Update on Kelly's clinics

With our new, rain-delayed game schedule in place, we've had to adjust Coach Kelly Helms' clinics.

The Friday Pitchers' Clinics will continue at Pacific Union School through May...5pm for the 10 & Under division; 6pm for the 12 & 16 & Under players.

The Saturday Morning Skills Clinics won't be held until we have alternative fields. We need the PU field on Saturday mornings for our games.

Now, if we can finally get a good stretch of sun, we'll be on our way to great spring season.

Sun's out! Revised Game Schedules now available online.

Wait! Is that the sun up there? Are we finally going to get a chance to play softball?

In light of all the recent rain, and knowing that our Arcata fields won't be available for at least another couple of weeks, we have revised the game schedule significantly. For the next few weeks, we will be utilizing the fields at Pacific Union School in Arcata and the Hiller Sports Complex exclusively. The previous version of the schedule that you received a couple weeks ago is officially retired.

Please download a copy of your division schedule from the links below (or to the right). Game times and nights have changed. Questions or conflicts should be brought up first with your coach who can pass significant team concerns on to us. With dry fields at a premium throughout the county, the opportunity for schedule changes are limited.

Saturday, May 1st Picture Day Schedule

8 & Under Schedule - revised

10 & Under Schedule - revised

12 & Under Schedule revised

16 & Under Schedule - revised

Hopefully, this sun lasts a while and we can get some games in. Thank you all for you patience during this rainy pre-season.

Saturday, May 1st is Picture Day at the Pacific Union Field

Team picture day is Saturday, May 1st at the Pacific Union School softball field. A schedule of picture times now available.

We also have four games scheduled on Saturday as well. Please check the Picture Day Schedule to see if you're team is playing. (A new revised season schedule will be posted shortly.)

Schedule changes coming...stay tuned

There will be no games today, Wednesday, April 28th. We'll wait and see what the weather does for tomorrow's scheduled games at Hiller.

Team pictures will be taken at Pacific Union School on Saturday, May 1st. Times to be announced here shortly.

We will also play the 4 games scheduled for Saturday, May 1st on Saturday, May 1st at Pacific Union School. Game times on Saturday will change...times to be announced as soon as coaches get back to me to confirm their teams are available.

Significant schedule changes are in the works. We should have a new schedule available to all of you shortly.

Thanks for your patience!

Jeff

More delays, unfortunately

Our frustrating start to the 2010 season continues. With rain in the forecast for Monday through Thursday this week, it's likely that the Arcata Sports Complex will remain unavailable through the week. We're hopeful that things clear enough to get games in by Saturday, May 1st.

As of this writing, our scheduled games at the Arcata Sports Complex this week will be postponed. We will reschedule all Tuesday and Thursday games to be played at Hiller Park. (weather permitting) Your coaches will be in touch with you regarding game times.

In the meantime, we are working on making the Pacific Union field playable for our program. It is currently built for the adult leagues, but the city has recently installed a 40' mound for our 12U and 16U divisions, and has also provided us with a tap-in mound for our 10U division. We are working to provide temporary bases that are safe for our players. Once those are in place, we can work to get games at PU when it is available to us.

Thank you for your patience. Please help your coaches by continuing to encourage your players to practice and enjoy the opportunities to learn this great game.

Speaking personally, in my 9 years with the Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball Association, this is by far, the latest start we've ever had to a season. Unfortunately, those that control the rain haven't bothered to read our schedules, nor have they noticed the desire of our girls and their coaches to get out on the field.

Thank you for your patience, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to email us or call us at 822-3575.

Friday's pitching clinic is on. Saturday's skills clinics are not.

Hey y'all. We finally got our first games of the season in. Yeah!

Kelly's pitching clinics for Friday night will be held tonight. 5pm for the 10U pitchers and 6pm for the 12U and 16U players at the Pacific Union Field.

Saturday's skills clinics will not be held this week.

Schedule adjustments for the week of April 19th...please read!

We're limping into the season, but given all the rain we've had, and a bit more anticipated this week, we're going to get started anyway. The Arcata Sports Complex fields are unavailable, mostly likely through this week. Please make note of the following schedule changes:

The 12U and 10U games scheduled on Mon and Wed in Arcata will be rescheduled at a later date. There will be no 12U and 10U games this week.

The 8U and 16U games will both be played at Hiller Field on Tuesday and Thursday. The 16U games will be played at 4:30 pm with a 1 hour 20 minute time limit. The 8U games will be played at 6:00 with their standard 1 hour 10 minute time limit.

Questions? Feel free to email us here, or contact your coaches.

An Update for Coaches, Players and Parents. (April 15th)

Well, I guess it's not as bad as the picture above, but the rain is really messing with all our plans for softball this month. Please take a moment and read through the notes below for an update on where we are as of today, Thursday, April 15th.

Jamboree canceled, 4/17: It's not without a little frustration that we are canceling this weekend's Jamboree. The heavy rains this week makes it impossible for the city to have the Arcata fields ready by Saturday. So, no Jamboree events are planned this weekend.

Team pictures rescheduled: We have rescheduled team pictures for Saturday, May 1st. 8 of 12 teams have scheduled games that Saturday already. We may add a few games to the schedule that Saturday (including some doubleheaders) to make up for the games we're likely to miss next week. We will have a schedule for the pictures out to coaches shortly.

Likely delays to the season: It's likely we'll lose a few games in Arcata at the beginning of next week. We remain hopeful that the conditions improve between now and then, but we may end up with only the Hiller Field available to us next week. We'll be talking with coaches about game time adjustments and looking for alternative fields in the next couple of days. Keep your eyes on your email and the website for updates to the game schedule you received this week.

Candy Bars: Our primary fundraiser is the sales of $50 boxes of "America's Best Chocolate" candy bars. Last year, this fundraiser brought in several thousand dollars to the league. They're easy to sell to friends, family, and co-workers. Every player in our league is responsible for selling at least one box. (And if you can sell more, we have more!) All coaches need to be at the Pacific Union Field at 6pm this Friday night (April 16th) to pick up your team's candy bars. If you can't be there, you must send a team parent to pick them up for you. Please help us make this another great fundraiser for the league this season.

Uniforms: By now, most of you have received your uniforms. With some late registrations and team changes, some players are still waiting for their uniform. Lori Reed will be at the PU field at 6pm Friday to provide coaches with the missing uniforms or uniform parts you need.

Pitcher and skills clinics are on for this weekend: Kelly Helms will lead our pitcher clinics this Friday: 5pm for the 10Us and 6pm for the 12U and 16Us, as well as the skills clinic on Saturday morning: 900-1030 for the 8-10Us, and 1030-1200 for the 12-16Us. Both clinics are scheduled for Pacific Union School. The turnout last weekend was great. In lieu of the Jamboree, let's keep our girls excited about softball, and keep 'em learning by attending these great clinics.

As always, if you have any questions or issues, don't hesitate to contact us via email or phone.

Today's an absolutely beautiful sunny day. If any of you have any pull with the folks who control the weather, now would be a great time to make those requests.

We'll see y'all on the fields very soon.

Opening Day! Saturday, April 17th.....Game Schedules are now available online

Our 2010 Opening Day is just a few short days away!

Saturday, April 17th is our season opening Jamboree. A schedule of team events is now available online. (Link on the right.)

2010 game schedules are also available for all divisions. Click on the links on the right-hand side of the page for your division.

It's about time we started playin' some ball. We'll see you out on the diamond this Saturday!

Coach Kelly talks about last Friday's pitchers' clinic!

"Wow! What a turn out Friday night! We easily had 7-10 young pitchers each session! It was fantastic!

"With the first group, I didn't get a chance to recap the drills we practiced, however, for those in attendance, a great way to start every time your young pitchers practice is with those drills! Coaches and parents may not remember every detail about them but that's okay. Just do the best you can with what you have!

"As for the second group...great talent! Each young pitcher had a different aspect of the pitch to practice and develop. I would suggest making that individual element the focus of the week for your pitcher.

"Special thanks to all my adult catchers who helped their young pitchers work to be successful. It really helps to have you out there and involved with what is happening. (And hopefully in the process, coaches and parents can learn too!)

"I hope to see all of you again next Friday evening. Thanks for coming!"

We will hold our pitchers' clinic next Friday, April 16th at Pacific Union School: 5:00-6:00 for the 10 & Under pitchers; 6:00-7:00 for the 12 and 16 & Under pitchers.

There will be no players' clinic on Saturday since our Season Opening Jamboree is finally here!

New Opening Day....again

Once again, we're adjusting our 2010 season starting date. All this rain has prevented several teams from getting on any field at all. So, in order to let our teams get ready for real games...

We will kick off the season with our Jamboree (and team pictures) on Saturday, April 17th.

Real games will start (rain, shine, or otherwise) on Monday, April 19th.

Season schedules will be posted online in the next couple of days. Thank y'all for your patience.

And, for what it's worth, it looks like dry weather is coming soon!

Rain washes away this weekend's clinics. Back next week.

Well, we had one good day, didn't we?

Today's downpour has washed out our Friday night pitching clinic and tomorrow morning's player clinic.

Join us next Friday and Saturday for a special Spring Break edition of our ongoing clinics for all Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball players (and coaches). It should be dry by then.

Pitchers' Clinics:

Friday nights at Pacific Union School in Arcata

8-10 year olds from 5:00 to 6:00

11-16 year olds from 6:00 to 7:00

No charge, but every pitcher needs to bring a catcher (adult preferred).

Player Clinics:

Saturday mornings at Pacific Union School

7-10 year olds from 9:00 to 10:30

11-16 year olds from 10:30 to 12:00

$5 per player per session helps cover the cost of Kelly's assistant coaches.