Parents: Before Purchasing a Bat

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Ten weeks following the Fundraiser is the start of the 2013 season. You only have ten days left to register for the 2013 Fundraiser. Look at the smiles on these faces! Follow this link and sign up now...

Thank You, Volunteers

Southern Little League would like to thank Jeanine Luciani and Bella Design for the logo and design work, Jeff Christians and Gilson Graphics for print, mail and email marketing, Tim Kolk, Steve Bender, Patty Malewitz and their committee and Mark Norton, Paul Vanderlei and Jeff Elble for compiling a comprehensive mailing list. The work being donated by all of these people has put Southern in a great spot for a very successful Lead Off Party.

Thank You All,
Bob Hams - President
Southern Little League

Matt Kutsche

On Friday January 11th, Southern Little League lost one of its very own special players. Matt Kutsche was with a team of people on a mission trip in Haiti when tragically their vehicle crashed. Matt did not survive. Matt was a player at Southern from the time his hat hung over his eyes in coach pitch until the most prestigious level of Big Leagues. He was also a dedicated umpire taking the time to teach the littlest players along the way. Matt was a valued team mate to every team he ever played for and leaves a huge hole in the hearts of those who knew him. He was a trusted friend, a loyal brother, and son and a man of impeccable character. My son Chris was lucky enough to call him his best friend, and we were so grateful with how much time we were able to enjoy Matt ourselves. Matt towered over most people and I’m not just speaking of his size. His great optimism in life, his faith in God, and his ability to make even a stranger feel like a friend are all virtues that came naturally to Matt. Simply put, Matt made a difference. Our families, our friends and our community are grief stricken but we will somehow move forward. Spring will come, new life will begin, and the first pitch will be thrown at baseball games all over the world. And this time, with no doubt, Matt will have the best seat in the house for each and every play.

- Terri Vulpetti

2013 Tryout Schedule

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTE

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.

All of the time slots listed below are for baseball only. There will not be a softball tryout session this year.

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 any of these situations, then there's no need to come to tryouts. Get it? If you're still not sure, you can contact the director.

Here is the schedule for tryouts:

• Date: Saturday, March 23rd
• Location: East Grand Rapids High School Gym.
• Please plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to your scheduled time slot.
• These times are subject to change. We will announce all changes on the website and email all subscribers. Sign up for email notification here.
• 9:00am-10:00am: all 9 yr olds (baseball). No 8 yr olds will be allowed to play in the minors.
  
• 10:30am-11:30am: all 10 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the majors last year and who wish to try out for majors this year. Also, any 10 yr olds (baseball) who are new to Southern this year must attend at this time. (For 10-yr-olds who were in minors last year and want to play in minors again this year, you do not need to attend the tryout.)
  
• 12:00pm-1:00pm: all 11 and 12 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the majors last year
• 1:30pm-2:30pm: all 13 and 14 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the juniors last year
• 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.

Sign Up In Person for the 2013 Season

You can sign up in person for the 2013 season. This is for folks who do not want to use a credit card to register online. If you'd rather pay by cash or check, come to the in-person sign-up sessions where we'll be able to accept your payment and provide you with access to a laptop so you can fill out the rest of the registration information online. There are no paper sign-ups this year.

The in-person sign-ups will take place at Breton Village Mall. The sign-up table will be located near the fireplace inside the mall.

• Where: Breton Village Mall
• When:
• Monday, February 11th, 6-8pm
• Monday, February 18th, 6-8pm
• Saturday, February 23rd, 10am-1pm
• A parent or legal guardian must be present at sign-up.
• The child need not be present.
• We do not need to see birth certificates.
• Cost is $130, payable by check, cash, or credit card.
• You cannot sign up by mail.

Sign Up Online for the 2013 Season

• DEADLINE IS MARCH 15! (Deadline for Seniors is May 10.) Online sign-up will close after the deadline.
• The cost is $130. After the deadline, the cost increases to $150.
• You can sign up and pay online by clicking here.
• Please note: The online sign-up is hosted by a third party (active.com). There have been reports of high volume on their site. Please keep trying. There is nothing the Southern webmaster can do about this.
  
• There is no additional fee for online sign-up. The cost is the same as in-person sign-up.
  
• We no longer need to see birth certificates.
  

Save the Date: 2013 Southern Little League Annual Lead-off Party

Please add the date to your calendar:
Saturday, February 9, 2013

This will be our second annual winter fundraiser for Southern Little League at Cascade Hills Country Club.

Food, drinks, entertainment, silent and live auction. Join us for a great evening of fun,
Southern Little League style!

To make this event even more successful than last year please consider donating quality
items for the auctions.

Please contact Tim Kolk (timkolk@grar.com – 616.446.7186) with any questions.

Southern Little League to Celebrate 60 years of Baseball and Softball in 2013!

Hello Everyone,

2013 will bring Southern Little League’s 60th anniversary as a chartered member of the world’s largest youth sports program -- “Little League” -- Serving the youth of Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids with quality baseball and softball and lasting memories for many generations. We will have a celebration next summer to commemorate this exciting time and will have much more information for you after the New Year.

In February we will be hosting our 2nd annual Leadoff Party. For those of you who did not attend last year it was a fantastic party and fundraiser. We had people attend who had kids playing that are 8 years old and we had people attend that had kids play 20 years ago and many in between. A great time was had by all and important funds were raised to help with the ever rising cost of running the league for the over 750 baseball and softball players who participated in 2012. We hope you will attend the Leadoff Party 2013 in February. For additional information please contact Tim Kolk at timkolk@grar.com Tim is our event coordinator for the 2013 Leadoff Party. A huge Thank You to all of the sponsors who donated items for the silent and live auctions.

The 2012 season was another great season for Southern Little League. Fall baseball and
softball closed the season and it was a great time with generally good weather except one Sunday that was rained out. There was a disparity in fall ball minor and major baseball because Western and Northeastern had all-star teams with league age players one year older than ours. We have already informed those leagues that if we are going to include them next year they must adhere to the same rules as Southern uses. Other than that fall ball was a very positive experience for all.

Please look for signup information around the first of the year for the upcoming season and pass along the website to any potential new participants. www.southernll.org

Sincerely,
Bob Hams
Southern Little League

All Games Canceled

All Fall Ball games are canceled for Sunday, October 14, due to poor field conditions and rainy weather.

Congratulations to the 2012 American League Central Division Champion

Detroit Tigers!

Fall Minors Baseball Realignment Finalized

We have added two more teams to the fall baseball minors division. This has resulted in a complete re-do of the schedule for that division also. We know it's inconvenient, but we're optimistic that players and families will understand that our motivation was to get more playing time for each player.

That said, please follow these steps to make sure you're at the right field at the right time on Sunday:

• Start by looking thru the official rosters to determine which team your player is on. Keep in mind that part of this realignment meant moving some players to a different team. If you don't see your player on any of the teams, please double-check using the search feature (ctrl-F or cmd-F) on your browser before contacting Bob Hams at bhams@roofmelt.com.
• Once you have determined which team your player is on, take a look at the revised schedule. Also bear in mind that we have had to move some games to Manhattan Park and JC fields. Click on those links if you're not sure where those fields are located.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Bob Hams at bhams@roofmelt.com. Thanks again for your cooperation and understanding.

Changes to Fall 78ers Baseball and Softball Schedules

Due to a change in availability of playing fields, we had to move the game times for 78ers baseball and softball for the next three weeks. The online schedules have been updated to reflect the following changes:

• On September 16, 23, and 30, 78ers Softball and Baseball games have been pushed back from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

Fall Minors Baseball Realignment

Because of the enthusiastic response to Fall Ball registration, the four minors baseball teams now have 16 or 17 players on their rosters. We will be adding two additional teams so that the rosters will now be 10 or 11 players on each team. This will allow for added playing time for each player. We appreciate your patience as we improve the situation. We will need your understanding that not every request to play with classmates or friends will be achieved, though we will do our best to make sure we accommodate to the best of our ability. The new rosters will be posted Thursday.

Fall Ball Begins on Sunday!

Sunday, September 9, marks the beginning of another season of fall baseball and softball at Southern. We'll have the grills going all afternoon, so come out and have some fun on Sunday.

Fall Ball Schedule Change in 78ers Baseball and Softball

On Sun-9-Sep, the JC East and West fields at Southern are not available, so both the softball and baseball 78ers games have been moved for that one date only.

• The Sun-9-Sep game in 78ers softball has been relocated to Manhattan Park, field #2. The game time remains 1:00pm.
• The Sun-9-Sep game in 78ers baseball has been relocated to Manhattan Park, field #2. The game time is now 3:00pm.

Fall Ball Rosters and Schedules Now Available

You can now view the rosters and schedules for 2012 Fall Ball. Just click on the Rosters link or the Schedules link on the right sidebar of the website. (We will post the baseball and softball 78ers rosters as soon as they are available.)

2012 Fall Softball 78ers Schedule

• League Director: Bob Hams
  email: bhams "at" roofmelt.com (replace "at" with @)
  
• We do not keep standings for this league, so there's no need to phone in scores.
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• Changes made after September 7 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

2012 Fall Baseball Juniors Schedule

• League Director: Bob Hams
  email: bhams "at" roofmelt.com (replace "at" with @)
  
• We do not keep standings for this league, so there's no need to phone in scores.
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout in the first game.
• Team playing the double-header does not switch dugouts.
• Round robin batting in all fall ball games.
• No inning shall start after 20 minutes before the start of the next game.
• Changes made after September 7 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

2012 Fall Baseball Majors Schedule

• League Director: Bob Hams
  email: bhams "at" roofmelt.com (replace "at" with @)
  
• We do not keep standings for this league, so there's no need to phone in scores.
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• Round robin batting in all fall ball games.
• No inning shall start after 20 minutes before the start of the next game.
• 5:00pm game shall have a 1 hour 45 minute time limit.
• Changes made after September 7 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.