The annual General Meeting of the Elk Grove Girls Softball Association is open to all families of registered players and will be held Wednesday, June 18, at Markofer Elementary from 7-9pm. We are expecting several vacant board positions and welcome new faces and ideas to keep the league going strong. The General Meeting is also a forum for learning about the state of the league and providing feedback to the board about rule changes, field improvements, etc.

If you have ideas, energy and want to make a positive contribution to the community please attend the General Meeting. Per league bylaws the following board positions will be open for election during the even years: Vice President, Treasurer, T-Ball Player Agent, 8U Player Agent, Web Master, Umpire-in-Chief, Uniform Manager, Event Coordinator (II), and Equipment Manger.

Elk Grove Thunder 10U is holding a golf tournament on Saturday, May 24th at the Forest Lake Golf Club in Acampo. If you know anyone that is interested in playing, sponsoring a hole, or just enjoying dinner in the company of friends, please fill-out and send the registration form to the address listed on the bottom of the form. The last day to register is May 16, 2008.

To download the registration form or get more information please visit the Downloads section of the website: 

http://eteamz.active.com/ElkGroveSoftball/handouts/ 

The Elk Grove Thunder 10U Travel team is looking for a catcher, pitcher, and 2 utility players. Although our team is very young (average age 9.1 years), we are currently ranked 5th in the 10U division by USSSA Northern California Power ranking. We will be playing in the 10U division next year, so candidates must have 1998-1999 birthdate.

If you have the desire, dedication, and determination to get to the next level in competitive fast-pitch, the Thunder coaching staff will make sure you get there. We practice on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and we compete in 2-3 weekend tournaments per month (every tournament is an all-star tournament). If interested in walking-on for the remainder of this Spring season, or if interested in playing competitive Summer/Fall ball, contact Edwin @ 916-416-6454 or efines1@surewest.net

Picture Day for T-Ball - Thursday evening, March 27 between Blue and Yellow diamonds

Picture Day for 8U/10U/12U/Majors - Saturday morning, March 29

Opening Day Parade and Festivities - Saturday afternoon, March 29 

Player Clinics - the league is working on dates for the player clinics and once confirmed will inform coaches and post dates on the website 

The volunteer schedule for opening day, picture schedules and opening day flyer handouts are now available in the Downloads section:

Teams for the 2008 spring season are almost full, and some waiting lists are forming.  Late registrations will be accepted until teams are full, then Player Agents will begin forming the waiting list for their respective divisions.  If you are interested in registering, or in getting on a waiting list, please contact the respective Player Agent as soon as possible.

Currently we need the following number of players to fill teams:

  T-Ball - full, to be placed on the wait list contact player agent Tony Pires at tony.pires@elkgrovesoftball.com
  8-Under - 4 players - for more info contact player agent Eric Abeyta at eric.abeyta@elkgrovesoftball.com
  10-Under - 3 players - for more info contact player agent Steve Casey at steve.casey@elkgrovesoftball.com
  12-Under - full, to be placed on the wait list contact player agent Kevin Miller at kevin.miller@elkgrovesoftball.com
  Majors - full, to be placed on the wait list contact player agent Garry Dituri at garry.dituri@elkgrovesoftball.com 

Registration Reminders:

• Online registration and mail-in registrations are still being accepted, but the $20 late fee will apply (T-Ball = $120, all other divisions = $155).
• Click the link at the top of this page for On-line registration, using a credit card.
• or Click the "downloads" tab on the left to print a registration form and then mail it in to the P.O. Box with a check (payable to "EGGSL") for the proper payment.

The 2008 Women’s Olympic Team will travel to Beijing in August to defend their three Olympic gold-medals. In the coming months they will make 42 stops across the country competing in over 60 games. The Greater Sacramento Softball Association (GSSA) will host one of the tour stops on Monday May 19^th, 2008 at the Sacramento Softball Complex. The event will begin at 6:30pm and gates will open at 6pm. 

The league has reserved 200 tickets and they are $20 each if ordered through the league (save $5).  Tickets are going fast and only 140 are left. All checks should be made out to EGGSL and parents can contact your coach.  For more information please contact Rich Lozano (see Board Members link for contact info).

Coaches - we need payment by this Sunday, March 9th.

For additional info about the event see the GSSA website: 

http://www.sacramentoasa.org/olympic.htm 

On Sunday Feb 17 all registered players were placed on teams. Your coach will be contacting you soon.

Because of insurance all team practices will start on or after March 1. See the League Calendar for important dates.

As many of you may already know, 2008 is the last year softball will be an Olympic sport.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be meeting in 2009 to decide what sports will be a part of the 2016 & 2020 games.  There is a world-wide push to return the sport to the Olympic games.

In this year's Elk Grove Unified School District Oral Language Fair, one of our former League players created a speech directed at this issue.  10 year old Hannah Berg, a 5-year Rec player and former All-Star, put forth a plea to return the sport to the Olympics.  This speech has been published by the International Softball Federation (the primary backer of returning the sport), and was highlighted in the USA Today.  What great recognition for one of our EGGSL softball family members.

If you would like to read more on the campaign to return softball to the Olympics, the visit the ISF web site at www.backsoftball.com.  Here is a copy of Hannah's speech:

BRING SOFTBALL BACK TO THE OLYMPICS

BY:  HANNAH BERG  

Hi my name is Hannah Berg and I want to help bring softball back to the Olympics in 2016.  When I was just 4 years old, I picked up my first softball and since that day, I have been in love with the game.  As I grew with the game, I learned to be a pitcher and someday I have hopes to follow in the footsteps of my idol, Jennie Finch, and represent the USA in the Olympic Games. 

After being an Olympic sport for the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic games, softball was recently dropped from the 2012 London Olympics by a tied vote of 52-52 with one member abstaining. Only a simple majority of 53 votes were needed to keep softball in the Olympics, and softball supporters, including myself,  are trying to get the vote reconsidered.

This has been devastating for my sport, but unfortunately, the Olympic committee doesn’t seem very interested in recasting this important ballot. Although the softball federation will certainly have something to say about this, the situation doesn’t look hopeful for girls, like me, fostering an Olympic fast pitch softball dream.

In 1996, women’s fast pitch softball made its first appearance at the Atlanta Olympic Games. The United States team took the first gold medal in the sport, beating China in the gold medal game 3-1. An orthopedic surgeon from Florida, Dot Richardson, hit the first Olympic softball home run ever to win the game for the United States, an achievement she calls her most memorable.  I want the chance to make that memory myself.   

Softball is a wonderful sport.  Many girls love softball and their numbers are growing.  Did you know that according to the American Softball Association,  active, athletic girls have been found to have higher self-esteem, more confidence, higher achievement test scores, less depression, improved mental health, more academic success and greater lifetime earning potential?  Girls who play sports are also more likely to turn away from risky behavior including experimenting with drugs and alcohol.  Do you know participating in softball can help young girls?

Perhaps confusion on the part of the Olympic committee caused them to drop women’s fast-pitch softball from the London games. There has been speculation that the committee members thought that women’s softball was just a female version of baseball, and not popular enough to matter.

Whatever their motivations, we hope that the committee will reconsider and reinstate women’s fast pitch softball.

With your help, we can continue to grow girls softball and fight for a return to Olympic play.  Help support this movement and “Buy a Girl a Ball, Not a Doll!”  

(Hannah took 2nd place overall at the District Finals!!  Way to go Hannah)

**League Note: Don't forget that Team USA is coming to town on Monday, May 19.  Tickets are only $20 for League players and families.  Contact you team coach or division Player Agent for more information on purchasing tickets. 

As the days grow shorter and get colder, everyone starts looking for those quick and easy meals that really fill you up.  The Elk Grove Thunder 16U traveling team is now taking orders for tamales to fill that need.

Take your pick from Chicken, Beef, Pork or Jalapeno Cheese.  The cost is only $20 per dozen, and proceeds will go to help off set the cost of tournament fees and travel expenses.

These are authentic, hand-made tamales from a local bakery/deli, and come indivually wrapped for immediate serving, or freezing.  Tamales are available in whole dozens only, no mixing and matching within the dozen.

We will be taking orders through the end of September, and the tamales will be delivered the week of October 8.  Payment is due when ordered (for those of you out of the area, I will work something out), and checks can be made payable to "EGGSL" (which is a non-profit organization). Please email Phil Venturelli at phil.venturelli@elkgrovesoftball.com

Over 30 members were in attendance for the annual general meeting. The president opened the meeting with a year in review. The treasurer reviewed the budget. Members approved a proposal to split the current Bylaws into separate "Bylaws" and "Softball Rules and Regulations" documents, this change will allow the board to quickly enact rule changes in response to Norcal rule changes and coaches feedback. A Bylaws and Rules Committee was started and 4 non-board members volunteered to participate. The floor opened to questions and feedback, the board would like to thank everyone that provided feedback on improving the league and a special thanks to the committee volunteers.

The meeting concluded with board elections and each position serves for two years. Election results below: