see any problems on the schedule that need to be changed, please make sure to contact the webmaster so we can make sure everyone knows about the change.

First Umpire Sign-Up Session April 19

Attention Umpires!

We will hold our first umpire sign-up session this Saturday, April 19. This is where the umpires sign up to umpire games scheduled for April 21-28.

• Saturday, April 19
• 8:00am
• Southern Little League
  
• Line up outside the umpire room
  

Umpire Training Session April 20

Attention umpires!

We will be running an on-field training session for umpires this coming Sunday, April 20. Here are the details:

• Date: Sunday, April 20th
• Location: Southern Little League
• Not mandatory but highly recommended
• 1:30pm – 3:30pm – all first time umpires
• 3:45pm – 5:15pm – all returning umpires

Any questions please call Jeff Elble (942-0956) or Phil Cusey (243-9581)

Small Schedule Corrections

We have detected and corrected a number of small errors on the schedules. So if you have printed out your schedule already, you may want to hold off on re-printing until nearer to the start of the season, in case the schedules are tweaked again. In general, it's always best to rely on the website for the most up-to-date schedule information rather than on a printed copy. Once the season starts, we will never change the schedule without making an announcement here about it.

Also, apologies to those of you still waiting for schedules for Juniors and Seniors baseball as well as for all levels of softball. The softball schedules are given to us by the district, and we do not expect to receive them until the third week of April. We will post these just as soon as we possibly can.

Coaches Reservations Page Updated

Coaches, we now have reservations for the two new batting cages at Southern up and running. You can access the reservations page for these via the Coaches page.

Schedules Posted for Majors, Minors and 78ers Baseball

The season schedules for the Majors, Minors and 78ers baseball have been posted. You can visit them here. You can always see the schedules by clicking the Schedules link along the top banner of the website. We still do not have schedules for Softball or for Juniors and Seniors Baseball. We will post these as soon as they become available.

This year, we're trying something new in an attempt to automate the standings. After each game, we'll be asking the coaches to phone in the score of the game. The webmaster will add the score of each game to the schedule page. So you can check back on the schedule page for your league to see game scores as the season progresses. The standings will be automatically generated from these scores. So if the coaches are diligent about calling in scores, the standings will be up to date too.

Coaches Reservations Page Updated

Attention Coaches: (Sorry everybody else, you can ignore this message. It's for coaches only, and this is the only way we can reach them all.)

We have updated the Coaches page. You can now reserve practice fields at Southern little League (only thru April 17) as well as at Lakeside Elementary School. Please email the webmaster for your password:

• webmaster@southernll.org

Rescheduled Clean-up Day is This Saturday

It finally looks like the weather is good enough for us to reschedule our clean-up day. If you can make it, please plan to come out to Southern Little League on Saturday, April 5th. We realize that many of you will be traveling for Spring Break, but we're hoping to have enough volunteers in town to clear away the leaves and other debris from the fields. We plan to get started at 10:00am. Please bring an extra rake if you have one. We're hoping to be done with the work by 1:00pm. So come out and pitch in!

Boys 9-12 Sign-ups are Closed

We have had so many 9-12-year-old boys sign up that we are no longer accepting sign-ups for that age group.

Clean-up Day has been Canceled

Because of the persistent wintry weather, we have decided to cancel the clean-up day this Saturday. If we reschedule it, we'll make sure to let everybody know. Happy shoveling!

Saturday is Clean-up Day

Please plan to come out to Southern Little League on Saturday, March 29th. We'll be working to clean up our facilities and prep the fields to get Southern ready to kick off the season. We need volunteers. The day will begin at 9:00 am. All help is greatly appreciated. Bring an extra rake if you have one. Also, please make a note that if it is canceled due to the weather, it will be posted on the website. So come out and pitch in!

Attention Girls Softball Players

We forgot to mention the tryout for 9 and 10 year old girls playing softball. The tryout is at 2:30pm on Saturday, March 22, in the gym at East Grand Rapids High School. We have updated the tryouts page here.

We are still looking for more girls to sign up for softball. If you or anyone else you know is interested, please call Steve Parks right away at 260-3191. You'll need to download the registration form here, print it, fill it out, and turn it in to Steve.

2008 Tryout Schedule

First off, keep in mind that the term "tryout" here is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually more of an evaluation to help determine the appropriate league for each child. No one is omitted from participation based on this evaluation. We use the term "tryout" regardless, so bear with us.

To determine your child's official Little League Age, use their online age calculator here. Please use ONLY this official Little League age when considering which tryout session to attend.

If you have not shown your child's birth certificate at sign-up, please make sure to bring it along to the tryout.

Please notice that only kids in certain situations need to come to tryouts. Read the conditions below carefully. If you find that your child does not fit into one of these situations, then there's no need to come to tryouts. Get it?

Here is the schedule for tryouts: (Please plan to arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled time slot.)

• Date: Saturday, March 22nd
• Location: East Grand Rapids High School Gym (the arrow on this map points right at the door where you should enter)
• 9:00am-10:00am: all 9 yr olds
• 10:30am-11:30am: all 10 yr olds who were not in the majors last year
• 12:00pm-1:00pm: all 11 and 12 yr olds who were not in the majors last year
• 1:30pm-2:30pm: all 13 and 14 yr olds who were not in the juniors last year
• 2:30pm-3:30pm: all 9 and 10 yr old girls playing softball
  
• 2:30pm-3:00pm: umpire sign-up and meeting

If you have any questions or concerns, or if you know your child will not be able to attend, please contact the director.

Calling All Umpires

Attention all players 13 years and older. If you are interested in umpiring please note the following dates:

• Informational Meeting
  Saturday, March 22nd, 2:30pm
  East Grand Rapids High School gym
  We will hold a brief informational meeting to answer any questions and discuss the upcoming season. If you are unable to attend, please do plan to attend the on-field training below.
• On-Field Umpire Training
  Sunday, April 20th
  Southern Little League
  Not mandatory but highly recommended
  1:30pm – 3:30pm – all first time umpires
  3:45pm – 5:15pm – all returning umpires
  

Any questions please call Jeff Elble (943-0956) or Phil Cusey (243-9581)

Last Chance to Sign Up Before March 15 Deadline

If you've already signed up for the 2008 season, thank you again! Sorry for the repeated emails, but it's still our most efficient way to reach our participants.

For those of you who have not signed up for the 2008 season yet, the deadline is fast approaching. There's still time to guarantee a spot before the deadline.

• The deadline is March 15.
• After March 15, the price goes up to $125, and you are no longer guaranteed a spot.
  
• The in-person sign-up sessions are over, so.....
• You'll need to sign up online.
• All the other details you need to know are here.

One More In-Person Sign-Up Session Added

If you've already signed up for the 2008 season, thank you! Sorry for the repeated emails, but it's still our most efficient way to reach our participants. Please do us a favor and encourage others you may know to sign up soon. The sooner we get an idea of the number of signups, the sooner we can start organizing the tryout and the coaching.

For those of you who have not signed up for the 2008 season yet, we've added one more in-person sign-up session this Saturday, March 8, from 10am to noon. The overall deadline is still March 15. If you can't make it to this session, you can always sign up online. All the other details are available here. Please sign up as soon as you can. It really helps us to get things organized.

• Where: Southern Little League (address and map) (The Waalkes building is beside the diamond that's closest to Kalamazoo Ave.)
  
• When: Saturday, March 8th, 10am-noon
• A parent or legal guardian must be present at sign-up.
• The child need not be present.
• Please bring a birth certificate to the sign-up. (We just need to see it; we don't keep it.)
• Cost is $110, payable by check or cash only.
  
• You can fill out the form on-site, or save time and print your own form to fill out before you come. Click here to download the form. Please do not mail forms to us.
• If you plan to coach or volunteer in any way, you will need to fill out a volunteer form. Click here to download the volunteer form.

What Are You Waiting For?

If you've already signed up for 2008, THANKS! You can safely ignore this message. If you have not signed up yet, please read on.....

Last year about 700 kids signed up to play at Southern. So far this year we're still below 500. So that means more than 200 of you continue to procrastinate. If you could take a few minutes to sign up online sooner than later, it would help us out a lot.

• If we have to send out reminder postcards in the mail, that costs a LOT of money and ends up raising prices for everyone.
• The sooner we know how many kids there are, the sooner we can plan for coaches and schedules.
• If you register soon, you can guarantee a spot. Waiting until after the March 15 deadline will put your spot at risk.
• Even if there is still room after the deadline, the price goes up to $125.
  

Convinced yet? Don't put it off. Do us a favor and sign up online now by clicking here. All the other details you need to know are here.

Sign Up Before March 15 Deadline

Just a reminder that sign-up for the 2008 Little League season is underway. And if you haven't signed up yet, there's still time to guarantee a spot before the deadline.

• The deadline is March 15.
• The in-person sign-up sessions are over, so.....
• You'll need to sign up online.
• All the other details you need to know are here.