FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. What are the ages for South Cherokee Softball? A. The ages for South Cherokee Softball are 2 through 13. For 4-13 year olds, the playing age for Spring season softball is based on your child’s age on January 1, 2024, not their age today. Our registration system will automatically place your child in the correct age group.
Q. What do my registration fees cover? A. Registration fees cover expenses such as lights, water, field maintenance, uniforms, umpires, insurance, and general park repair.
Q. Do I have to pay registration fees all at one time?A. If you register early, you can use our payment plan option. The earlier you register; the more time you will have to pay your fees. If you wait and register two days before deadline, you will still have to have the full balance paid by deadline. All accounts MUST be paid in full before a player can attend evaluations or have a uniform ordered. Sorry, we are unable to make any exceptions to this policy.
Q. I already registered but have decided my child is not going to play this season, can I get a refund?A. No refunds will be given unless in the even of an injury or emergency situation at the Commissioners discretion.
Q. When does the Fall Season start and end? How many games are played? A. Spring Softball starts in the middle of August, and is completed by the middle of November. Number of games played will vary depending on the total teams in each age group, but expect at least 8-10 games minimum.
Q. How much time should I expect to be committing to Fall Softball? A. During the season, you should expect 1-2 practices per week and 1 games per week. Game days are typically Saturdays. Weeknight activities do not start before 6:00pm. Saturday games are typically scheduled anywhere from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
Q. Where will we practice and play? A. All practices and T-Ball games will be held at South Cherokee Park. During some seasons, we “interleague “with another park. 6U may have one game at another location, but the majority of their season will be played at SC. 8U and up may play an interleague season, having 1-3 games at another local park. This is based on the number of teams in these leagues.
Q. Why can't I know my practice schedule before I sign up? A. We do not determine practice schedules until after registration is complete, as practice and game scheduling depends on the number of teams in each league. The Head coaches work together to choose practice slots prior to the player drafts.
Q. What does the League provide and what does the parent provide? A. The league provides uniform jerseys.The player will have to provide softball glove, shoes, etc. Detailed equipment list can be found on the SC Website.
Q. How are teams formed? A. Players are put into a pool and selected by the head coaches, using a draft procedure. All players are selected from the draft pool until there are no more remaining.
Q. Can I request a certain coach or to play on a team with a friend? Can I choose my practice nights?A. When completing registration, there is a space for special requests. If you want to be with a specific coach or a friend, or have a conflict on a certain night, enter the information there. This is the only place where requests will be seen and noted. We do try to honor requests as we can, but with over 100 players, we are unable to guarantee anything. The best way to guarantee choice practice nights, and a friend on your team is to volunteer to coach a team!
Q. Who maintains the baseball facilities and fields at South Cherokee? A. SC Softball maintains the park and its facilities privately-we receive no support or funding from the county. All park improvements and general maintenance are provided by our outstanding Volunteers and Board of Directors.
Q. Why do teams at South Cherokee need sponsors? A. We are completely self-funded, so everything from the power bill to the grass cutting is paid for by our program. We strive to keep our program affordable so that no family has to miss out on playing softball due to rising costs. We instead count on community sponsors to help support our program. We require each team work together to secure sponsorships. This is intended to be a joint effort between the coach and the families of the players on the team. We are a non-profit, so sponsorships are tax deductible. We also have a large audience in the surrounding communities, so any business will benefit from sponsorship visibility. The Sponsorship form detailing sponsor levels is located on the SC Website.
Q. How are coaches selected? A. Our Board of Directors selects head coaches from the pool of volunteers wanting to coach. They use several factors including: coaching experience, number of years coaching at South Cherokee and prior experience in the league, etc. They must complete and application and a background check and be in Good Standing with the park. Assistant coaches are chosen by head coaches of each team.
Q. How can we sign up to volunteer and help the park? A. South Cherokee is a volunteer non-profit organization whose purpose is to teach our youth the game of softball while also teaching them life lessons, sportsmanship, and how to be a good citizen. We are completely a volunteer run organization. We pride ourselves on being a Softball family, plan to get involved. We need Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Team Moms, General Volunteers, and much more. If you are interested in being a Head Coach, please contact our President-Chris Sligh. If you would like to help out in other areas, we send out an email with all the volunteer opportunities, or you can select an area you would like to help with when registering. Let your coach know you are willing to help or contact any board member- we need you!! We do ask that all of our families’ volunteer in at least one capacity during the season. There are both season long opportunities, as well as shorter single day volunteer spots.
Many Youth programs ask for a volunteer fee if your family is not willing to volunteer at least once during the season, we simply ask that you be a part of our program and volunteer!
Q. What can I do as a parent to support my child?
A. Parent support during both games and practices is critically important to the success of the League. Be supportive of the team by ensuring your child attends each practice on-time. Be a positive role model during games, whether you are a Coach, Assistant coach, or simply a spectator. Finally, please keep the following in mind:
• Always be positive and enthusiastic.
• Show your child positive reinforcement.
• Observe practices and games to learn proper techniques to practice with your child.
• Encourage your child toward skill improvement and good sportsmanship in every game.
• Teach your child to always play by the rules.
• Teach your child that hard work and an honest effort are often more important than a victory.
• Applaud good plays by your team and by members of the opposing team.
• Let the Coaches do the coaching.
• Let an umpire be the umpire. Recognize that the umpire is the closest to the play and that each umpire will "call them as they see them"
Q. How do I stay up to date on important ALL information?
A. Visit our website at www.southcherokeesoftball.com for the most up to date information. You can also follow us on our Facebook page, southcherokeesoftball for updates.
Q. What if I have a question that isn’t covered here? A. You may contact us at
[email protected] with any questions you may have. You can also send general questions to our park Facebook page.