General Information:

The Recreational Season

Competitive Opportunities

Game & Practice Locations

Age Divisions & Descriptions

Playing Up/Down

Buddy Policy

Equipment Needs

Parent Participation

Mountain View-Los Altos Girls Softball (MVLAGS) is a 100% volunteer-driven, non-profit organization promoting athletics, education and community-building through softball for girls ages 5-16 by January 1, 2010. We offer ASA-sanctioned recreational and competitive girls fast pitch softball. In 2009, we had over 480 girls on 43 teams, in five age divisions

The Recreational Season

The MVLAGS recreational softball season runs

 from the beginning of March through late May.

Competitive Opportunities

There are also opportunities through our sister organization, MVLA Nova, for players in 8U and above looking to play at a more competitive level.  Nova plays primarily at the ASA B/C level, which requires participation in MVLAGS to be eligible for Nova. Interested players and parents should inquire in early April about the opportunity to play on a Nova team; note that tryouts are required for Nova play.

Age division is determined based on the Player's year of birth.  

6U Division

For Girls born in 2003-2004. The 6U division is primarily focused on fun fun fun! for the youngest members of our league. Basic concepts are taught, but the idea here is every girl plays and has fun. Non-scoring games, continuous batting and every girl bats every inning. Coach pitch or players hit from a batting tee with no strike-outs. Teams are school-based.

8U Division

For Girls born in 2001-2002.  The 8U division introduces pitching and specific skills and strategies. Games are scored with a limit on runs in the first 3 innings. Continuous batting and Player/Coach pitch. Player pitching is limited to keep up the pace of play. Teams are school-based.

10U Division

For Girls born in 1999-2000.  The 10U division introduces additional strategies and skills specific to hitting, base running and defense. Mostly Player pitch with some exceptions.  Regular scoring with a "mercy" rule after 4 innings. Win/loss records are recorded and there is a season-ending playoff tournament.  Teams are formed to balance skills across teams and are not school-based. 

12U Division

For Girls born in 1997-1998. The 12U division emphasizes age-appropriate advanced strategies and skills. Regular scoring with a "mercy" rule after 4 innings. Player pitch only with each pitcher allowed a maximum of 6 innings per week. A few games are played against teams from other leagues in the Interleague.  Win/loss records are recorded and there is a season-ending playoff tournament.  Teams are formed to balance skills across teams and are not school-based. 

14U/16U Divisions*

For Girls born in 1993-1996.  The 14U /16U divisions emphasize the age-appropriate advanced strategies and skills similar to high school level play. Regular scoring with a "mercy" rule after 4 innings. Player pitch only with each pitcher allowed a maximum of 7 innings per week.

Almost all games are played against teams from other leagues in the Interleague.  Win/loss records are kept,  but there is no placement within the league based on these standings.  Teams are formed to balance skills across teams and are not school-based.

* If there are not enough players for separate 14U and 16U divisions, players will be combined to form one 14U/16U age division.

Game and Practice Locations

The chart gives specifics about the time commitment and scheduling for each division:

WEEKLY PRACTICE AND GAME GUIDELINES:

*8U adds a second weekly game midway through the season

Midweek games generally start at 5:30 p.m.  Saturday games tend to be earlier in the day for younger divisions and later in the day for older divisions.  

Practices for 6U & 8U generally take place where it is convenient for the most players as determined by the parents and staff of each team on Team Meeting Night. The 6-and-under ("6U") and 8-and-under ("8U") divisions usually practice on their own school grounds or at a nearby park.  

The older girls (10U and up) generally practice at Stevenson Park in Mountain View and should count on having either a practice or a game on each of the days listed in the table above (Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturday for 10U, Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturday for 12U and two weekdays plus Saturdays for 14U/16U.  Team staff will inform you if other arrangements are made.  

Most games are played at Stevenson Park in Mountain View, however some teams may play at other school sites and fields in Mountain View. The 12U and above divisions also play games against teams in our Interleague throughout the local area. Check the individual Division Schedules and Field Locations for more information.  

Playing Up or Down a Division

For the 2010 Season, PLAYERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY UP IN A DIVISION FOR GIRLS OLDER THAN THEIR BIRTH YEAR WARRANTS, except for in two special situations which both require MVLAGS Executive Board Approval:

1)    - A player will not be made to play in a lower division in 2010 than they played during the 2009 recreation season.  For example, if a player is still 10U eligible for the 2010 spring season, but played 12U during the 2009 spring MVLAGS season, then they will not be required to drop down to 10U for 2010. 

2)    -  In the event that during team formation, a player or two are needed to create a viable number of teams for a particular division, the strongest players from the next highest division (based on the evaluation data from pre-season tryouts and the 2009 end of season player evaluations) will be offered the opportunity by the League to play up a division.  The parents of players chosen for this opportunity will be contacted and offered the opportunity for their daughter to play up, but players have the option to accept or decline and won’t be forced to play up.  If the top player declines, then the opportunity will be offered to the next strongest player until the division is filled.

      Players are only allowed to play down a division in the event that it would be potentially dangerous for that player to play in their age-appropriate division.  Such situations are very rare and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the MVLAGS Executive Board approval.

Team Formation

As the focus of MVLAGS is purely recreational and skill development, everyone plays and there are no tryouts. Teams are formed in late February, just prior to the start of the season after registration has closed.   There are, however, player evaluations for divisions 10U and up to determine skills and aid in the formation of balanced teams.

MVLAGS Player Agents make the final determination of placement for any individual player - coaches and managers are not able to make any changes.  Your coach will receive their roster at a meeting of the Coaches and Managers February and players will be informed on Team Meeting night (where practice schedules are also determined).   Team Meeting Night is typically in late February.  Check the Events page for details.

In the 6U and 8U divisions, teams are “school based”, i.e. to the extent possible, teams are formed with girls from the same school and usually practice on their own school grounds or at a nearby park. Nearby schools may be combined if individual schools don’t have enough players or coaches to form a complete team. Some players prefer to play on a team at another school which we try to accommodate. Sisters in the same age division will be put on the same team unless the parent requests otherwise during registration.

In 10U and above, teams are determined by a system that is primarily focused on equalizing the skill levels of each team by evaluating such factors as: skill sets (e.g. pitchers, catchers, travel players); skill level; and age. We try to accommodate placement with at least one friend via the Buddy Request which allows players to choose a friend they would like on their team, subject to the buddy selection policy.

Buddy Policy

For all age divisions, players may fill out a Buddy Form to request that one friend OR one sibling be placed on the same team with them, provided they are in the same age division.  The ability to make such Buddy Requests is intended to help with carpooling issues, to inspire players to invite more friends to play softball and/or to help newer players feel comfortable on their team. 

Although properly-made Buddy Requests will be accommodated if possible, parents and players must please realize THEY ARE NOT GUARANTEED since creating balanced (10U and above) or school-based (6U and 8U) teams still takes priority. 

For 6U & 8U (players born in 2001 – 2004), priority is given to forming school-based teams where possible.  For these two divisions, every effort will be made to accommodate Buddy Pairs from the same school wanting to play together.   Players from different schools may also request each other as a Buddy and will be placed together IF POSSIBLE. 

For 10U and up (players born in 2000 and before), teams are not school-based, but rather distributed by skill and experience.   In order to ensure balanced teams and coaching staffs during the team formation process, THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF BUDDY REQUESTS ARE UNFORTUNATELY UNABLE TO BE CONSIDERED:

·          Two pitchers

·          Two catchers

·          Two Nova or other Travel Team players

HOW TO REQUEST A BUDDY: To be considered during the team formation process, Buddy Requests must be made on the official Buddy Form which can be downloaded here.  The form needs to be filled out and signed by a parent or guardian of each Buddy, then returned in hard copy with a postmark no later than December 18th, 2009 to:

Mountain View-Los Altos Girls Softball League 

Attn: Registrar
P.O. Box 4264
Mountain View, CA 94040

Equipment Needs

MVLA provides the uniforms (including visors), fields, bases, batting helmets, bats, balls and catcher's gear.

Players must provide a softball glove (please put her name on it!). Softball or soccer cleats (plastic bottomed) are recommended in the 6U/8U divisions and required at 10U and above.

If you choose to purchase additional softball equipment:

• Helmets must have a face mask, be NOCSAE-approved and we suggest an adjustable rather than “one size fits all” model.

• Bats must be marked "ASA Softball approved" with a 2004 date or newer.  Check with a coach first if you are uncomfortable making a selection (correct bat size is critical).  Note that high-performance bats (i.e. composite, titanium, or multi-walled) are NOT ALLOWED in MVLAGS play, though they may be allowed when playing teams from other leagues (12U and up).

See the Resources page for suggestions on where you can purchase equipment.

Parent Participation

MVLAGS is a 100% volunteer run-organization and all parents are required to volunteer their time in some capacity. For a description of the various team and league volunteer positions, please click here. Your daughter will appreciate and benefit enormously from your participation and we highly encourage you to attend your daughter’s games.  In addition, most Coaches and Managers appreciate any extra help they can get so please volunteer to help at practices, games or in team support positions. Don’t worry that you “know nothing about softball”- every parent has something to offer.  Please note, for safety reasons you MAY NOT DROP YOUR PLAYER OFF FOR A PRACTICE OR GAME unless you explicitly work this out with the Chaperone or Manager, and, YOUR PLAYER MUST BE PICKED UP AFTER PRACTICES/GAMES.