*** REGISTRATION FOR THE 2020 SPRING / SUMMER SEASON NOW OPEN ***

Registration will close in April or when division is filled whichever occurs first

SCROLL DOWN TO BEGIN ON-LINE REGISTRATION

Woodstock Girls Softball League is a fast-pitch, recreational, no cut softball league for girls between the ages of 4–19 and divided into seven divisions: 6U, 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, and 20U. Players are typically residents of the City of Woodstock, Illinois and the surrounding Community Unit School District 200 area. Practices and games in Woodstock are held on fields owned and maintained by the City of Woodstock. 

6U DIVISION:  The 6U division continues to remain strictly instructional with practices and scrimmage games being played with other area 6U league teams April - June.

8U-14U* DIVISIONS:  Practices begin in April and play a minimum twelve game schedule May through June and All-star tournament play commencing in July. WGSL schedules games with the Northern Illinois Softball Association for all divisions. Games may be scheduled any day during the week and on weekends. 

* Division Note: The 14U Division is for players 13-14 years of age AND currently in 8th grade and below.

HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION:  Players on high school teams must comply with IHSA rules; thus, they cannot play or practice with WGSL during the IHSA season. Practices will start following the completion of the IHSA regular and post-season schedules. A twelve game schedule will be played in the month of June and All-star tournament play commencing in July.

* Division Note: The High School Division is for players currently enrolled in high school.  If your player is eligible to play 14U based on her age; but is currently in high school please register for the High School Division.

Registration Fees:
Registration fees include team jersey and socks. Each player is required to participate in the league fundraiser (purchase of $50 worth of discount cards). There is an additional fee for players not residing in the Woodstock city limits. Registration can be completed online with a credit card. If you would like to pay by check please print out and complete the registration form and mail it to:

Woodstock Girls Softball
PO Box 454
Woodstock, IL 60097

NEW Player Registration Form         RETURNING Player Registration Form

The league provides bats, batting helmets, balls and catchers equipment. Players need to purchase their own gloves, black softball pants, rubber cleats and sliding shorts(optional). We encourage families to donate outgrown equipment to the league so it can be distributed to players who may be in need of equipment.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: For those in need of financial assistance: there are scholarship opportunities available from WGSL players. To be considered for a WGSL scholarship, please fill out the request form. A member of the WGSL Board will contact you regarding your request. Click:  SCHOLARSHIP REQUEST FORM

PLAYER MOVE-UP REQUEST:

During this time of year and advancing to the beginning of practices, we start receiving numerous requests for girls to move up to the next age bracket for the upcoming season. As Board members, we take each of these requests seriously and for a number of good reasons. We’d like to take a moment to further explain our stance regarding these requests. First, the league is organized by specific age brackets in order to promote safe and fair play. Although we realize that chronological age may not always be a good guide to an athletes’ physical, intellectual, emotional or social maturity, it does allow us to group the girls as fairly as possible. Secondly, Woodstock Girls Softball was founded as a recreational league. It’s main premise is to offer the opportunity for girls to have fun while learning the game of softball. Along with instruction on the skills of the game the girls also learn certain life skills such as responsibility, sportsmanship, cooperation, fairness and trustworthiness.
 

For the most part this system seems to work. On rare occasions, however, we may run across a girl who’s physical maturity and/or skill set may have out paced the majority of her peers. In these instances we, as a Board, have to look at a number of issues; Namely, does this situation causes an unsafe environment for the rest of her team as well as for the competition? Whether or not her advantages may cause her to lose interest in the sport if she is clearly head and shoulders above her team and the competition in the league. Does moving her up put her in a situation in which her skill set is in line with or below the skills required and consequentially she may not get the same amount of playing time? We also need to take into consideration her emotional maturity and whether she can fit in socially with the girls in the next age level.

All these issues need to be taken into consideration in determining what we feel is best for the player and in keeping with our league’s values. For all these reasons we strongly encourage girls to play within their respective age groups. For those girls who might be more advanced in their skill set for their age we have recently started a new program with the onset of our Storm teams. These teams offer the opportunity for the more advanced girls to play together in a more competitive environment but still within the confines of their appropriate age bracket. The new NISA league also offers the girls the opportunity to be able to “play up” in the next age bracket as a substitute when needed. This is another avenue afforded those more advanced players.
 

With all that being said, the Board has established a minimum set of criteria that must be met before it will even consider the prospect of a move up request:

1. The player must have played at least one year in her appropriate age bracket.
2. The player must have been an All Star selection the previous year.(Exceptions to this will be considered if the player has an older sibling playing in the next division up but requirement #1 still applies)

If your player meets the above requirements and you still wish to request a move up, please email WGSL at [email protected]. Please include your player’s name, age and reason for request. After your request is submitted, it will be reviewed with the player’s previous coach(es) and the WGSL Board members.

   
E-mail WGSL at [email protected] if you experience any problems or issues while registering.