GOLD COUNTRY SENIOR SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION

INFORMATION AND NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETING

 

 

TO:  LEAGUE MEMBERS

The league will hold a general membership meeting on Wednesday, January 26, 2011.  The meeting will be held at Players Pizza, Penn Valley (first right off Pleasant Valley Road, behind Chevron station) starting at 6:00 PM.

Issues are:

·         Regular business

·         Rules of Play for 2011

·         Special Committee report (sign advertisement program)

·         Report on Saturday division plan for 2011

·         Twelve teams for 2011

·         Schedules (season starts about April 18 and ends on September 15)

·         Budget Review (probable fee increases)

·         Vote on By Law change (eliminates requirement for managers only on rules committee)

·         Important Dates

·         Volunteers, Manager and Sponsors Wanted

 

SIGN ADVERTISING PROGRAM

This idea has been discussed for a number of seasons with no results.  The program would allow the league to solicit individuals or businesses to buy advertisements.  These sponsors are in addition to our team sponsors but could be the same.  Advertisement would be in the form of 4 foot by 8 foot banners (vinyl material) which would be displayed on the outfield fence on field one.  We have approval from the Park to do this.  The sponsors would pay an annual fee to the league for the advertisement banner which could be a significant fund raiser for the league.  The Little League does this program on field four and earns about $3000 annually for the effort.

Your current Board will not pursue this program unless one or more members are willing to head up the program.  The program leader will be required to 1) finalize a policy, 2) determine methods or find members to seek out potential advertisers, 3) take custody of the banners, 4) provide storage for the banners, 5) display and remove banners annually and 6) provide continual follow-up.  Several members have information about this program which will be made available to the person or persons willing to take charge of this program.  Anyone interested in this job should contact Dave Anderson or any Board member.

 

RESULTS OF 2010 QUESTIONNAIRE

About 154 players were asked to respond by email or regular mail.  As of 1/07/2011, 41 players responded (not all responded to all questions) as follows:

1. I want the league open to as many as want to sign up YES- 24   NO- 7.  77.4% yes
2. I want signups limited to 130 to 144 and after that late signups go into a pool and may be assigned a team only if roster space is available  YES -18   NO -10.  64.3% yes
3. I want max games for each team.  YES -24   NO -3.  88.9% yes
4. I want more teams and will settle for fewer games per team.  YES -16   NO -13.  55.2% yes
5. In order to provide for max innings played by all players, I agree to add an extra defensive player [a rover] YES -7   NO -30.  18.9% yes
6. I am in favor of utilizing our 3rd field.  YES -23   NO -10.   69.7% yes.

Note that the due date for responses is January 15^th and these results could change.

TENTATIVE WEEKNIGHT PLAN

Based on The poll results and our expectations for player sign-ups, here is a probable schedule.   The weekday league will require twelve (12) teams.  We will have 3 rounds or 33 games per team and a total of 198 regular season games.

The entire month of March will be used for tryouts and signups.  Application cut off will be the last Saturday on March 26, 2011.  The draft will be held on or about March 31, 2011.

Practice games will be scheduled as daylight and weather permits until April 14, 2011.  The regular season will start on April 18^th.  We will use field 1 and 2 for the regular season.  We will play the regular season on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays as in the past through August.

Any games that are rained out will be re-scheduled after the regular season.  In September, after the master’s league completes their season, we will schedule games on Wednesday evenings in addition to the regular game nights.  The regular season will end on or about September 15, 2011.  Make up games to follow.

A single elimination tournament will be held on Sunday, September 18 or 25, 2011, a single day event for all twelve teams.

This preliminary plan does not have room for a fall league and does not proposes to use field 3.

The 11^th (rover) position will not be adopted.

The above plan will, of course, be discussed with the board and members before a final plan is adopted.

 

VOLUNTEERS

The twelve team plan will be a challenge in that we must find members to manage the teams.  Two or more managers are needed and the Board encourages any of the members to step forward and volunteer.  If you want to manage a team, please advise Dave Anderson or any board member.

Volunteers are always needed for a variety of other tasks associated with field maintenance. 

 

SATURDAY DIVISION COMMITTEE REPORT

The managers for the Saturday division teams met on January 8, 2011 to develop a plan for the 2011 season.  Results of the meeting are:

1. This plan assumes four teams.  If sign ups are out of range for four teams this plan will be modified.
2. The division will continue with the 0 and 0 count.
3. The division will have three games per day on one field.  The same as the 2010 season.
4. Game times will be increased by 15 minutes.  The starting times for games will be 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM and Noon.  Game times will be 75 minutes instead of 60 minutes with a 15 minute break.  The extra time will allow for tie-breaker innings and a little more casual game pace.  However, the managers and umpires will control the times to avoid exceeding the designated time allotment.
5. The division will play 9 rounds (last year we played 8 rounds).  Each team will play 27 games (last year we played 24 games).
6. The division will have the draft on about March 31, 2011.  April 2 and 9 will be scheduled practice games.  The regular season will start April 16, 2011.  The season is expected to end on October 1, 2011.
7. End of season awards will be given.  The sponsor of the winning team will have “2011 SATURDAY DIVISION CHAMPION” engraved on the plaque in addition to the sponsor recognition.  A certificate will be given to the player with the best batting average for the three age groups (50 to 59, 60 to 69 and 70 and up).  The managers will collectively select a player as “Most Valuable” and that player will receive a certificate  All team members of the winning team will receive a paper certificate acknowledging the win.
8. All other rules of play will not change.

WANTED

The league has purchased a second storage shed.  We used a small lawn mower and weed eater (primarily packed in by a volunteer) the last several years for various tasks on the fields.  If you have a surplus mower or weed eater in useable condition that you could donate, we now have some space to store at the ball fields.  We are also looking for desk top in boxes for the score keeper’s supplies.

We will be added power and other items to the new shed.  If you have some surplus and useable materials such as wire, conduit or shelving please contact Richard Eacobacci (265-6715).

MODIFICATIONS TO THE RULES OF PLAY

We have some changes to the rules of play.  Most are edits and clarifications of the way we have been playing with two adjustments.  We will not use the tie breaker rule unless we have 10 minutes of game time left which means the 7^th inning is done at or before 50 minutes has elapsed. 

The 65 year old and 70 year old players will lose the specified privileges if they fail to wear the team shirt and do not report that information to the game umpire.

All members are encouraged to come to the meeting and express their opinions or to chat with others.  The days are getting longer so get your equipment ready.