Welcome to Mad River Girls Softball!

Thank you parents and players for participating in our 2012 player assessment at Humboldt University last Sunday! We experienced an incredible turn-out and an amazing level of enthusiasm for our rapidly expanding program - Humboldt County's only ASA Softball multi-level, recreational and competitive travel organization! We also thank our many skilled volunteers that ran the varied assessment stations, which included several former college players, current and former High School fastpitch coaches from Arcata, Eureka, and Fortuna, and many other softball-savoy volunteers. It was an excellent day and a great way to kick-start the season for Mad River's newly expanded and "retrofitted" program. Now that we have player numbers defined, stay tuned for upcoming announcements and emails relating to Rec Program team assignments and practice and games schedules.

We are pleased to provide you with a choice when it comes to selecting a girl’s softball organization! Thank you for choosing Mad River, which is unique in many ways! How unique is it? Below are just a few of the reasons why we stand out from other programs:

1. We are the only Amateur Softball Association (ASA) organization in Humboldt County. Why is this important? First, ASA softball is aligned with the college level and style of play. What does this mean? It means that the rules enforced in the NJCAA, NCAA, and NAIA are the same rules that apply to ASA softball, making it a seamless transition for the amateur softball player to further her softball career at the college level of play and beyond. To give you an example, in ASA and in college, both feet must start on the pitching mound prior to the start of a pitch and when delivering the pitch, a pitcher may not step back off the rubber. In other softball organizations, including Little League and High School softball, these moves are legal. In ASA and college, however, these moves are are strictly enforced as illegal. Such differences in regulations make it challenging for a player to transition into college level play as it mandates that the player significantly modify their habituated playing techniques.

2. ASA softball is not bound by territories. Because of this, we are excited to announce that we have players stretching from Willow Creek to Garberville! Over time, our hope is to expand those areas into Crescent City as well as Hoopa!

3. ASA has many levels of play including recreational and more competitive travel programs. These levels include “Gold” for the elite 18u travel softball athlete, “A” for the highly competitive, skilled travel softball player ranging from 8u to 18u, “B” for the recreational athlete who enjoys travel play but at a less competitive level, and “C” the recreational program that challenges the first year player to the most seasoned and experienced.

4. Our organization’s Board of Directors includes three former college players: Kelly Helms, Hall of Fame Humboldt State University pitcher, Sarah Jones, NCAA National Softball Champion from Humboldt State University, and Shanna McCracken, College of the Redwoods utility player.

5. Our first-year travel coaches included former ASA, high school, and college players like Lilo Reith and Heather Goodwin, as well as coaches with recreational and high school level coaching accolades like Lori Reed and Melanie Pizzini. As we move into the second year of our travel program, we are looking to include and incorporate College of the Redwoods players Karlie Harpin and Brittany Gonzalez, as well as Humboldt State University player, Kirsten Nouzovsky into our already strong coaching staff.

6. We care deeply about providing a quality softball experience for you and your softball player. Our purpose is not to tally wins, but to instead support the development of the players, the teams, and the program as a whole. In our organization, it is all about the experience that we provide in hopes of developing strong, confident and empowered young ladies as the foundation for an elite softball organization that can successfully host all the competitive levels that ASA softball has to offer.

Again... Our thanks to the players, parents, and the Association's many volunteers that are the Foundation of our Program.

The Board of Directors, Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball Association
~Kelly Helms, Nicholas Hetrick, Sarah Jones, Shanna McCracken, and Jessica Parker~