Registration for the 2019 Recreational Season for baseball and softball players will open THIS SATURDAY (11/24). Registration will be open until January 31st! Go to our website at www.gblbaseball.org to sign up.
WE OFFER BASEBALL & SOFTBALL! All girls are encouraged to join our League. Our baseball league remains co-ed, but we found most parents would prefer a softball league for their girls.
1. FEES - Fees are the same as last year. In fact, we haven't raised prices in over 6 years: $200 for Coach Pitch and up, $130 for T-Ball and Jr. Coach Pitch. Non-Germantown residents pay a $25 fee that goes directly to the City of Germantown, not to GBL. SIBLING DISCOUNT IS BACK!– Once again this year we are offering a sibling discount! Each player registered after the first will receive a $25 discount per registration.
2. WAIT LIST - We have a limit as to the number of players per team, and we only have so many fields, so we have a limit on the number of roster spots. Most of our divisions had wait lists last year, so we suggest signing up early. The divisions will fill up quickly. We recommend registering your child by December 31st. We can’t emphasize enough your need to sign up early to guarantee your young athlete a spot!
3. LATE FEE (Baseball only) - Way too many people wait until the last minute to register, so if you wait until after January 31st, you will be charged an additional $25 late fee. Also, after this date we cannot guarantee a spot for your child as divisions do fill up every year. There is no late fee for Softball.
4. BASEBALL & SOFTBALL SEASON DATES – Evaluations for Coach Pitch division and above will be held February 2nd and 3rd, with Feb. 9th being held as a makeup date. T-Ball and Jr. Coach Pitch players do not have evaluations. The Coaches’ meeting will be held Saturday, February 16th, with practices beginning Monday, February 18th. Our regular season will begin with games on Tuesday, March 19th, and our Opening Day Celebration will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, March 23rd. Our playoffs will begin the week of May 13th, ending the Thursday before Memorial Day. No games will be held the week of Spring Break or Easter weekend. All games and practices are at Cameron Brown, Bob Hailey Park, or Houston Levee softball fields, in Germantown (weather permitting).
5. WEEKLY SCHEDULE - You should expect 3 to 4 events (either a game or practice) a week during the season. You will have games on the weekdays and on Saturdays. It will be very difficult to play another sport during the GBL Season, and we would not recommend it.
6. T-BALL - Our T-Ball division is co-ed for boys and girls ages 4-6 with 6 year old boys having the option to sign up for Jr. Coach Pitch. We encourage girls to sign up for our U6 softball division which offers girls only play and smaller teams. U6 softball is coach pitch. We can always discuss where you think your child fits by contacting [email protected] or [email protected]. Once registration closes, all T-Ball players will be consolidated into one division for team assignment. Don't worry, your child will play where you desire, but we do not let children "play up" outside their age group except for exceptional circumstances.
So, in summary:
4YO boys and girls - T-Ball
5YO boys - T-Ball
5YO girls - T-Ball or U6 softball
(Based on Age as of April 30st, 2019)
7. PLAYER REQUESTS - We do not allow requests to be on a certain team at the Coach Pitch level and above, as we cannot honor them with over 900 children signing up. In the past, we have, however, been able to accommodate individual requests for extenuating circumstances. We do not allow entire teams to play together in the interest of league parity and fairness.
8. VOLUNTEERS - GBL depends on hundreds of volunteers, and we have many open positions that need filling:
1. Coaches and Assistant Coaches – We could not have a league without our coaches, and that is always our biggest need. Please, please consider volunteering for a coaching position when you register your child.
2. League Directors and Assistant League Directors
3. Directors on Duty – individuals are assigned specific shifts to be available at our separate fields to ensure smooth operations
4. Field maintenance – the City of Germantown does a great job preparing our fields for play, but there are times were certain work needs to be done that the City is not available to perform.
5. General volunteers – do you want to help, but none of the above positions sound right for you? Just let us know and we’ll find something for you to do.
9. POSITIVE COACHES AND PARENTS ALLIANCE – When you register, you will be asked to agree to our new Positive Coaches and Parents Alliance (PCPA) we have instituted this year. In an effort to create the best atmosphere for our young athletes, all parents and coaches will be required to agree to the standards of our PCPA.
As parents and coaches, we have a responsibility to always be mission appropriate and kid centered. GBL strongly supports our newly created Positive Coaching and Parents Alliance (PCPA), an initiative to reinforce our commitment to provide a supportive and enriching experience for ALL kids who participate in baseball and softball in GBL. But it only works with your help!
Please review and share with your family this new initiative once you have read and agreed to during the registration process.
Key Baseball and Softball dates for parents:
February 1st - Late registration fee begins for Baseball only
February 2nd and 3rd – Evaluations for Coach Pitch (ages 7 & up) and above
February 9th – Rain date for evaluations, if needed
March 19th – Regular Season games begin
March 23rd - Opening Day Celebration
May 23rd – Scheduled Last Day of season
On behalf of the GBL Board of Directors we would like to wish all of our GBL Family a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving Weekend.
We will see you at the Ball Park!
Rob Stallins
Executive Director
Germantown Baseball League