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Greetings!
Welcome to our April Newsletter. The season
is only a couple of weeks away now and I
trust you are all back in training and
looking forward to the season ahead.
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Registration |
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 Registration
for the Leinster League has been open for over a
month now. If you are a Team Captain please
ensure that your team is fully registered and
paid for by Friday 13 April 2007, otherwise we
cannot guarantee your League Position. |
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Start of Season Blitz |
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 We
are running a one day Start of Season Blitz in Alsaa on
Saturday 28 April 2007. You must register and pay for
this online on or before
5pm on Tuesday 24 April 2007. The cost is a snip at 50.
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Irish Softball Sales |
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Special Pre-Season offers |
 Irish
Softball Sales is pleased to announce that we
have updated our website with a new secure
on-line shopping cart. Our full range of
products is now listed on the site. You can
check it out at
www.irishsoftball.com.
The softball season is
almost upon us and we are taking pre-orders
for any bulky equipment such as bases. If
you club requires any of the mandatory field
equipment (double first base, 2nd
& 3rd base, home plate & pitching
plate), please contact us now and we can
have it in time for the season. A full set
of equipment normally costs Eur150.00 but we
can do a full set for Eur140.00 if you
pre-order. Bases take approximately 10 days
to ship in so bear that in mind if ordering.
Visit our website
www.irishsoftball.com for full details.
As part of our pre-season
specials, Irish Softball Sales are offering a
superb deal on cleats. If you pre-order a pair
of cleats from our range then you will get them
at cost price! Yes! That's cost price. After the
softball season starts, prices will go up
so act now if you want to take advantage of this
special offer. Cleats take approximately 10 days
to ship in so bear that in mind if ordering.
Visit our website
www.irishsoftball.com for full details.
Irish Softball Sales would
also like to take this opportunity to wish every
club a very successful softball season. Play
well and enjoy it.
Remember if you can't find
what you need on our
website, please ask. |
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By-law Survey results |
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 Many
thanks to all those who took the time out to
complete our By-law survey. The results were as
follows:
- Keep encroachment
line at 180ft: 12%
- Move encroachment
line to 150ft: 43%
- Remove
encroachment line: 45%
- Use 11" ball for
female batters: 53%
- Keep 12" ball for
female ballers: 47%
As the results have not
come down overwhelmingly on one side or the
other we have decided not to introduce the 11"
ball but we will move the encroachment line back
to 150ft. However in the Cup/Plate/Bowl
competitions we will introduce the 11" ball and
remove the encroachment line.
We will run a similar
survey at the end of the season to see
whether opinions on the 11" ball have
changed at that stage.
The winners of the prize draw for those
completing the survey were Jerome
Westbrooks of Trinity Titans who gets a
dozen softballs and Derek Ward of Dodder
Dynamoes who gets an ISA Umbrella.
The 2007 By-Laws will be publised soon
so keep an eye on the
website for details.
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Free gift to all teams at Captains meeting |
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 We
are holding a meeting for all Team Captains on Tuesday
24 April at 8pm. We will confirm the venue for this
shortly. Nibbles and refreshments will be served as we
outline the season ahead along with any changes to rules
and procedures.
Due to the change in ball type this year we have
decided to supply all teams in the Leinster League
with a dozen new softballs to get them started. The
one catch is that you need to send the Team Captain
or another representative along to the Captains
Meeting to collect the free Softballs.
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Regional Development |
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There
has been great work going on recently around the country
to develop softball to a wider audience.
On Saturday 24 March we held
an Open Day in Belfast which was well attended and
it is hoped to form some teams there and get a
league competition going.
Many thanks are due to Carrie
Trundle and everyone who helped her out to make the
day a success.
Council Member Hayley Hennessy
is also working hard to get softball going in Louth.
She is holding an open day for youth and adults on
Saturday 14 April in St. Helena's Park, Dundalk.
More details...
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Council Matters |
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Due
to personal commitments James O'Farrell has resigned
from Council. James was to be in charge of Events and
the Business House League this season.
We would like to thank James
for his contribution and wish him well.
We are actively trying to fill
this position at the moment and will announce his
replacement in due course.
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That's all for now. I will probably issue another
newsletter towards the end of the month just before
the season starts. As always if you have any queries
or suggestions please don't hesitate to contact me
ar any Council Member.
Yours in Softball,
Alacoque McMenamin
President
Irish Softball Association
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