CIRCLING THE BASES - Updated: January 24, 2010

LETTER FROM THE DGS PRESIDENT
This update addresses the possibility of DGS restructuring it's current five league set up. For those of you that attended the last two monthly meetings and provided feedback regarding the possible change to "U" age appropriate divisions, the DGS Board of Directors would like to thank you. Your feedback was a crucial piece to aid us in making a decision.

After two months of due diligence & deliberation, we have reached a decision. We broke this down in many different ways with a cutoff of Jan 1 as well as August to look at the numbers based on last years registrations. We also carefully looked at all the negative and positive points in making a change from a coaching, playing and social aspect to make sure we made the right decision.

In the end, the board unanimously voted not to make a league change. We felt the negative impact out weighed the positive. We will remain five leagues as we have been over the past four years. We will dive deeper into the rules and logistics of each of these leagues over the next couple months and look to make improvements where necessary.

I hope you all understand how much time went into this decision and how much we appreciate your input. We strive to provide a great league for the girls in town that you can all be proud of.

The next Open Meeting is Feb 8th, 6:30pm at Onion Town. Hope to see you all there.

DGS Player Registration
The 2010 season player fee is $85 for the upper four leagues and $50 for TBall. To register your daughter, please print the Registration Form from the website in the "forms tab". Make a check payable to DGS and send to DGS, PO Box 435 Danvers MA 01923 attention Libby Kellard

There is a $10 discount per child if you register and pay by February 5th.
There is also a family max of $170. If you have three daughters playing (even if one is in TBall) you would pay $170 (unless you pay by Feb 5th, it would be $150)

We do not honor requests to play on specific teams or specific coaches.

Below is the league set-up and cut-off dates to play:

2010 DGS Time Line
Please click here to see the current 2010 season time line of key events as of December 21st, 2009.

DGS RECRUITING HEAD COACHES STARTING DECEMBER 1, 2009
Head coaching positions are one year terms. If you are interested in head coaching a team in one our 5 leagues, please click here and express interest. Please list past experience, courses taken and qualifications. Please list the league in which you are interested in. There is no need to apply for Assistant Coaching positions, as these are picked by Head Coaches and approved or denied by the DGS Board of Directors. We are looking for anyone that is interested in coaching. You can be a coach from last year, years past or someone looking for the first time. We will collect all applicants and assign teams in the February timeframe. Please make your request now! We are looking to expand the "pool" of coaches for the 2010 season.

There is a coaching clinic being sponsored by Danvers Girls Softball on January 17th at the Danvers high school. It is being conducted by the famous Al & Al. Attendance to this clinic will provide you an advantage to being selected as a coach to the 2010 season. There will be DGS representation there taking attendance. Please click here to see times for your age group.

Letter from the President:

For those unable to attend the Dec 14th DGS Open Meeting, please note the following important info:

- Next meeting is Jan 11th 6:30 at Onion Town. As I mentioned in previous emails, we are currently conducting due diligence looking at possibly changing our league to age specific divisions. We are exploring moving from the current 5 league set up to U6, U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 & U18. This would include an entire LEAGUE REDRAFT. I will continue to communicate this as we are giving you every opportunity to help us make this decision. We will meet for three straight months prior to making a decision. Your input and participation is needed. Now is the time for you to communicate, not after a decision is made. Please make every effort to join the Jan 11th meeting.

The 2010 Board of Directors elections were held November 9th, and while fourteen positions are filled, there is one position available. If you are interested in applying for the position, please click here and let us know.

Specific Position Open: Fundraiser Coordinator
This individual will be responsible to visit and secure DGS discount card offers from various in town companies. This individual will also be responsible to solicit "team sponsors" for all teams prior to the beginning of the season. Any additional ideas to raise money would be presented to the Board and voted on.

Below are some general requirements of a Board member as well as specific outline of the position:

General Requirements:
- Attend the monthly Board Meetings, one Sunday per month. These meetings are from Nov through July, off Aug & Sep and final meeting in October.
- Attend the monthly Open Meetings, one Monday per month. These meetings are from Nov through July, off Aug & Sep and final meeting in October.
- Communicate and endorse all DGS rules and expectations
- Get around to various games to spot check overall effectiveness and communicate deficiency back to the Board for review
- Place DGS rules and philosophy over personal gain for yourself and or your player/daughter
- Remain positive at all times and be ready to help define the 2010 season

DGS Meeting Dates
OPEN MEETING February 8th. at 6:30pm at the OnionTown Grille.
BOARD MEETING January 17th 6:00pm