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Sharon Springs Athletic Association

7/8 YEAR OLD DIVISION

Welcome to Sharon Springs 7U/8U Recreation Baseball 2019 Spring Season 

 

Sharon Springs is a great place to play baseball and we are excited to get the 2019 campaign underway.   This web-site will provide you with general information and help guide you through the process and dates for the spring baseball season.  There will be an evaluation process (likely late January 2019) that is used to evaluate your player's skill set so players can be assigned teams through a draft in order to develop a competitive and balanced league.  After your player is selected on a team, the head coach will be providing more details for you about the season.

REGISTRATION FOR 2019 SPRING BASEBALL OPENS NOVEMBER 1, 2018

Registration for the 2019 Spring Baseball season opens November 1, 2018.  Fees for the upcoming season are as follow:

Registration Fee - $175
Early Bird Discount - $20 Discount If You Register by December 16th, 2018

Age Group

The age range for players in the U7/8 age group is based on your age as of May 1, 2019:
 
  - If you are 7 years old or younger on May 1st 2019, you are eligible to play in the 7u division
  - If you are 8 years old or younger on May 1st 2019, you are eligible to play in the 8u division

We highly recommend, based on experience, that all players participate in the age group that corresponds to their age, especially at the very young ages.  Children at this age thrive on a fun environment and having success, players that are ahead of other kids in their age group will benefit from being exposed to leadership opportunities and gained confidence which are opportunities that can often be lost when playing "up" an age group.


7U/8U Majors/Minors Program


Our mission in majors/minors is to build an alternative to travel ball by offering a competitive brand of baseball with less time and financial commitment while still having a fun environment for all levels of players at Sharon Springs.  The layout of the program will be as follows:
  - 7U Majors - Coach Pitch
  - 8U Majors - Modified Kid Pitch (details below under "What You Can Expect")
  - 7U/8U Minors (Combined age groups) - Coach Pitch

Why We’re Excited

Majors/Minors is a way to level set competition at SSAA (and Forsyth County), offering a competitive alternative to travel ball and a fun environment for all skill levels. Each year, as an age group rises to the next division, we see a number of players leave recreation baseball for a more competitive experience in travel baseball. Parents pay a lot of money for this competition. Travel ball is saturated with teams that would benefit from having an alternative competitive recreation baseball experience. The goal of Majors/Minors is to fix this!  This program offers benefits to both large and small parks. The larger parks have the benefit of forming separate Majors teams for each age group, allowing for more optimal development. Smaller parks retain the benefit of forming combined age group Majors teams that play up (for example, a 7U/8U combined age Majors team plays 8U Majors).  Majors/minors is a program design that we are very excited about and has been successful at many parks in the north metro area. It is beneficial to all players to get them more quality reps at the appropriate skill level. Most importantly, all of this is offered at a fraction of the cost of travel baseball.


What You Can Expect

Players will continue to be evaluated in late January/early February by head coaches and independent evaluators. Players will be placed in one of the divisions based off of their evaluation. One Majors team will be formed for every Four teams in an age group. For example, the 7U/8U age group typically has 15-20 teams, which means 2-3 majors teams would be formed for 7U Majors and 2-3 majors teams would be formed for 8U Majors. Sunday Select will continue to be separated by age group.

For the 8U Majors group, a modified kid pitch format is being implemented.  It has been changed from previous seasons.  This season, the player will be able to complete each at-bat.  If an at-bat ends in a walk, the coach will get 2 additional pitches from in front of the mound.  Only a hit batter results in a walk.  The official wording of the rule is as follows: "Strikeouts are allowed, but walks are not.  Once four balls are reached, the coach shall have two pitches.  Foul ball on last pitch from kid pitcher or coach pitcher will not result in an out."


Evaluations

SSAA 7U/8U will hold two rounds of evaluations. All players are required to attend the round 1 evaluation to be considered for majors. At this evaluation, each player will be evaluated on hitting, fielding, and throwing. Players will be broken up into small blocks and each block will be assigned a time to attend on January 26th. For round 1 evaluations, 7U and 8U will be evaluated separately on separate fields to expedite the process. Independent evaluators and coaches from last season will perform the evaluations. Some players from each age group will be invited back for a round 2 evaluation on February 2nd to be further evaluated for the majors roster.  The evaluation schedule will be released at a later date.  Please check back in early January 2019 for an update.
 

Important Dates: 

Online Registration:  Opens 11/1/18 at  www.ssaa-kids.com      
Evaluation Dates:    Round 1 - January 26th, Round 2 - February 2nd
Practice Begins:TBD (Typically mid-February)
Season: March - May (typically 1 game during the week; 1 game on Saturday)                                        

 

Contact for Assistance

7U/8U Age Group Director:  Jim Flock      
8U Age Group Coordinator: TBD                                                                                 

Prior to your player being selected to a team, you can contact me for any questions at [email protected] 

 

Getting Involved as a Coach

Interested in Coaching? No experience necessary. We just need positive energy and willingness to love the boys and the game. Coaching clinics are provided by the association (see additional information below). If you are interested in volunteering as a head or assistant coach, please complete the coaches' application and background check found under For Coaches How to Volunteer. 

Head coaches will be refunded $75 after the end of the season in July if they attend all mandatory coaches meetings, ensure a team representative is at the team coordinator meeting and have all equipment returned either personally or by a team representative on the scheduled equipment return dates.

 

Sunday Select Process

Sunday Select is our SSAA All-Star selection process. It begins mid-February and runs each Sunday up to Spring Break. 7U and 8U age groups will have separate Sunday Select programs. This year our age group has partnered with the professional services of Rawlings Southeast to lead this process.  The 8U AGC will oversee the 8U Sunday Select process while Jim Flock (AGD) will oversee the 7U Sunday Select process.

 

Professional Services 

We are excited to continue to offer professional services to continue to upgrade our brand of baseball at Sharon Springs. Position clinics, team support from local high schools and other highly qualified coaching in our area will be part of Sharon Springs program this year.

Winter training is also available for the upcoming spring season.  In coordination with Windward Baseball Academy registration for a pre-season clinic and other clinics are available.  Space is limited so be sure to register early. For more detail see Main Rec Page

A coaching clinic conducted by Windward Baseball Academy on Saturday 2/9 at Sharon Springs Park. At least 1 coach from each 5U-14U team is required to attend. 5U-7U from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm and 8U-14U from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm.  They will show you how to run a practice, provide you sample practice plans, and teach you many drills to build fundamentals in your players.

  

Jim Flock
7U/8U Age Group Director (AGD)
Email: [email protected]

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