The most important change in the 2009 season will be the league start time. In the past we have started league in late May or early June, but this year due to the major field improvements we are going to be starting league play the week of May 10, 2009. This means that registration dealines will be about one month earlier than in years past. Registration deadline will be Friday April 24 for the 2009 season. Please be sure to have your team information and sponsorship arrangements prepared for this earlier start time. You must register your team roster online at www.quickscores.com/albany prior to paying team fees.

 

Another major change to our 2009 season will include post-season play. The softball council and I have put a lot of thought into post-season play and its economic value to our league. Based on team standings within our divisions, our findings showed that our current post-season (playoff) structure only allows about 25% of the teams to participate in post-season play. We also discovered that about 80% of the teams that are eligible for post-season play are the same teams year after year, creating an uphill battle for those teams who cannot compete for a post-season berth. In short, about 85% of our summer softball teams never have an opportunity to play in post-season games.

 

To ensure that the majority of the teams within our league are not paying the price for the teamsthat do make post-season play, a new structure for post-season play has been set up.This post-season modification will more than double the amount of post-season berths.The new structure is beening practiced by various programs and has proven to be successful. Although it is quite different from what we have seen in Albany, the council and I feel it is worth trying in order to do what is best for our league. 

 

In 2009, we will be offering a post-season double elimination tournament, rather than division playoffs. The post-season tournamnents for men's and coed leagues will be held on two different weekends; coed post-season tournament the weekend of July 10-12, and Men's post-season tournamnet July 17-19. Women's league will continue to run league playoffs as in the past due to the small size of thier league.  

  

Both tournaments will be open to the first 36 teams entered. We will be creating an upper and lower league bracket for both tournaments. Instead of all the teams paying for a few teams to play in the post-season,teams interested in post season play will pay $40 per team (approximatley $2 per person). League champions will receive a free berth into the tournament. Tournament registration deadline will be Friday June 26. Teams who win their division will be refunded their entry fee. 

 

I am sure you are asking yourself how does this help our league? I will try to explain it the best I can. Given the challenging economic times we are all experiencing, this structure will allow us to keep team fees down. With this structure only the teams that are interested in post-season play will pay the cost, instead of all the teams paying for a few teams to play in the post-season. This structure also allows us to start and play fall softball in a prime part of late summer and early fall. We are hoping that with better weather for fall softball we will see a significant increase in teams resulting in a more economically sound program overall. It is imperative that our softball program does everything possible to ensure itself as a self sustaining program in these challenging economic times.

 

Some of you may not agree with these changes, but I ask that you be willing to give it a chance this year.  If it doesn't  work as planned we will go back to the drawing board and try something new. The softball council and I are open to any ideas or suggestions you have regarding these issues. Please feel free to e-mail me at bruce.edwards@cityofalbany.net or call 541-917-7773 with questions, ideas, or concerns.