Irvine Girls Softball

Evaluations for ALL players will take place on:
Jan 8 (10U – Mon)
Jan 9 (8U – Tue)
Jan 10 (14U – Wed)
Jan 11 (12U – Thu)
weather permitting (dates subject to change; makeup dates TBD)
Draft — 8U/10U/12U/14U players will be selected through a Draft that will occur following Evals
All rosters will be finalized following Evaluations and with the Draft. You will receive notification when this process is completed
Schedules
Practice Schedule will be finalized by the week of Jan 22
Game Schedule will be released the second week of February
Coaches will need to attend a mandatory meeting/presentation on Saturday, Jan 20 from 9:00am-Noon followed by equipment distribution
Practices will begin the week of January 29
Opening Day will be Sunday, February 25. Festivities in the am with games to follow in the early afternoon into the evening
Weekend Games will then be on Saturdays following Opening Day
Weeknight Games will begin the week of February 26
Spring Break will be Sunday, March 31 thru Sunday, April 7. No Games or Practices during the break
Closing Day will be Saturday, April 27. Festivities will run concurrently with games being played throughout the day
Season will conclude April 29 with Championship Monday

6U — Friend and Coach requests will be a primary consideration when forming teams, although we cannot guarantee that all requests will be honored
8U — All players will be evaluated and will most likely be subject to a modified draft. Friend/Coach requests will be noted and considered, but no guarantees can be made that they will be honored.
10U/12U/14U — All players will be evaluated and drafted by the coaches in these divisions. Friend and Coach requests will be provided to each coach and may be used as a criterion in selecting their teams. We cannot guarantee that any or all of these requests will be honored.

Beginning with this past Fall, USA Softball changed the birthdate cutoffs for each age division. Above is the NEW Age Chart

Play-Up/Play-Down Requirements:

Any player born between Sep 1-Dec 31 in an EVEN year can choose to remain in their current division without notice or approval (these players are eligible for an additional year in their current division).
Any player that was granted permission to Play-up in the Fall and was born between Sep 1-Dec 31 in an EVEN year may again REQUEST to Play-up to a HIGHER Rec division in the Spring and must get approval from the Board.
All other players will NOT be allowed to Play-up in the Spring and will be required to play in their age appropriate division.
6U eligible players may petition to Play-up to 8U based on age, experience, talent and appropriateness and with Board approval.
Play-down requests will NOT be allowed in the Spring.

During the Spring Rec season, IGSA teams also participate in a Spring Select season (8U+ no 6U Select)
Spring Select is in ADDITION to Spring Rec
Players must be registered and assigned to a Spring Rec team to be eligible
Team Selection: teams are chosen by the Select coaches following Rec evaluations
To be considered for a Spring Select team players must attend the Rec evaluations, unless given approval from the Board.
Spring Select fees will be in addition to Rec registration
Select teams will form only with sufficient interest, talent and the approval of a volunteer coach at the appropriate levels

IGSA 2024 Spring Rec Season will be played in 3 distinct parts:

Practice Season

January 29 thru Feb 23 (prior to Opening Day)

Regular Season

February 25 thru March 30 (prior to Spring Break)

Opening Day: Sunday Feb 25
Weeknight games begin Feb 26
Mondays -- 10U
Tuesdays -- 8U
Thursdays -- 12U
Regular Season will consist of 11 friendly games both intra-league and inter-league
Some Weeknight BYEs and/or Saturday Doubleheaders may be necessary
Regular Season ends right before Spring Break
All Teams continue to practice once per week (14U 2x per week)
No scores or records will be kept

Playoff Season

April 8 thru April 29 (following Spring Break)

Playoff Season consists of 7 game dates:
3 weeknight games (normal nights)
3 Saturday dates
Championship Monday
Format
Final Playoff Format and schedule will be determined at a later date and will be based on the number of teams in each Division
Format will consist of some form of Pool Play and Bracket Games
All Playoff games will be between Irvine teams (fill-in games against other leagues may be scheduled and will not count towards Playoff results)
Scores and Records will be kept
All Teams will continue to play through at least Closing Day regardless of Bracket outcomes
All Teams continue to practice once per week (14U 2x per week)
Some Weeknight BYEs and/or Saturday Doubleheaders may be necessary
Closing Day: Saturday, April 27
Championship Monday
3 Championship games (8U, 10U & 12U) will be played Monday night, April 29 under the lights at Bill Barber

6U & 14U

Entire Season

6U
Practice Once per week (no cages)
Single Games on Opening Day, and All Saturdays thru Closing Day (except Spring Break)
No Weeknight Games
No Playoff
14U
Practice Twice per week (+ cage time)
Game(s) on Opening Day; Doubleheader games on remaining Saturdays thru Closing Day (except Spring Break)
Games played against teams from other cities in North & South OC
Tournaments (TBD)
Mid-Season Tournament
End-of-Season Tournament

ALL Players MUST be a part of the league and registered with USA Softball prior to April 1
Players MUST play in 75% of the league scheduled Rec games during the Spring season
Multiple Rec Leagues -- In the rare circumstance that a player plays for 2 different leagues during the same Rec season, they MUST choose which league to play All-Stars for by April 1
Player may NOT participate in ANY non-USA Softball activities (travel, select, tryouts, workouts, fill-in, etc.) AFTER March 31, otherwise the player will be ineligible to participate on an All-Star team.
All-Star teams may only allow a MAXIMUM of 4 players who have played Travel softball AFTER January 1. Should more than 4 players that fit this criterion tryout for an All-Star team, those players will be restricted to the maximum allowable.

2024 Spring