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How many softball seasons does Balcones have? We have two seasons. The spring season begins practices in February, and games begin in March. The fall season begins practices by end of August, & begin games in September.
When are tryouts? For the spring season, tryouts are usually within the first weekend in February for Pinto players and older. BYS does not have tryouts for Shetland teams. For the fall season, tryouts are usually the last weekend in August. Check the website for exact dates.
Does my child have to attend a try-out session? Yes, if your girl is in the Pinto league or higher. The purpose of tryouts helps us determine your daughter's skill level, and help us have fairly matched teams. The Shetland league, 6U, does not have tryouts. In order for a participant to be an eligible candidate for the league draft, she must; 1) Be registered. 2) Have paid the registration fees or have an approved waiver.
How many practices are there per week? For the spring season, your team may average 2 per week. However, at the beginning of the season before games begin, you may have up to 3 scheduled practices per calendar week. For the fall season, an average of 2 team practices at the beginning of the season before the games begin. Once the games begin, your team may average 1 practice per week. All teams will have assigned practice days & times per week.
Do we practice on weekends? During the spring season there may be some weekend practices for some teams. During the fall season, your team is less likely to practice on weekends, but still may the best suitable option during both seasons. Your coach will give you details.
How long are practices? Practices for Pinto leagues & above, are usually 1.5 hours long. On occasions, you may exceed this time. Shetland team practices are generally shorter. Your coach will keep you notified. Our ball fields are lighted, this really helps out during the fall season & time changes.
How many games are scheduled per week? In general, during the spring season, you will have a few weeks of an average 1 game per week. However, there will be several weeks when your team will play 2 games in one week. For the fall season, your team will mostly average 1 game per week. Scheduled games will always supersede scheduled practices.
How many games will we play? During the spring season, Shetland & Pinto will play between 10-12 games. All older divisions will play 12 - 16 games. In the fall season, all teams will play between 8 - 12 games.
Where are the away games played? During the spring & fall seasons, we interlock with neighboring softball organizations. We usually share a home game, & an away game. All internal games & home games are played on our Balcones softball fields. Other neighboring leagues include Northwest Softball, Town & Country, Manor, North Austin Optimist, Western Hills (Westlake), Pflugerville LL, Georgetown, LCP (Leander/Cedar Park). Check out the Maps & Directions webpage link for exact ballpark directions.
How long are the game times? Games are generally 55 mins. for Shetland and Pinto. For Mustang, & higher, they are usually less than 1 hour & 15 mins. On occasions, you may exceed this time limit. See the PONY rules on our main softball website for further details.
Are rained out games rescheduled? Rained out games are attempted to be made up, but not guaranteed.
How long is the spring season? How long is the fall season? The spring season, is about 10-12 weeks long. The fall season usually last about 6-7 weeks long.
What month does the softball season start? We plan to start games in early March prior to spring break if possible. No games are scheduled during Easter weekend, spring break, and TAKS week (Shetland division is exempt from TAKS test week). During the fall season, the first game usually starts the second week in September.
What times do the games start? Shetland, Pinto, & Mustang games are always the first teams to play on weekdays. They will usually start at 6:00 PM. On occasion, depending on field usage & demand, a Pinto or Mustang game may start at 7:15PM on a weekday. We will always do our best to schedule the earliest games for our younger players. Many of the Bronco & Pony games will begin at 7:30 p.m. on weekdays. On weekends, game times will vary throughout the morning & afternoon.
What month does the softball season end? The spring season ends usually around the first weekend in May. The fall season usually ends no later than the 1st weekend in November.
How can you become a coach or assistant coach?
Anyone interested in coaching should indicate your interest on the registration form. The league performs background checks on all perspective coaches and assistant coaches. In addition, a volunteer form must be completed for the background check.
When do we find out our team and coach? For the spring season, team assignments will be announced shortly after tryouts. Your assigned coach will contact you no later than the 3rd week in February. For the fall season, your assigned coach will be contacting you sometime during the 1st week in September.
If I encounter a problem with the program, who should I contact? The League Player Agent for our softball league is responsible for assisting you with any problems you may encounter. However, if your problem is specifically about uniforms, fundraising, umpires, or special events, please feel free to contact the Vice President of our softball league. You may use our website at www.balcones.net/SOFTBALL link for more information. You will see the Coach Contact & Board Member link for phone numbers, & email addresses.
How do I know what division my daughter will play in? In order to assist new players and parents in determining which division their daughter will play in during the spring, please see below for the PONY Softball age groups.
The cutoff date is January 1st.
Pinto division (8 and under), Coach Pitch (slow pitch rules).
Mustang division (10 and under), player pitch (fast pitch rules).
Bronco division (12 and under), player pitch (fast pitch rules).
Pony division (14 and under), player pitch (fast pitch rules).
Colt division (16 and under), player pitch (fast pitch rules).
Palomino division (18 and under), player pitch (fast pitch rules).
If my child is hurt while playing in the program, is there accident insurance to cover their injuries? Yes, we provide an accident insurance program through PONY Baseball, Inc. This program is second to your own insurance, and becomes primary in case your child is uninsured.
What do my fees pay for? During the spring season, your fee will pay for the team jersey & cap, an individual trophy, & one team picture. In the fall season, it includes the player's jersey. Most of the fee goes towards the maintenance supplies throughout the entire year. Your fee helps cover our concession supplies, lawn & tractor supplies, janitorial supplies, electricity, along with routine & unexpected repairs including field repairs & improvements.
How can I sponsor a team? The cost to sponsor a team varies. Balcones offers several sponsorship packages. See our Player Agent for details. There are numerous benefits to being a sponsor including having your name displayed on team jersey's and on a banner an our Softball Fields. You will also receive prominent recognition on our league website, banner advertising and a link to your website. Please indicate your interest on the registration form.
What is Balcones Day? It is the Balcones Youth Sports largest fundraising event during our Spring Season. There will be many carnival-like games for the kids to play including moon walks, hoop tosses, slides, cake walk, etc. Also, there is a formal recognition of all of the teams and a banner competition. In addition, there will be a catered meal for all to eat on the grounds followed up by a “coaches vs. coaches” game. Oh yes, don't forget the team raffle, and the silent auction. We have lots of awesome gift baskets to win. All the donated proceeds benefit our entire organization.
Why do we have Concession Stand Duty? To help offset costs, the league runs the two Concession Stands. The satellite Concession Stand is located on the softball side to provide convenience. This satellite concession stand adds up into the hundreds into our cash balance. Each team will be required to staff our concession stand at least twice during the season. Coaches, or the team rep. will be given the schedules. After each game, uniform players may come to the concession stand for a free drink.
When do we take team pictures? During the spring season, and the all-star season only. Your team representative will be notified by our League Player Agent on the date and time.
Is there an end of season party for the league? During the spring season, Balcones has an End of Season BBQ party for the entire softball organization. This will include our annual “players vs. parent's” game. During the fall season, we do not have an EOS party. However, some teams will have their own end-of-season team party.
What about All-Stars? Near the conclusion of the regular Spring Season, the coaches and board members select an All-Star team from the SHETLAND, PINTO, MUSTANG, BRONCO and PONY divisions. They will evaluate the player's performance throughout the season. All-Star participation requires an additional fee (TBD). All eligible players will be required to remit the fee prior to participation in this program. All-Star season is after the spring season only.
What is All-Stars? At the end of the Spring season, PONY (the parent organization for Balcones Softball) hosts All-Star Tournaments for the South Division (which Balcones falls under). There are two levels of All Stars:
Recreational (or traditional) - Most of our teams fall in this category in Balcones.
Platinum (this program started last year and is for open or select teams) - This is our Kryptonite Platinum team(s).
For Recreational All Stars, this includes two warm-up tournaments prior to the PONY sanctioned tournaments. The PONY sanctioned tournaments are:
1) Sectionals - Austin Area teams & surrounding towns 2) Regionals - Central TX area teams as far away as San Antonio, TX 3) Nationals - Teams throughout TX, LA, MS, FL, OK, AL, & GA.
Sectionals - If a team places well enough in Sectionals, they will advance to Regionals. Regionals - If a team places well enough in Regional Tournament, they will advance to Nationals. If the team is Shetland or Pinto, the Nationals is in Slidell, LA.
If it is Mustang & above, the Nationals rotate locations from South TX, to the Austin area to LA.
Platinum All Stars/Travel teams - these team(s) will have to qualify for Nationals in a PONY Platinum tournament, but there are no set Sectionals or Regional tournaments for them to participate. See the PONY.org website to get the exact city, or state.
Who will be the All-star coach? The All-star coaches are selected by the board members. Coaches must also complete a variety of requirements throughout the season.
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS about All-Stars - All Stars is a big commitment for both the player and parent. All-Star teams will practice 3 to 4 times per week once school is out. They may play in 1 to 3 warm-up tournaments locally before the official All-Star tournaments begin in June. A team may play in up to 3 All-Star tournaments depending on how far the team advances. All Stars is a lot of fun and is worth the commitment. However, if you don't think your daughter or you can make the commitment (e.g., vacations, other summer activities, etc.), please let your coach know that you are not interested. If your daughter is interested in All Stars, but will miss some practice time due to a vacation, etc, our coaches will discuss this with the parent's to work out a solution. These are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We encourage all selected players to play.
As a non-coaching parent, is any participation required of me by this program? Yes. As a parent in this program, we do ask that you assist your team with field maintenance, concession duty, fund-raising activities, and umpiring assistance. The more participation by everyone, provides for a stronger and more productive program. An assigned duty is usually 1 hour long. We are an "all fun, all volunteer" organization. |
