Greetings Coaches,

This is the Wolcott Fall League Scheduling and League Informational Packet. 

HOW ARE GAMES SCHEDULED?

Each team that is entered into the Fall League will be enrolled in our Fall League TEAMSNAP account – all league information including communications and schedules will be generated through the TEAMSNAP app. 

Scheduling is done EACH WEEK. All teams will be sent a link for the weekend of play about 12 days prior. The link is a Game Scheduling Questionnaire" that teams will utilize to mark their availability for that particular weekend of play. PLEASE SEE THE SECTION REGARDING TEAM AVAILABILITY  BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS. 

 Within the link questionnaire teams can submit availability. (Game time lengths  will run 1:15 mins each (Finish last inning) – Double headers will generally be scheduled at the following times: Morning - 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM and Afternoon 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM  however times may be adjusted each week depending on weather & scheduled games).  Teams can only submit questionnaires one week at a time.  

Upon receiving all questionnaires a message will be sent out about 11-12 days ahead of the weekend of play, typically on Monday or Tuesday the week before. Teams will have 48 hours to request play for the target weekend, along with any restrictions for days and times. After 48 hours, typically Wednesday or Thursday the week before, the request to play window will close and a confirmation will be sent to all participating teams. Teams will then confirm and a schedule will be generated about 8-9 days prior to the target weekend. 

*Once a team confirms and is scheduled to play they are locked in and will forfeit their league deposit if they don’t play as scheduled. 

  TEAM SCHEDULING QUESTIONNAIRE LINK: Each week every team will receive the weekly game scheduling Questionnaire Link (About 12 days prior to the weekend of play)  simply fill out the weekly game scheduling questionnaire and submit.  If you know your team is NOT playing that weekend you should select the “NOT PLAYING” choice and submit. 

·         Note that any team that does not submit a weekly game scheduling questionnaire will be considered to be NOT PLAYING that weekend and won’t be scheduled  – however it is preferred in this situation that teams check the NOT PLAYING box and submit so that there is no question regarding that teams status for the week. 

PLEASE ENTER AVAILABILITY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE EACH WEEK – simply submitting a weekly game scheduling questionnaire is all a team needs to do to be scheduled each week. Teams can do these in advance, however, a confirmation will be sent each week to confirm you are playing. 

FLEXIBILITY IN GAME TIMES AND DAYS WILL OFFER THE MOST FLEXIBILITY IN MATCHUPS! - Teams should be as flexible as possible with their game play days and times on the weekends they choose to play. Limiting your team to a certain day or time frame will greatly limit the pool of available teams to play against. 

As a general rule teams should try to open themselves up to play any day or timeframe of the weekend. We do realize however that some teams will not have this luxury, in these cases they should try to be as flexible as possible within the confines of their availability (IE: If a team can only play on Sunday, they should try to be open to playing at any time frame on Sunday - or - if a team can only play the morning session they should try to be available both Sat and Sun morning, etc..) Again, remaining as flexible as possible will open your team up to more options of teams to play against.  

CONFIRMATION - Teams will need to confirm they are playing when the confirmation message is sent. Confirmation will typically be sent on Thursdays, (8) eight days before the weekend of play.

Once we receive confirmation and game play day / time preferences we will set the weekends schedule – please note that the quicker teams reply back the quicker we can set the schedule. 

*** NOTE***  If we do not receive a response from a team in a reasonable time, we will not be able to schedule the team to play that weekend – we would like to have schedules out at least one week (7 days) prior to play – so please reply quickly each week!

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO ACCOMMODATE TEAM SCHEDULING PREFERENCES, HOWEVER, SCHEDULING PREFERENCES CAN NOT BE GUARANTEED – Remember that the more preferences you submit the less versatility you will have in selecting opponent match ups – We ask all teams to be as flexible as possible each week.  

Please keep in mind a few additional things:

• Teams do not have to play each week however those that have committed to the full season should look to play as many weeks as possible to get the most value out of our league format.

• We are anticipating at least (2) two “Rain Out” weekends will occur – which will be made up during the first two weekends of November. If no rain outs occur and the weather remains good into November we may continue to schedule games for whichever teams are able to play.  

• When receiving the weekly scheduling prep email / weekly game scheduling questionnaire. please make certain that the days / time slot you are selecting will work - once the schedule is set it will be very difficult to modify it so I need teams to make sure they can play when they say they can. 

• Keep in mind that the session choices are either MORNING or AFTERNOON. Mornings will typically be 9:00 & 10:30 and afternoon 1:00 & 2:30 - HOWEVER - If THREE (3) Teams are involved (Round Robin Play) I will modify times to; Morning Game 1 -9:00, Game 2- 10:30, Game 3 - 12:00. Afternoon Round Robin Times will typically be Game 1 -12:30, Game 2 - 2:00 & Game 3  3:30, Please be prepared to play either a double header time set or a round robin time set when selecting a session. 

• DROP DEAD GAME TIME FORMAT - All games are 75 minutes (1:15) “Drop Dead - Finish the Batter”. All games must start and end within the time provided on the schedule. If a game starts late it will mean the game time will be shortened - so please get games off on time. 

Obviously as we move deeper into fall it will get darker sooner - so we really need to stay on schedule with game start and end times - particularly if it is a three team "round robin" set. Please move games along and as a courtesy to your opponents try to switch between innings as quickly as possible - within 1 min is ideal - (IE: Pinch run for catchers with two outs & have catchers ready to go!)    

• PLAYER AGES - TEAM AGE CLASSIFICATIONS - The fall season is a bit tricky as technically players can play in the same age group they played in the summer (2023) however the intent of the league is to play the teams in the age division they will play in NEXT spring (Spring / Summer 2024). That said, teams can borrow players in the fall from the current year of eligibility if the team needs help. (For Example a player born in 2010 was age eligible for 12U this spring and will be 14U eligible (13U) next spring - so that 2010 born player could help a 12U team this fall). Also - there is no age restriction for players to play up (within reason) so long as there is no obvious safety issue

We monitor competition each week so if a team finds that they are getting blown out in games we will look for competition that will help them develop - which could mean finding teams to play in the upper or lower age groups - so that is always an option in the fall as no one wants consistent blowout type games. We will of course help teams find  the right level of competition however the teams needing assistance will need to communicate this need to us as the league does not collect / monitor game scores as well as be willing to have a wide range of flexibility in their game time / day availability. 

·         All teams must supply me with a primary team contact cell / email to be listed in the league TEAMSNAP app – You can list multiple coaches / assistants under your team however the primary person – typically the head coach – will be responsible for team communications and availability scheduling entries.

LIST OF ALL TEAMS COACHES 

A list of all teams coaches must be submitted to me as soon as possible. List should include: 

1. Coaches Name 

2. Coaches Birth Date 

3. Coaches Email 

4. Coaches Phone #

Coaches are ANY adult over the age of 18 that is a non-athlete or non-rostered  player that will be utilized by the head coach as an extension of their coaching responsibilities for any team related function including but not limited to in-game, pre and post game functions. 

Persons meeting the above criteria must be listed and will be the only persons other than rostered players to be in the teams dugout during games or eligible to coach your team during games. 

COACHES BACKGROUND CHECKS

All teams coaches must have a recent background check conducted in 2023 through any of the major sporting / softball affiliations (USA Softball. USSSA, Connecticut CIAC or have regularly conducted, current employment related background certification 

IE; Law Enforcement or First Responder, Military, State Certified Teacher or other profession that is required to constantly monitor and screen the individual's background as a term of their regular employment. 

 All team head coaches are responsible for ensuring their assistant coaches are in possession of recent and up-to-date background screening and are certified. Head Coaches are further responsible to gather and keep this information available in the event the information is requested.    

FALL LEAGUE WEEKS: 

The 2023 Wolcott Fall League will play on the following weeks:

         Week 1 – Sat 9/9 & Sun 9/10

         Week 2 – Sat 9/16 & Sun 9/17

        Week 3 - Sat 9/23 & Sun 9/24   

         Week 4 - Sat 9/30 & Sun 10/1

       Week 5 – Sat 10/7 & Sun 10/8  

         Week 6 – Sat 10/14 & Sun 10/15

         Week 7 – Sat 10/21 & Sun 10/22

          Week 8 – Sat 10/28 & Sun 10/29

Make Up Weekends / These will be “Additional” weekends if no rain outs occur;

            Week 9 – Sat 11/4 & Sun 11/5

            Week 10 – Sat 11/11 & Sun 11/12

 

UMPIRE FEE PAYMENTS & GAME BALLS:

Remember that teams must pay the umpires in cash before each game – each game will have one umpire at a cost of $70.00 per game – each team will split the $70.00 umpire fee per game ($35 per game / $70 per double header).

*Please note that the umpire rate is subject to change at the discretion of the umpire crew chief. There is an umpire shortage that has plagued the state all season and while demand should be less during the fall there is always the possibility that the rate could change. 

*Cost for umpires at host locations that utilize their own regional umpires could be slightly more or slightly less than league umpire fees - we will post these fees on the league schedule whenever we are aware of a cost difference.

 

GAME BALLS:

 Teams must also supply at least one NEW game ball per game (Please bring at least one extra spare game ball to keep the games moving)

         League Game Ball Specs: Game balls should be; LEATHER 12", COR: .47, Compression: 375 lbs. or comparable (If ordering we typically order the Dudley Thunder Heats that you can purchase on Amazon for about $75.00 a dozen – but any comparable ball will be acceptable).

We highly suggest you purchase a case of game balls prior to the start of the season however Game balls can be purchased from the league in advance (min 24 hours prior to play) for $10.00 per ball.

**NOTE** – Game Balls were a significant issue in years past – Teams were using “dead” balls on defense to gain an advantage – This league will take a very hard stance on any team found to be using non-league spec balls during game play - Any team utilizing a ball other than the listed spec game ball will be reason for the teams head coach to be ejected for the game & remainder of the day. In addition the team will be required to purchase the proper game balls from the league. The team will further be required to have game balls inspected by the league for the remainder of the season prior to and during game play. Please make sure you are using regulation / League Spec game balls.

 

LEAGUE FEE & LEAGUE DEPOSITS -SCHEDULING CHANGES:

A Non-Refundable League Fee of $200.00 was collected from each team to play in the league.

A Refundable League Game Deposit of $150.00 has also been collected from each team to be used only in the event that a team backs out of a confirmed scheduled game without sufficient notice. Once a team confirms the scheduled game, it is “Locked In” and must play the scheduled game or lose the league deposit. I remind teams that if a team loses the $150.00 league deposit, the team will not be scheduled for additional league games until another $150.00 league game deposit is submitted.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR TEAM CAN PLAY AT THE DATE AND TIME YOU COMMIT TO EACH WEEK AFTER CONFIRMATION

At the end of the season the WGSA will return the league fee via a credit of the $150.00 League Game Deposit fee back to the card of which the fee was issued. 

Certain organizations have been permitted to submit payment via check. Teams that paid by check will receive a refund within 30 days of the end of the Fall Season. Any team that does not receive the refund amount within 30 days shall be required to notify the WGSA IN WRITING of the failure to receive the refund. Any team that does not notify the WGSA within 90 days of the season's end of a failure to receive a refund will forfeit the refund amount as a donation to the WGSA. 

Thank you everyone for participating in the Wolcott Fall League – Please feel free to contact me with any questions concerning these instructions or any other concerns you may have. (Email @ wgsatravelsoftball@gmail.com or contact me on my Cell 203-509-1536)

 

Chuck Cammarata   

Wolcott Fall League Director