All about registration and team selection


Registration		Registration & Evaluation Nights
		Three dates each January are devoted to Registration & Evaluation (hereinafter referred to as R&E) for Pony, Junior and Senior divisions. A fourth date in February is a combination session primary for Travel R&E and as a "last chance" date for girls in other divisions who may have missed the other dates. Player Evaluations Player evaluations for all divisions except Instructions are done during Registration. Instructional League players register by mail; no evaluation is necessary. Players at all other levels are rated in fielding, throwing and hitting ability on a scale of 5 to 10 (with 10 being the highest). Players in Junior and Senior Leagues are also rated for pitching on the same scale, though this is only to identify potential pitchers and not included in the player's score. The "score" for each child is the total of the fielding, throwing and hitting scores. Why you should bring your daughter on "her night" We set up specific nights for each age group to be evaluated because while rating a girl's softball skills is subjective, there is a "calibration" process that occurs among those who are doing the ratings which depends heavily on their seeing a consistent stream of players in the same division. When you throw a younger or older player into the mix, it offsets that calibration potentially devaluing all the results. InSeason Player Evaluations During the season, coaches also complete an “InSeason Player Evaluation” for all their players. There is one form per team, and all coaches sign-off on evaluations. These ratings augment Registration evaluations and help in future team selections.

Team Selection		Instructional League
		Teams in the Instructional League are usually set up so that girls get to be on teams with friends from school. Each child is allowed to request up to three friends. Of course, making up those teams depends upon all "desired" players actually being registered to play. This is done because girls at this age tend to be a great deal more shy than they are when they reach second grade, where the practice ends. Coaches and Sponsor Sign-Up Coaches and Sponsors sign up on their Registration card in the Instructional League. Also, in all leagues, if you have sponsored a team during the most recent season, you will be sent a renewal notice in the fall giving you an "early bird" opportunity to reserve a spot for the following season.

		Travel Program
		The SYAC Travel Program is designed to provide an opportunity for serious softball players to compete at a higher level of league competition than provided by our Pony, Junior and Senior divisions. All girls desiring to play must be evaluated and space is limited, usually to about 16 players per team. SYAC Travel teams compete in travel leagues, and games are played either at home or away in both Nassau and Suffolk Couties. Doubleheaders are the norm, and games are usually played on Sundays. Travel does not conflict with regular SYAC softball, which is played weekdays, and travel players are strongly urged to play on SYAC weekday teams as well. In order for travel teams to be competitive, players must regularly attend team practices and skills clinics. Many travel players also take lessons and hit indoors at batting cages throughout the year. SYAC fields travel teams in three age divisions: U10 (age 10 or younger as of January 1st), U12 and U14. Seasons are Fall (September to early November) and Spring (April to early June). If there is enough interest, SYAC also fields a summer team (late June to early August). R&E for the next seasons will take place at dates to be announced near the end of May or beginning of June. Beginning next year, however, Travel R&E will take place on the last scheduled R&E date in Feburary 2008. Notice of these events will be posted on our website, announced in local community papers and emailed to those who express interest. If your child wants to play SYAC Travel, please email Roger Mummert. Coaches and Sponsor Sign-Up Coaches, including those who are also sponsoring a team, must come for the Coach Interview, which is held at each of the scheduled R&E sessions. Who is picked to coach depends upon a variety of indicators including, but not limited to: 1. Parent's Coach Evaluation 2. The Coach Interview 3. Previous coaching experience. In selecting coaches, preference is given to individuals who have coached before and who have met the aforementioned Guidelines for SYAC Coaches.

		The SYAC Player Draft
		Registration, player evaluations and sponsor/coach sign-ups for Pony, Junior and Senior Leagues take place at one of four Registration Dates, held in January and February. Coaches and Sponsor Sign-Up Coaches and Coaches who are also sponsoring a team must come for the Coach Interview, which is held at each of the Winter Registration & Evaluation nights. Who is picked to coach depends upon a variety of indicators including, but not limited to: 1. Parent's Coach Evaluation 2. The Coach Interview 3. Previous coaching experience. In selecting coaches, preference is given to individuals who have coached before and who have exemplified the requirements stated in the aforementioned SYAC Coaches Agreement. The Player Draft for "weekday" SYAC takes place each year in the middle of March. Before coaches and commissioners are dispatched to their selection rooms, a general meeting is held to outline league procedures to the coaches. Then, once each league has moved to its selection room, each league commissioner heads a brief Q&A session to review draft rules and other issues with his or her coaches. Drafts are held in all leagues except Instructional. The number of players in each round is based on the number of teams in each league (e.g., If there are seven teams in a league, there are seven girls in each round). If a team has no representative on the night of the draft, the team is picked by the commissioner. Except for situations noted below (see Exceptions), all selections are "blind." A commissioner approaches each coach with a handful of player sheets, placed upside down. All the players in each round have approximately the same rating. Stronger Players given out in first round In Junior and Senior Leagues, any player with a strong evaluation in pitching is set into a special group. To insure that teams are balanced, the Board reviews the scores and pairs at least two top-level players for each team in each league, with one of the two being a pitcher. These special players are distributed in the first rounds of the Player Draft. No Player Trading There is no trading allowed. However, you may be obliged to accept or to give up a player because of a Board-imposed accommodation. Exceptions 1) The child of a coach or sponsor appearing in any round is given automatically to the respective coach or sponsor (there is no blind choice for that round). 2) Sisters in the same league are placed on the same team. 3) All teams are reviewed by the Board following the draft. The Board reserves the right to make additional changes between the night of the draft and the beginning of the season. 4) All late registrants will be distributed to teams as needed by the league commissioners. The Goal is Balanced Teams The foregoing SYAC rules are intended to produce teams that are equal in abilities and to avoid “team stacking.” If, in the opinion of the Board, a particular grouping of coaches and/or sponsors results in a team with an unfair competitive advantage, the Board reserves the right to refuse that grouping. A person signing up to coach and/or sponsor a team may request to be paired with one other person. The Board also may add a third coach to two coaches who signed up together. Only one person may sponsor a team; no co-sponsorships allowed. That sole sponsor may also be a coach, as determined by the league commissioners. A sponsor may request to be paired with a particular coach. Likewise, a coach may request to be paired with a particular sponsor. But no sponsor or coach may request a specific girl to be on his or her team unless he or she is paired with the girl's parent, either as a coach or as a sponsor. Coaches and sponsors are automatically assigned their own children on the team that they coach or sponsor unless specifically otherwise requested.

		Roster Changes
		1) Should a girl be habitually late or absent from practices and/or games for reasons other than religious instruction, observance or illness, a coach will contact the girl's parents to discuss the situation. Should the coach, league commissioner and the parents feel that the girl has lost interest or is unable to fulfill her commitment to her team and does not intend to continue to play, the commissioner will notify the concerned parties of this decision and make arrangements, if possible, to replace the player with one of comparable rating. 2) If a coach, with the approval of the league commissioner and parent, removes a girl from his roster, she shall be ineligible to play on any team for the remainder of the season. 3) No girl will be added to a team roster in any league with two or fewer games remaining in the regular season. One exception: In Junior and Senior leagues, if a main pitcher is incapacitated, the Board may move to replace her.

		Equipment, Uniforms and Schedules
		1) Equipment is distributed at the mansion in Syosset-Woodbury Community Park, generally the final weekend in March or first weekend in April. Coaches are notified of this date on the evening of the draft. Each coach is responsible for the collection and return of the team bag with catcher's equipment, bats and at least five practice balls. It is expected that all the equipment from each team will be returned no later than July 1st. This equipment is to be checked by the coach, and any losses are to be reported to any of the SYAC equipment directors, Eric Gilman, Stephen Heller or Scott Wiseman when the bags are returned. 2) Uniforms will be distributed to the coaches prior to the first scheduled game by the league commissioners. 3) The most accurate set of Rules and Schedules are posted on our Website (http://www.syacgs.org). Each league's schedule is posted under its home page.