Let's Play Ball!!!
Mt. Vernon Optimist Club is excited to provide Spring and Fall Softball programs!!!
Spring season is competitive with games and a tournament, while Fall season is for skills development, practice and games. If your child is age 3-4 y/o, they should sign up for T-Ball under our Baseball Spring season. We are always looking for ways to improve after each season and have taken your feedback into consideration. To revive competition and provide the best experience for all players, we have advocated for some changes. This year we are excited to announce that we have formed an alliance with other leagues and will be combining game schedules with Greenfield and Irvington. We are in talks with other organizations to play games with them. If any changes are made to this section, we will update it as soon as we can.
The below information is for the 2024 Spring season:
SOFTBALL COMMISSIONER: Marcus Marvin - [email protected]
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have at email listed above or on my cell phone. 317.493.9635
REGISTRATION:
Registration IS OPEN NOW!! Registration ends at 11:59pm on Saturday March 23rd.
Any registration opened up after the 23rd will result in a $35 late fee.
No registrations will be taken after March March 26th.
We will not guarantee/honor coach and teammate assignment requests, except where a coach has their child on the team.
PLAYER SKILLS EVALUATION:
Player Skill Evaluations will take place March 24th to March 26th at McCordsville Elementary. All players are encouraged to participate in player evaluations. This prevents one-sided teams. Each player only needs to evaluate one time.
Player evaluations will take place on 3 different evenings. Please choose which is best for your player:
Sunday, March 24th 4pm-7pm
Monday, March 25th 6pm-8pm
Tuesday, March 26th 6pm-8pm
Evaluations are for 8U, 10U and 12/14U only. 6U players do not need to evaluate.
COACH AND TEAM SELECTION MEETING:
Meeting will take place Thursday, March 28th at 6:30pm. We will have a meeting with all coaches and commissioners, then the Mt Vernon Optimist Team Selection Draft will take place after the meeting. Location of meeting is McCordsville United Methodist Church ( 6247 W Broadway, McCordsville, IN 46055).
Any coach, head or assistant, MUST be present to draft players. Children are not allowed at coach meeting.
We will have a joint coach's meeting with ALL coaches and commissioners from each league to discuss rules and expectations for the season, so everyone is on the same page. In the coach's meeting we will provide materials, practice plan ideas and drills if coaches would like some extra support or need guidance.
RATES:
Registration Price: $130 for 8U to 12U. $95 for 6U.
There will be no registrations accepted after August 3rd!
$10 discount for second child and additional.
AGE DIVISIONS:
Please register your daughter for the appropriate age division for Spring of 2023. The softball divisions are listed below with ages by December 31:
***Note: I have been made aware of a birthdate glitch in our system that we are working to fix. If age division is incorrect, simply sign up for the available division. I will populate players by date of birth after registrations are complete!
DIVISION (Softball) | AGES (years) |
6U | 5-6 |
8U | 7-8 |
10U | 9-10 |
12U | 11-12 |
14U | 13-14 |
***Please note we will do a combined 12U/14U division this fall.
***All players that are set to move up to the next division of age group will do so this fall.
NOTES:
If your child is just beginning with softball/baseball, has never played nor had skills/game instruction previously, and is of appropriate age (3-4 y/o) then sign up for T-Ball under the Baseball Fall sport rather than Softball 6u division.
If your child desires to play in a division other than designated by the age chart, you must submit a formal request to [email protected].
LOCATIONS:
Practices and games are at the Mt. Comfort Elementary School fields. In addition, games will also be played at Greenfield's Brandywine Park and Irvington Fields. We are currently in talks with other organizations to play games at different locations. I will update this section if any changes are made.
UNIFORMS:
We provide softball players jerseys and socks. In previous years, we have provided pants to players. The pants generally did not fit the players and we had to go to great lengths to try and get pants replaced. So, this year we have decided to ask that parents provide pants for their players. This way your player can try them on and make sure they have a size and brand that are comfortable for them. Keep in mind all brands fit differently. A Backup pair is also highly recommended. ALL PANTS MUST BE BLACK!!! A belt is completely optional, but is a good idea. 6U players do not have to wear pants. Their uniform will come with a pair of matching shorts. Pants are optional for 6U players ONLY.
EQUIPMENT:
Your player will need their own:
(To see examples click on the links below)
Cleats - NO METAL SPIKES. High top baseball cleats are best. Soccer cleats will not work for softball.
Batting helmet - MUST HAVE AN ATTACHED FACE MASK. Snug fit. Make sure the helmet doesn't move while your player runs with it on.
Fielding Glove - Size to hand. Don't go crazy on a glove for younger players. They will grow out of it. 11.5 inch kids glove is a great starter for 6U & smaller 8U players. Nothing smaller than that!! Tee ball gloves will be no help to your player!! It may be hard to use at first. Glove oil will soften it up. Even the smallest hands can use a well broken glove. I recommend 12.5 inch kids glove for bigger 8U players & 10U players. I recommend stepping up to a 12.5 inch LADY'S glove for 12U players. Just a heads up, first base gloves and catchers gloves can only be used in that position. Avoid those.
Defensive Protective Face Mask - THIS ITEM IS MANDATORY, no exceptions. If your player doesn't have one, she can't step on the field.
Bat - A bat IS NOT required. Coaches will have a team bat to use. It's recommended your player have their own only because it's hard for coaches to fit every player with a team bat. If you decide to purchase a bat and have questions about how to fit them to your player, do not hesitate to reach out to me!
PRACTICES:
Practice begins the week of April 1st. You should receive an email from your team coaching staff regarding the practice schedule. Practice schedules are not posted on the MVOC website. Practices before the game schedule begins are at least once, maybe twice per week at coach's discretion and once a week practices will continue through the season at Mt. Comfort Elementary.
TEAM PHOTOGRAPHS:
Dates for team photographs are TBD. Coaches will reach out to parents once dates are set.
GAME SCHEDULE:
Opening Day of Spring is April 20th. Final regular season game is June 1st. Tournament will start June 3rd and run to June 8th. Game schedules will be provided to the coaches to distribute to their teams. Games will be played at Mt. Comfort Elementary, Greenfield - Brandywine Park, and possibly other locations TBD.
Saturday double header schedule for 10U & 12U. 10U & 12U may have a few games scheduled for our ''Friday Night Under the Lights'' games in Greenfield and possibly Fortville. Only one game will be played Saturday for teams that play the previous Friday night.
6u will not play double headers. Will play one game in week & one game on Saturday.
8u will not play double headers every Saturday, but will play some double headers.
No games Memorial Day Weekend.
10-12 game schedule.
Make up games will be scheduled throughout the week.
IN SEASON PREGAME FIELD PREP:
The designated home team is responsible for lining the fields before the game, away team for raking after the game.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
There will not be a tournament for the Fall Softball Season.
SPRING SUNDAY ALLIANCE GAMES:
We do offer a Fall Sunday Alliance program. This will be by invitation only. If you are interested in your player playing Sunday Alliance, please reach out to me! We are always looking for new players to play Sunday Alliance.
Sunday Alliance consists of Sunday Double Header Games played locally. These games are played against Rec organizations across central Indiana. Games start at noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm (games are 75 min) and end at 5:30pm. Two games will be played every Sunday. The cost for this is $5 per player per Sunday. This opportunity will be available to 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U players.
Mt. Vernon Optimist Club seeks new members to administer and operate our baseball, softball, and basketball programs as well as academic programs such as written essay/Oratorical contests and administrative positions. If Optimist membership is not possible, your assistance with operations such as field preparation and concessions is appreciated. Volunteering can occur during player website registration on mvoptimist.com if the person is a member of the parent/guardian's website account. Special website procedures for a volunteer to sign up after the player's registration is completed, or if the volunteer has a separate website user account than that used to register a player. Please contact us at [email protected] for special volunteer sign-up.
WEATHER LINE: Softball Weather Line is 317-335-4441
The softball weather line is used to communicate the cancellation of practice or games in the event of bad weather. We encourage every parent to use this weather line rather than texting, calling or emailing the head coach of your team.
HOLIDAYS:
Spring season: No activities Memorial Day weekend.
Fall season: No activities Labor Day weekend.
Questions or concerns? Please send an email to us at [email protected]!