Springdale Chicks
Prospective Player Letter
Thanks for your interest
in the Chicks. Below is the usual information that is sent out to
those that inquire about playing for us:
The Chicks started as a
single 10U team many years ago. Those girls continued on with us as
they also played two years of 12U ball, then 14U, 16U and 18U in
2011. Some of these original girls will be on their way to
colleges in August 2011!
In Fall 2007,
we expanded into the Chicks
multi-team organization. Our goal has been that
we would build an organization that would hold a team for each birth
year (1993, 1994, 1995, etc.). We strive to facilitate the growth
of fastpitch softball in the NWA area and increase the number of girls
with skills beyond the recreational ball level. This would help make our high
school teams more competitive AND our girls would be more prepared
to compete for spots on college team rosters. Eventually, as
time passes all of the teams will
become single year age groups so that the girls can stay together
throughout their youth playing "careers".
Our plans for Fall 2011 Chicks
teams include:
-
10U for girls
born in 2002 and 2001
-
11U for girls born
in 2000
-
15U for girls born in
1997 and 1996 (that are '96 9th graders)
-
16U for girls born
in 1996 and 1995
(this team will play in Summer/Fall '11, but will NOT play in
Spring '12 until after school ball has concluded)
-
18U for girls born
in 1994 and 1993
(this team will play in Summer/Fall '11, but will NOT play in Spring
'12 until after school ball has concluded)
Springdale is the city
where our team was "founded" back when the girls on that first team
were
small. Years ago we found ourselves in the position of being
able and willing to expand our mission to assist as many girls as
possible in the NWA area, instead of just Springdale. Our goal
is to help grow the fastpitch sport throughout the entire NWA
region. See our Mission
Statement.
We've had girls from all over the
NWA area play on our Chicks teams: Springdale, Siloam Springs, Prairie Grove, Fayetteville,
Gentry, Elkins, Lowell, Huntsville, Hiwasse, Gravette, Centerton, Rogers, and
Bentonville. We’ve also had girls from Ft. Smith,
Van Buren and Little Rock; plus OK, KS and MO.
The Chicks is a very
community oriented organization and strives to make our girls well rounded.
Besides growing in softball we also have minimum grade requirements
(3.0 gpa). Please check out our websites to see what we are all
about. Our site is
www.springdalechicks.com and we also have
www.pitchforthecure.org. Pitch for the Cure is our major
fundraising event that raises funds for the team and the Komen for
the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation. During the last sixyears,
we've facilitated donations of $130,000 for Komen!! Our
players and families are a critical part of making that happen.
Competitive softball is
almost a year round sport. We don’t play tournaments during
the holiday break in winter but indoor practices are taking
place for most teams all winter. (High school aged teams may
differ.)
Tournaments for Spring
start in March and teams play all the way through the end of Summer.
At that point some teams may possibly takes a few weeks off before
continuing to the end of the season in Fall. Some of our Chicks teams may play
local leagues together in Fall. Our last tournament of the year is generally
a Halloween event. We have also added our own tournament as a
second event that we run. It takes place in October.
Most teams try to play an
average of at least two weekend tournaments a month during the March
to October season. Some months it may be more due to local events
or State events and there are always rainouts to contend with in the
Spring. Coaches could opt to travel (to areas like Tulsa
or Joplin) no more than twice a month. We could play out of town
two weekends and then in Springdale, Fayetteville, Bentonville,
etc. (In recent years, local NWA tournaments have really been
pretty rare.)
Other than the statement
above that it is almost a year round sport, we also stress that we choose to take on players that basically plan on making the
Chicks their home. We keep players until they can no longer play
with us, preferably moving up with us each year. We want softball
and the Chicks organization to be a priority to our players and
their families.
More examples of our
community work: The Chicks donated 100 hours of volunteer time to
bell ringing for the Salvation Army; we assisted at the Christmas
Train that raised money for local children’s charities; we washed
cars to help raise money for hurricane relief; teams often play in
various benefit tournaments; food donations are made to shelters and
products to school programs, etc. All of our
teams participate in Komen's Race/Walk for the Cure in April
each year. We donate items to NWA Women's Shelter, the
Salvation Army, the Miracle League and Joplin Tornado Relief for
Athletes.
We are a 501(c)3
corporation and have one executive board for the entire organization.
Our board handles finances, policies, and major decisions for the
organization. The Chicks do not ask for a commitment/player fee.
We choose to keep our organization "fee-free" so that no one is
excluded based on ability to pay. Instead we have a requirement
for participation
in our fundraisers and community work. The commitment that is needed to be a
Chick is that of a full-time participant. We're family and it
takes the whole family pitching in to help us reach our goals.
Since Pitch for the Cure
is our major fundraiser our parents are the primary volunteers for
that event. This requires time leading up to and during that
weekend. This includes some activities that are required from
everyone in advance (ex: meetings, finding donations, selling ads for the program), but really all
parents are asked to accept planning/committee duties and then help
with those things that come up that just need to be done for PFTC.
That weekend is a mandatory full weekend for everybody. The
players
work right along side with the parents. It is a great experience and very rewarding but lots of hard
work, too!
We also may do a few other
fundraisers throughout the year. (These are few and far
between.) These are typically not
selling any kind of merchandise. We have a pitching booth that we
run at other events around the community. We have everyone take
shifts in running/operating that during the events. We may
also hold car washes, pancake breakfasts, and similar team
fundraising events for extra expenses that might be incurred at
Nationals or other special situations. This will usually be up
to each team rather than the organization.
All uniforms and
tournament fees are furnished by the organization using money
that we've raised as a group. Uniforms and helmets are considered
team property since they are purchased with team funds. Since
all items are considered team property, there are returned to us if
a player no longer plays with the Chicks.
We may ask each player to
sign a contract that agrees with our requirements. Those
requirements include the above commitments for time for fundraisers
and community work, grades (3.0), uniforms/equipment care, attitude,
attendance at practice and games plus dedication to the team.
We realize that this is
a lot of information, but we hope that it is useful to you in
considering our organization! If you'd like to have your daughter
come try out with us, please let us know by phone or email. For
players that join the team, a player packet is assigned. If she
makes it on a team, we’ll ask for a copy of her birth certificate.
The season has already
begun, so we are looking to fill those open roster spots as soon as
we find the right fit. Please feel free to let us know if you have
any questions:
Steve Kline at
steve.kline@tyson.com
Gina Bartholomew at
ginab@springdalechicks.com or 479-283-0007
Chris Bartholomew at
chris_bartholomew@jbhunt.com
Thanks again for your
interest. We look forward to talking to you!
