Dear FGFS Parents:

We understand that for those players first moving up to a draft eligible division the process can sometimes be confusing and misunderstood. We hope that this informational sheet will provide you with the answers to many of your questions.

 

How are the teams drafted?
Once registered and paid, returning Sr.’s are automatically placed on the same team they were on the previous season.
Each Sr. team is allowed to “protect” up to a maximum of 9 players. Their returning players are included in that number and no Sr. coach can refuse to take back a returning player in favor of a player they want to protect from the previous seasons Jr A affiliate team. This means that there are sometimes Sr. teams that can protect no players, and some that can protect as many as many as 9. It all depends on how many players that particular team lost to graduation of 8^th graders to high school.
 
For example, this current season Sr. Blue had just 4 players returning, Sr. Red had 10. Sr Blue could have protected up to 5 additional players , while Sr. Red could not protect anyone. 

How do the “protected players” get picked? 
 Each Sr. coach is allowed to “protect” players from their Jr. A affiliated team from the previous season. This means that the player is then placed on that Sr. teams roster and are removed from the draft list. All others from the affiliated team are available to any Sr. coach who wants to draft them. They are NOT guaranteed to be drafted to a Sr. team and may repeat in Jr. A.

How many spots are available in each division?
Once the protection lists are received from the coaches, the total number of available roster spots for the Sr. division draft is then determined.   We then look at the number of 8^th graders who were not on a Sr. team the previous season but who are required to go to the Sr. division due to their age, no matter their level of ability.   This is for the safety of all players and also for the social/emotional aspect. Imagine if your daughter was an 8^th grader and her teammates were all 5^th and 6^th graders. She would not be happy and would not want to play anymore. Our first priority is to keep all the girls playing, having fun and learning how to play softball at the same time.  Not always as easy as it sounds!

 Once the 8^th graders are determined we then determine how many roster spots are available to 7^th and 6^th graders. That number determines how many players from Jr A that were not already protected will be going to Sr.’s. Some years it is a lot, some years it is not.

 Each coach is responsible for drafting their own team. The Board of Directors has NO say in who a Sr. coach can and cannot draft other than to impose the age restrictions and sibling guarantee, if not waived by the parent.  While we strongly recommend that only the strongest 6^th graders be drafted and/or protected to the Sr. division, we cannot force the coaches to comply.

 Once the Sr. draft is complete, we move on to the Jr. A draft. Similar to the Sr. division, this division requires that all remaining 7^th graders be placed within this division no matter their level of ability.

The Jr. A coaches pick their teams as they see fit, just as the Sr. coaches do. They are also now in a situation where they have to take into consideration whether a player is a pitcher or catcher and ensure that they provide their team with at least one of each whenever possible. As in Sr.’s, we also strongly recommend that only the strongest 5^th graders be drafted to Jr. A. It is our preference that each player completes 2 seasons in each division for the best opportunity for development. There are years, such as this current one, where the numbers in certain age groups prevent this from happening. 

Team SIze
The number of players drafted/available for the Sr. division directly affects each division below. For this reason, Sr. & Jr A rosters can be no bigger than 12 players, and no smaller than 10. There are years, like this current one, when due to numbers in certain age groups we have no choice but to lower the roster size in the upper divisions. This year the Sr. rosters consist of 11 players and Jr. A consists of 10 players.  This is a main factor in why many 5^th graders were not able to move up to the Jr. A division this year. There were 8 fewer spots available this year than there was last year in Jr. A and 4 fewer spots available in Sr.’s combined with a large number of 8^th graders that had to be placed in Sr.’s.

We hope that this helps to answer your questions. If there is anything that you are still unsure about please do not hesitate to contact your league President, Steve Crane at or Vice President, Kathi Diana at .

 

Regards,

 

FGFS Board of Directors Executive Committee

Steve Crane – President
Kathi Diana – Vice President
Wayne Lemmerhirt – Registrar
Nancy McCormick - Treasurer

 

 

 

 

 Selection:

After all applications have been reviewed, one senior will be chosen to receive a $1,000 scholarship. To be considered, scholarship applications must be postmarked by July 25, 2010 or received by July 31, 2010. Send all applications to Steve Melchiorri, 10 Brook Hollow Way, Natick, MA 01760

 
Applications must contain the following items: