Frequently Asked Questions/

What to expect when entering the league

I realize that people can come into this league at any division and I tend to get a lot of similar question.  Many people don’t know what to expect when joining PGSL.

Please read the tabs on this web site about player corner, parent corner, and coaches corner.  This will help you with the expectations of each actor.

Here is a brief timeline on what to expect during a typical softball season:

Sign-ups, usually happen from November to April.  There is a financial penalty for those that sign up late, usually end of February.

Mid-March, we have evaluations for girls that are moving up a division or those that are new to the league.  This allows coaches to evaluate the girls and distribute talent evenly across the league to keep all teams competitive.

End-March, we have the girls assigned to teams.  This is done by draft by the coaches.

Early April, we being practice.

Mid April, we begin games.

Mid June, we end playing.

We have Board of Directors meetings once a month from September to June that are open to all.

We also have Tournament Teams called the Boston Bandits.  They play most of their tournaments from end of June to Mid August.  They have try-out in August, the practice from January to March, and pick up again in June and thru the summer.  They usually have teams in the U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18.

Many people ask what division does my daughter play in?  It all depends on the age of your daughter on December 31^st.  Even if she is 9 years old on April 1^st, if she was 8 on December 31^st, she is playing in the U8 division.

My daughter wants to play with her friend for car pool purposes.  At the U8 level, it is not a problem we do our best to accommodate all requests.  At the upper levels, it becomes much harder to accommodate all requests.  We have an obligation to make the teams as balanced as possible and sometimes it is impossible to honor all requests.

Can my daughter play for a different team next year?  Once you are on a team, it is expected that you stay on that team.  We do have rules that you can leave a team, but you can’t request to be on a team, you can enter the draft the next year and end up where they are drafted.

Can my daughter move up/stay down?  We really don’t encourage this, but if you feel strongly about it, you can inform the Board of Directors and it will be evaluated on a case by case basis.  If you want to move up, you must attend the evaluations.

What are the differences in the divisions?

1. U8

   • Coaches Pitch until the last 4 games, girls pitch 2 innings – 35 ft

   • No Stealing

   • Plays mostly on the weekends

   • 100% instructional

2. U10

   • Girls pitch – 35 ft

   • Stealing every base, but home

   • No dropped 3^rd strike

   • Infield Fly Rule is in effect

   • Play any day during the week

   • Plays 1 or 2 games in Dedham

3. U13

   • Girls pitch – 40 ft

   • Stealing every base

   • Dropped 3^rd strike in effect

   • Infield Fly Rule is in effect

   • Most competitive division

   • Play any day during the week

   • Plays 1 or 2 games in Dedham

4. U16+

   • Girls pitch – 43 ft

   • Plays only on the weekends

What times are the games?  All weekday games are at 5:45 pm with occasional 7:45 pm games on Friday nights.  Weekend games start times run from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.  We try our best to schedule all U16+ games on weekends so as not to interfere with school softball seasons, but if games get rained out, scheduling make-ups might necessitate a weekday game or two in that division.   All Dedham games are on weekdays and are at either 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm (Dedham provides the start times based on their field availability).

How many games and practices are there in a week?  All divisions try to play 12 or more games during the year, depending on field availability and weather.  Practices are determined by the coaches schedule.  It is all dependent on field availability, coaches availability, weather, etc.

Please e-mail us, if you have any questions!