NOLL/SOLL Community –
We will hold our annual general membership meeting on Wednesday, October 5th, 2016 at the community room at Sports Basement (2727 Milvia Street, Berkeley). At this meeting we will hold a general membership vote to confirm our League Constitution and approve the proposed slate of board members for the upcoming season. The board will meet immediately following the general membership meeting.
Please review the League Constitution here.
Email info@nollsoll.com if you have any questions. We would love to have you join us!
The NOLL/SOLL Board has received a proposal to realign the player divisions for the upcoming Spring 2017 season and will be voting on it at the November Board Meeting. The proposal comprises a significant change, and the Board is asking our community to review the draft proposal and provide feedback as we fine tune and eventually vote on the proposal. Please review the proposal and respond to this survey. If you feel strongly in either direction about the proposal, we are holding a public meeting on Wednesday, September 28th 7pm at Sports Basement community room to allow community input and answer questions in person.
For details: Division Realignment Proposal Link (with graph)
INTRODUCTION
The NOLL/SOLL mission is to provide a positive experience for local kids through the sport of baseball. The current division alignment allows for kids to play five years on the same size diamond (46/60) with the same ruleset and age boundaries which limited, for example, the majority 12s to the Majors division. At lower divisions, advanced players naturally play up through our draft process but at Majors games can be dominated by a small number of overpowering 12yo pitchers which devalues defense and other baseball fundamentals on the smaller diamond. In 2013, Little League introduced the Intermediate division for 11-13s which plays at a distance of 50/70 and introduces the full baseball ruleset (leads/steals/pickoffs/balks). Initially, NOLL/SOLL limited Intermediates to 13s, then in 2016 allowed 11-12s to request to be considered in the Intermediate draft.
PROPOSAL
Allow every age group to be drafted into multiple divisions (e.g. 10s can be drafted into Majors, AAA or AA) based on skill and experience to provide a better experience for all players. Moving kids along a gradual increase in both size of diamond and ruleset should be beneficial to their development as baseball players the experience they have with NOLL/SOLL. Specifically the proposal is that NOLL/SOLL immediately:
– Adopt a 42/60 sized diamond for AA
– Remove the upper bound on 10s, 12s and 13s. Specifically, 10s can be drafted into Majors, 12s into Intermediates, and 13s into Juniors without a player request to play up
ANTICIPATED EFFECTS
If these changes are adopted, it is expected that approximately 30% of 10s would be drafted into Majors, 10% of 11s and 60% of 12s into Intermediates and 50% of 13s into Juniors. Pushing advanced players up should allow for a more balanced and competitive regular season at both the Majors and Intermediate divisions. Starting with a smaller diamond at AA and then gradually increasing both field size and ruleset from AA through Juniors should give more kids a better regular season baseball experience while at the same time challenging advanced players earlier.
These changes would affect postseason play. NOLL/SOLL would not field a 12yo All Star team as the advanced 12s would be in Intermediate and ineligible for the Majors tournament. 12s in Intermediate would be eligible for Intermediate All Stars and NOLL/SOLL will provide an opportunity for a team of 12s to play in a local tournament. NOLL/SOLL would continue to participate in TOC at all divisions, but our level of play will be affected as our teams will likely be younger relative to other local leagues.
We are getting ready for Fall Ball! Fall is the first program of the year, meaning kids are now considered their 2017 age. Fall Ball is for kids rising to AA, AAA or Majors (age 8-12 for the 2017 season). We do not offer a Fall program for T-Ball or coach pitch divisions. Due to a limited number of teams Fall Ball registration fills quickly and there will be a wait list available after we have reached the maximum number of registrations.
Fall Ball registration will open on Friday August 5th and can be accessed at the following link – Fall Ball registration
Fall Ball games will begin on September 10 and end on November 13. Teams will have one weekday afternoon practice and one weekend game each week.
Due to coverage limitations of our insurance policy, only players who participated in NOLL/SOLL during the 2016 regular season are eligible for Fall Ball.
Cost for Fall Ball is $100; players will receive a T-shirt jersey and a hat. Teams will be formed during the first week of September. Anyone interested in being a head or assistant coach should indicate that when registering their player. Teams will have larger roster sizes so kids with a primary commitment to another fall sport like soccer (or coaches) can miss a game here or there.
For the second year in a row the NOLL/SOLL Seniors have brought home a Section 1 Championship. On Friday they will begin play again in the Northern California Division 2 championship round (in San Jose).
Congratulations to the NOLL Majors Red Sox who beat Antioch 10-7 to win the District 4 TOC Championship! Our NOLL AA Red Wings and the NOLL/SOLL Juniors also made it to the Championship finals for TOC – congratulations on great runs.
