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Nova Summer '22 tryouts are here!

Nova tryouts are Saturday, May 7th starting at 3pm. For more details, email travel@mvlags.org or leadplayeragent@mvlags.org

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Nova is our travel softball program for girls in 8U and above who want to play at a more competitive level. It’s a great program for girls that have enjoyed playing recreation softball, want to play more, and want to learn more advanced skills. The program is competitive, but it is also a unique experience and a great way to develop players that want to continue to play softball through higher levels. With travel programs, the girls have a real opportunity to bond as a team and support each other on and off the field.

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Nova develops individual and team skills necessary to play at a more competitive level. Players are selected based on tryouts. Not all girls who try out will be selected but all are encouraged to continue to develop their skills. Playing time is based on capability, demonstrated effort on the practice field and commitment to personal skills improvement. This typically means that some girls will play more than others, some girls may not play in every game and all will participate in practices and clinics.

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Our tryouts for 2022 Summer Nova are on Saturday, May 7th at Stevenson/American Girl field. Your division is based on your birthday, which may be different from your Spring season division.

• 10U (2012 & 2011 birthdays): 2:30pm check in & warmups; evaluations from 3:00-4:30pm

• 12U (2010 & 2009 birthdays): 4:00pm check in & warmups; evaluations from 4:30-6:00pm

• 8U (2014 & 2013 birthdays): 5:45pm check in & warmups; evaluations from 6:00pm-7:00pm

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For more info, please see our Nova competitive page here.

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Welcome MVLAGS Families! Our spring season is here!

 

You should have received an email with your team placement in mid February.

Practices starting the week of March 7th! See below for important details about these and other upcoming events:

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Pre-Season Clinics - Sundays in February

Get a head start on the season with our clinics. We will have sessions on hitting, pitching/catching, and fielding. More information and sign-up details can be found at:  https://www.mvlags.org/clinics

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MVLAGS Spring '22 Families,

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We are almost ready to start our Spring softball season! Practices will start the week of March 7th (Opening Day for Games is Sat March 26th) and we can't wait to see everyone back on the field.

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TeamSnap: Rosters, Schedules, Family Assignments!
Katie Coyle (our Lead Player Agent on the BOD) has finalized our rosters and loaded all of our Spring teams into TeamSnap. You should have received an email from TeamSnap with a link to your team, which has your team’s roster, parent contact information, and schedule. Once games start, each team typically has 1 game per week until Spring Break, after which most teams move to 2 games per week (with the 2nd game replacing a weekday practice).

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Please note that on the Schedule page, you will see “Assignments” listed for each practice & game. Depending on whether it is a “home” or “away”’ game, responsibilities differ (see list below). If you are new to the league (or as a friendly reminder), MVLAGS is an entirely volunteer run league and every family is asked to contribute to help us run a great season for our daughters. Among the non-coaching & team manager necessary roles are:

• An adult female Chaperone is required at every practice

• “Light” Post-Practice Field Crew (1 person) is required by the Cities of Mountain View & Los Altos after every practice where the field is quickly watered and dragged

• “Game Prep” Field Crew (2 people) is needed to water and drag the field, plus chalk lines before each home game (or “away” game vs non-MVLAGS team at Stevenson)

• Scorekeeper uses the GameChanger app to keep track of plays in every game (8U+)

 

Every non-coaching/managing family has been assigned a season-long role based on preferences you listed during registration. We realize that not everyone will be 100% thrilled about the role that they have, but unless you truly, truly cannot do it, please be willing to take it on. 

 

In recent years we have struggled with families not signing themselves up for their role on specific events. This year we are exploring something new by proactively assigning everyone to their role on specific practices or home games ahead of the season starting. We will be doing this by the end of Feb, so if you want to sign up for your role on specific dates, please do so in the next week. We are asking you all to help coordinate amongst others on your team with the same role if you cannot do your role on any specific day during the season.

 

Equipment
For all teams, MVLAGS provides jerseys and socks to each player and has communal batting helmets, bats, balls, catcher's gear to each team to use amongst the team. Ideally each player would have the following equipment:

• Softball glove

• Infield fielding mask - This is a key item to please consider purchasing to keep your daughter(s) safe! Many coaches require their players to wear one when in the infield

• Softball cleats are recommended, soccer cleats are good. (For 6U - Tennis shoes work too!)

• (8U+) Softball pants (black)

• (10U+) Sliding shorts and knee pads (helps with comfort when sliding)

 

As you may remember during evals, we have an equipment lending program where players may borrow equipment for personal use the entire season. If your player needs any equipment, please send an email to equipment@mvlags.org. 

 

COVID & Masking
Questions about our MVLAGS Spring 2022 Approach to COVID & Masking this Spring? Answers can be found here.

 

Virtual Team Night - Week of Feb 28th
We still aren't able to get together this year in person for our annual team night, so we've asked the coaches & manager(s) of each team to organize a casual virtual team night prior to your first practice. We're hoping this will give each team a chance to meet each other and for parents to ask any questions they have.

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MVLAGS Online Store
MVLAGS has an "Online Apparel" Shop on our website where you can purchase t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc with our MVLAGS logo. The store works with a print-on-demand backend so you simply add items to your cart and they are shipped directly to the address you add (meaning no massive boxes in the garages of our Uniform Coordinator or others!).

 

For any team-related questions (e.g. roster placement, etc.) please reach out to Katie (our Lead Player Agent) at leadplayeragent@mvlags.org. For any other questions, feel free to reach out to myself or anyone else on the Board of Directors.

 

Thanks,

Brian Cullinane, on behalf of the MVLAGS Board of Directors
president@mvlags.org
734-645-2235

 

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Practices Start - Week of March 7th

Opening Day/Games begin - Saturday, March 26th

End of Season - Saturday, May 21st

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Updated 2.1.22

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Register Here for 2022 MVLAGS Spring Rec Softball!

 

MVLAGS Families,

 

We are excited to announce that our MVLAGS 2022 Spring Rec Softball registration is now open! Our Spring Rec Softball program is for all girls between the ages of 5-14 years old who are interested in returning to the softball field or learning the game for the first time. Practices start in early March (week of March 7th) and continue through middle of May (Closing day / end of season is May 21st)

 

As always, no experience is required, only a great attitude as we focus on skills and fun. Everyone plays!

 

MVLAGS offers both equipment lending and financial aid for those who need it. We believe that every girl should have the opportunity to play softball and be part of a team, so if you need anything at all, please send us an email at president@mvlags.org.

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Registration closes on Sunday, January 16th so please register now!

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Thanks,

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MVLAGS Board of Directors

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Volunteering - It takes a village! MVLAGS is a non-profit, entirely volunteer-run organization. Every family will be expected to volunteer to help our season run for these girls. We have roles as coaches, team managers, chaperones, scorekeepers, field crew, and more. Playing the game of fastpitch softball builds character and teaches young athletes life skills such as: teamwork, leadership, goal-setting and respect in a fun on-field experience that positively impacts their lives off-the-field as well. We know everyone is busy and time is at a premium, but without your help, we can’t keep girls softball going in our community.

 

Coaches Needed - We need coaches! Coaching your daughter’s team is a ton of fun and a great way to spend quality time with your daughter(s). MVLAGS is putting together both coaching clinics and practice plan resources for you to make it easier to be a softball coach. No previous coaching experience is needed. If interested, please indicate willingness to be a head or assistant coach in the registration form Any questions? Please simply email Mark at vp@mvlags.org or Brian president@mvlags.org.

 

Team Formation - A little bit about how age divisions & team formation works:

• Everyone plays!

• We aim to form teams within the following age divisions: 6U, 8U, 10U, 12U, and 14U

• Teams at the 6U and 8U levels are formed based on players from the same schools & “buddy requests”

• Evaluations are held (in mid January) for 10U/12U/14U players as teams are formed at those divisions to create balanced skill levels teams across the division

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Registration Cost - Registration cost for 6U is $150, 8U registration is $200, and 10/12/14U registration is $250

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Practice / Game Schedules - Team schedules are finalized once we form teams, which occurs in early Feb after our Jan evaluations.

• 6U teams practice 1x / wk (usually Wed) plus they have a practice or game on Saturdays (see note below)

• 8U-14U teams practice 2x / week (often either M/W or T/Th) plus they have a practice or game on Saturdays (see note below)

• Note: For the first 3 weeks of the season, teams have a practice on Saturdays. Games begin on Saturday March 26th, our "Opening Day", and continue on Saturdays through the rest of the Spring season.

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Spread the word! Help us reach out to families and girls at your school and in your neighborhood by sharing this info via Nextdoor groups, parent email groups, and other family networks. Most new players sign up to play softball because they hear about the league from a friend or neighbor! 

 

MVLAGS Online Shop - We are also excited to announce that we have launched an MVLAGS Online Shop where you can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, and more for you or your player!

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Posted 11.1.21

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2021 Fall Season & '21-'22 Board of Directors Update

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Dear MVLAGS Families, 

 

We hope everyone is having a great summer so far! As our summer season (Nova & Summer Stars) comes to a close, we wanted to thank all of you who helped make this another successful summer of softball for our players.

 

On July 12th, we held our annual League Meeting in which the Board of Directors Officers for the ‘21-’22 league year (starts 9/1) were nominated and approved. Subsequent to that meeting, nominations for our other BOD positions for next year were confirmed. Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to help continue to bring softball to our community!

 

Announcing our ‘21-’22 MVLAGS Board of Directors:

• Officers: Brian Cullinane (President), Mark Jamtgaard (Vice President), Megan Hanken (Secretary), Kelli Cullinane (Treasurer), and Katie Coyle (Lead Player Agent)

• Additional board members: Renu Upadhay (USA Softball Liaison), Maddy Elles-Hill (Marketing Manager), Paul Valentino (Nova Chair), Nitin Badjatia (Field Crew Manager), Diedre Caldbeck (Head Scorekeeper), Kelly Moore (Uniform Coordinator), Terry McHugh (Umpire-in-Chief), Rich Sewell (Scheduler), Anthony Ting (Equipment Manager), Stefani Rocha (Snack Shack Coordinator), Zak Wiseman (Webmaster), Mai Buell (Clinic Coordinator), Irene Huang (12U Divisional Player Agent), Melissa Neal (Safety Coordinator), and Kate Sewell (Advisory Committee Member)

• Note: We have just a few open remaining BOD positions if you are interested in being part of this awesome team :) If interested, email president@mvlags.org

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