SPGS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Santa Paula Girls Softball (SPGS) is a non-profit organization staffed and supported by a team of dedicated volunteer parents. SPGS’s mission is to providing a safe and positive environment for girls to participate in Fastpitch Softball. It is our intent and desire that each player have fun while gaining knowledge of the game, each player know the importance of teamwork, commitment, hard work and each player develop a self-confidence and positive character traits.

 

When is the playing season for  SPGS?

The spring recreational season begins with “Draft Day” in January.

Practices normally begin Late January, early February.

There are typically two games per week until the season ends. One game will be played during the week and the other game on Saturday. 

 

When can I register my daughter(s)?

SPGS Registration Runs October - January.

•  Final payments of fees are required prior to your daughter participating in the “Regular Season”.
• Players are not eligible to receive their uniform, practice or play in any games until all fees are paid in full.

 

In what age division does my daughter play?

The player’s age on September 1st of the current year determines the age classification in which the player is eligible to participate in.

               6U (Tee)                          Ages 4- 6

               8U                                    Ages 7 - 8

              10U                                   Ages 9 - 10

              12U                                   Ages 11 - 12

              14U                                   Ages 13 - 14

 

Request for players to play in an upper division are allowed by request and approval of the SPGS board.

 

What is included with the fees?

Player:

• Jersey
• Socks
• USA Softball registration
• Player Insurance
• Basic equipment
• Small picture package.
  

 

Registration fees also help to cover:

• umpire fees
• utilities
• field rental costs,
• field maintenance.

 

How does the payment plan work?

 

********Payment plans only include the cost of registration.  Snack bar deposits/buyouts must be paid in full.*******

 

Early Bird registration price will split registration into 3 payments.

Regular registration price will be split into 2 payments.

 

 

Late registration - payment plans are no longer be available.

The card on file will auto draft the remaining payments monthly.

Payments will auto draft on the same date of the following month.

 

Example:

 

Early:

 

Deposit made 10/1

Second payment will auto draft 11/1

Final payment will auto draft 12/1

Regular:

 

Deposit made 12/1 

Final payment will auto draft 1/1

We do understand that financial situations can change suddenly. If you are having difficulty or need to make other arrangements, please contact us right away so we can work with you.

 

Snack Bar

• Every registered player will be required to work 1-2 snack bar shift during the season.

• Snack Bar deposit/buy out is part of registration and is needed for registration to be complete.

• SPGS will allow plenty of advanced notice for scheduling.

• Deposits will be returned to you after your completed shift. 
• No Call No Show for a scheduled snack bar shift is an automatic forfeit of deposit and WILL NOT be able to reschedule the missed shift. 

 

Snack Bar Deposit vs Snack Bar Buy-Out

• A deposit or buyout MUST be made at time of registration (cash, credit, venmo, zelle).

• Registration will not be complete without a snack bar deposit or buy-out. These can be made during online registration or at one of our in person registration dates.

• Checks are no longer accepted and held for snack bar deposit. All deposits will be returned at the end of each shift and will be refunded in cash only.

• When choosing the Snack Bar Buy-Out option you are agreeing to pay a non-refundable fee in lieu of working your assigned snack bar shift.
  

 

What if I need to cancel my daughter’s registration?

You may cancel your registration at any time refund policy is as follows:

• 50% Prior to the final day of registration
• 25%  Prior to assessments and formation of teams.
• No refund after teams have been formed.

 

Is a try-out required?

For the regular spring season try out are not required. In order to avoid "stacked" teams all registered players are asked to attend player assessments. (8u-14u)

Upper divisions (8U-14U) players that are marked as pitchers and catchers will have mandatory evaluations prior to being drafted onto a team.

 

Select Teams

What is Select?

Select is a program developed by USA softball for players  that are interested in a higher level of competitive play in addition to regular recreation season play. 

Players that are chosen to play with a select team will meet once a week during the spring season. Select practices/games run concurrent and are in addition to practices and games played with the players regular season recreation team.

• Select season runs January  - April .

• To be eligible to play players must be registered with SPGS for the upcoming spring season.

• Games and practices WILL NOT interfere with regular season games or practices. 

• Tryouts are MANDATORY in order to be chosen for a select team, no exceptions or makeups for these tryouts.

• Please be aware that attending tryout is not a guaranteed position on a select team.

• Players will be chosen by the team manager. 

 

What divisions have select teams?

SPGS offers Select teams for 8U, 10u and 12U divisions. 

 

Are these fees included with Spring registration?

Cost for select is an additional cost and is not included with spring registration. Select teams are self funded, fees are determined by the team manager. 

 

If my daughter makes a select team is there guaranteed play time?

There is no minimal playtime requirements for select players. Play time is at the discretion of the team manager. 

 

All-stars

 ALL -STAR MANAGER SELECTION:

• An All−Star manager candidate must be a manager or full time coach, have attended Coaching Clinic, Online Ace Certification within the prior 2 years and current with Safe Sport certification to be eligible.

• If none are available, the eligibility requirement, with the exception of the Safe Sport Certification will be waived.

• A manager must inform their Division Coordinator that they wish to manage at least one week prior to the All− Star manager selection date.

• The potential managers will be reviewed and voted on by the Executive board of Directors. The board will review prior coaching experience, written essay that will be submitted with interest form and prior All Star experience prior to voting.

 

ALL -STAR SELECTION PROCESS:

• Each manager will nominate 4-7 players on their team for All-Stars. That number will be decided based on how many teams each division has.

• Out of the selected nominated players, an invitation only try-out will be held.

• Immediately following the try-out, the managers in each division will meet in an open forum to discuss and select the All−Star teams for their division based on their try-out performance and manager input.

• The team will be comprised of the highest ranked 10 players as selected by the managers. The All-Star manager will select the remaining 2 players from the remaining players. 

 

My child must play for a specific coach or with a friend for carpool reasons. Will that be a problem?

• SPGS cannot guarantee that a child will play on a specific team. We will try our best to accommodate players but CAN NOT  guarantee.

• Upper divisions (8U-14U): Teams are formed after team assessments by draft process. We try to keep drafting process fair to help avoid "stacking teams" making buddy requests difficult.

• 6U: parents can make their requests and preferences in writing at the time of registration. Division Coordinators will make an effort to accommodate those requests.

 

What will I have to buy before the playing season starts?

SPGS supplies basic team equipment to the team manager including:

Catcher’s equipment, balls, Tee.

 

Parent to provide

• Softball glove
• Cleats
• Helmet with faceguard
• Softball bat
• Optional items are: defensive facemask (recommended 8U and up)

 

What size ball is used?

• 6U–8U   10 inch ball.
•  10U   11 inch ball.
•  12U–14U   12 inch ball

When should I expect to hear from a coach?

Player drafts will be held mid January.

Players should be hearing from their coaches shortly after teams are draft day. 

 

When do practices begin?

Spring season practices begin no earlier than February 1st.

Each coach will determine day of the week, location, time and length of each practices.

 

What time are the games  played?

Saturdays can begin as early as 8:00am and as late as 5:00pm.

Weekday games typically begin at 5:30pm or later.

 

Where are the games played?

• Spring season games will be played at Harding Park

• Hershel Hopkins field, Tony Vasquez field or the Small Utility Field.

• Occasional travel during the rec season may happen, please be prepared and coordinate if required.

 

What are my responsibilities as a parent?

We are a VOLUNTEER league and as such you can help in so many ways.

Volunteer positions include:

• Manager
• Coach
• Scorekeeper
• Field Prep
• Team Parent

In addition, we are always looking for volunteers to help out with different committees required to keep SPGS running smoothly.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact us at SPGSquestions@gmail.com

 

What are my responsibilities at practice?

• Please make sure your daughter is dressed appropriately for physical activities (no jeans, pajama pants, tank tops or flip-flops).
• Players should bring all the softball equipment identified above to each practice.
• Players should also have some form of liquid (water, Gatorade, etc.).
• There must be a female on site at all times.
•  We strongly recommend that parents stay and help at practices to enhance this experience, especially in the younger divisions.
• The drills are easy to learn and with more help, the groups are smaller and it gives the girls more opportunity to learn.

 

What are my responsibilities at games?

• Make sure your daughter arrives on time (usually an hour prior to game time so she can warm up), in uniform, with all required equipment.
• You play a support role, so let the coaches run the games and have control over the team and allow the umpires to do their jobs.
• Please refrain from entering the dugouts unless requested by your coach.
• Our goal is to teach the girls sportsmanship skills, as well as softball skills.

 

How are board members picked?

Santa Paula Girls Softball is a non-profit organization.  Board positions, which overlap each other, are up for renewal every 2 years, elections and voting occurs during the fall.

• These open volunteer positions are posted on our web page and social media pages. SPGS has a free open-board environment, meaning we don't pick who we want to be on the board, nominations are open.
•  It's public election and the word volunteer is strongly emphasized. It’s an organization, built by volunteer board members, year after year, through the dedication of moms & dads who each put in 100+ hours throughout the year.  But in the end all time and work is focused on one thing, supporting and encouraging sportsmanship for our girls of Santa Paula, through the sport of softball.

 

SPGS Fees & Costs FAQ

We strive to make registration as affordable as we can.  We encourage families to take advantage of early registration and payment plans to lock in the early registration costs.

 

Our raffle tickets fundraiser helps stipulate some of the costs that our league incurs.  It allows us to keep our registrations costs as low as possible, while also having the ability to allow families to sell SPGS tickets in lieu of having to raise the full amount themselves.

 

Below, is an example of some the types of yearly costs that SPGS incurs, 75% of these costs are supported through registration fees & sponsor donations.

 

ELECTRICAL COSTS

UMPIRES FEES @ $65.00 PER GAME (8U - 14U)

SOFTBALL MUST USE AND PAY ASA CERTIFIED UMPIRES

PLAYER UNIFORMS, TEAM PICTURES & TROPHIES/MEDALS

FIELD MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT, CHALK & MISC. ITEMS

SOFTBALLS, CATCHING EQUIPMENT, TEES, TRAINING AIDS, ETC.

PRINTING, WEBPAGE, FLYERS & FIRST AID KITS

COST FOR COACHES/BOARD MEMBERS BACKGROUND CHECKS

LEAGUE CLASSES, MISC. TRAINING & MANDATORY CONFERENCES

FEES PAID YEARLY TO THE SOCAL CHAPTER OF ASA WHICH IS (COST PER GIRL)

SNACK BAR RE-STOCKING, UPKEEP AND REPAIRS

ALL STARS AND TOURNAMENT FEES

 

SPGS encourages parent involvement, whether its lending a little extra help at the snack bar, helping prep the field while your daughter is warming up for her game, or just volunteering your time.  You can always ask a board member where your help might be needed. Please remember in the end we're all volunteers and parents alike. Softball memories are memories they will always cherish & remember years from now.