SBC Softball '23-'24

Four pilot club teams have been hard at work on their softball skills since winter, allowing the SBC Board and Committees to learn alongside them. They are competing hard every week, having lots of fun, and and learning important lessons about teamwork. Thank you to this year's group of coaches and families making these girls' summertime dreams a reality. Each team is competing in the Cedar Rapids Weeknight League, USSSA Weekend Tournaments, and the Iowa USSSA State hosted in Des Moines. Way to work girls!

8 & Under Coaches: Brent O'Rourke, Winston Price, Courtney Reinsmoen, and Tyler Coon

9 & Under Coaches: Hannah Kalnicky, Courtney Kidwell, Mollie Kilburg, Matt Kroul, and Kelsey Brugman

10 & Under Coaches: Steve Vollbrecht, Rick Clifford, Trudie Meyer, Jesse Branscomb

11 & Under Coaches: Aaron Singsank, Nathan Scheib, Mark Woods, Sarah Hayek, and Tim Brodersen

Update: Following summer placement SBC softball teams are either full or have limited roster openings. To help our teams complete their rosters as quickly as possible, please share your information at the form below. Beginning Friday, July 19 these players may be contacted to schedule a tryout if their age group eligibility matches the need on an SBC team.

*If your daughter signed up for SBC softball, was evaluated during summer placement, and was not placed on a team then we already have your information and will automatically consider her for any roster openings.

SBC Softball Player Placement: Follow Up Interest

2024 Softball Player Placement

(Estimated player fees noted in chart at bottom of page)

When:
8U: Wednesday, June 26th
9U/10U: Friday, June 28th
11U/12U &13U/14U- Monday, July 1st
*Check-In & Warm Up 5:00-5:45pm-Player Evaluations 6:00-7:30
**Players who wish to be evaluated as pitcher should plan to stay after their player evaluation for about 30 minutes. See question and notes in form.

Where: Lakeview ball fields #1 & #2- 111 N Chabal Street Solon, check-in at the picnic shelter located near the back parking lot. Parking anywhere at Lakeview.
*If you can not attend player evaluation for your age group, please let us know as soon as possible. Email: info@spartanballclub.com

Why: Every player interested in playing on an SBC softball team must complete a player evaluation to inform team placement. Parents of players interested in joining a team for the 2024-2025 season should sign up using the form below, which includes questions about our needs for coaching and parent support. Information you share about your daughter's age, interest level, and experience will be combined with her player evaluation data to help our club leaders and existing coaches place her on a team. Then, you will have the opportunity to either accept or decline a roster invitation. Only players within the Solon School District are eligible for player placement. USSSA State team classification (A, B, C) will occur after a roster is set and is based on the experience level of the team as a whole.

We can not guarantee that every single player who signs up will be placed on a team, but we will do our very best. Any players who are not offered a roster spot will be placed on our reserve list, where the potential for placement may be revisited in the offseason.

SBC Code of Conduct

Please also review the SBC Code of Conduct, which all players and their families are asked to agree to when joining a team.

USSSA Age Divisions & Eligibility

The Spartan Ball Club fields its softball teams using birth year age divisions, in alignment with USSSA age division guidelines. To read more about these rules, team classifications, and more visit https://iafastpitch.usssa.com/. The number of players who sign up for placement, their age division eligibility, and the number of players who ultimately accept team invitations will determine the teams fielded for the season.

Due to USSSA's birth year eligibility (more in next section below), it's common for softball teams to include players from multiple grade levels. This flexibility introduces many different placement scenarios, which change from year to year. Example: Fielding two 10U teams rather than a 9U and a 10U team. Please attend the player evaluation session that best fits both your age division eligibility and interest level for play in the 2024-2025 season, and indicate this preference on your sign up form. A roster invitation may or may not be aligned with these wishes, and a player who attends one evaluation session may end up with an invitation to join a roster from a different session, but your preferences are certainly welcomed.

8 & Under (Birth year 2016-2018)
9 & Under (Birth year 2015 or younger)
10 & Under (Birth year 2014 or younger)
11 & Under (Birth year 2013 or younger)
12 & Under (Birth year 2012 or younger)
13 & Under (Birth year 2011 or younger)
14 & Under (Birth year 2010 or younger)

Coaching Placement & Parent Support

It takes a strong group of committed parents and coaches to support a team from the off season through to the last game. Parents with an interest in coaching should indicate this on their daughter's player placement form. Additionally, parents with an interest in a support role for their team should also indicate this on the player placement form. There's plenty of work to go around for parents of varying levels of experience and availability.

A team's coaching staff is assembled at the time of player placement based on conversations with volunteers regarding their interest and commitment level, and prior coaching experience. A head coach will be identified prior to any family being asked to finalize their roster acceptance. In the absence of a head coach from a parent volunteer, this topic will be revisited with parents prior to finalizing the roster.

Following player placement, a parent coaching staff (with team support) may choose to pursue a paid coach to supplement the team's coaching needs. Compensation, vetting, and all organization needs associated with a paid head coach will be the responsibility of the team. The club will maintain recognition of the original parent head coach for all SBC communication purposes as the team's point of contact for all coaching matters.

SBC Softball - What You Need To Know!

Please reference the Season Definitions and Team Play Guidelines table below to understand the level of commitment and the amount of play expected within each age division. These guidelines, established by the Softball Competition Committee, are designed to:

Support multi-sport athletes and well rounded kids, with deference to in season activities during the off season practice phase.
Establish a shared commitment for players and teams within the same two-year age division.
Lessen the decision-making burden for coaches by providing a shared framework to build their schedule around.

*Some of the guidelines in this section were used during the 2023-2024 pilot season, but most were created in real-time as the SBC Board and Competition Committee learned alongside our pilot teams. Therefore, these guidelines will be enforced with more consistency beginning with the 2024-2025 season and beyond.

Season Definitions

Coaches may provide additional guidance at the team level, but should be consistent with the following:

All SBC club players are encouraged to prioritize in-season sports when managing scheduling conflicts. Coaches will schedule around conflicts if possible (including religious obligations) and manage each scenario on a case by case basis, following the outline below.

Pre Season Practices: Team practices will be scheduled from January through Spring Break (regular player attendance is highly encouraged to develop skills, but not required)
In Season Practices: Team practices will be scheduled following Spring Break though end of the season (regular player attendance is required to prepare for upcoming games, with coaches handling attendance scenarios with discretion)
In Season Competition: Team games and tournaments may be schedule mid-April through the final weekend of USSSA State competition, which was the weekend of June 22 in 2024. (regular player attendance is required, with coaches handling attendance scenarios with discretion)
Fall Season: A 6-week season beginning the first week that school is in session, designed for newly formed teams to experience play together (time-bound per SBC guidelines).

*A team's fall schedule may be influenced by the opportunity for league play, where coaches may adapt to the league's schedule. Additionally, an 8U team's fall schedule may be limited or opted-out of based on coach/parents choice.

Team Play Guidelines & Player Fees

While each team's schedule is a result of players'/coaches' availability and the unique competitive culture of each individual team, the guidelines below are established to create a standard within age divisions and maintain a club-level season for all SBC teams. A typical softball season is about 8-10 weeks long, from April to mid June. Coaches of teams who want to play/practice more or less than the outlined standards below will be asked to have a conversation with the club's Competition Chair.

*Player fees noted below are established in conjunction with the amount of Team Play expected, as shown below.

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