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Community Corner

Ridgefield Girls Softball

To the Parents and Girls who have played Little League softball or Ridgefield Rebels softball:

We are excited to announce that Ridgefield Girls Softball, Inc. (“RGS”) has been formed and there is now one girls’ softball organization in Ridgefield.  Little League softball parents and Ridgefield Rebels parents have been working for the last three months to make one Ridgefield girls softball program a reality.  The Little League and the Ridgefield Rebels boards have each approved this combination and both these organizations have donated their softball equipment to the new RGS.  Anthony DeStefano, a parent from the Little League side of the combination, will be the new RGS president.

RGS will include both a recreational division (the “House League”) and a travel division (“Rebels Travel”).  By having one organization dedicated to girls’ softball in Ridgefield, we want every girl to have the ability to play softball at the competitive and commitment level that is comfortable for her and her family.  

Our goal is that every girl who plays on one of RGS’s teams will become a better softball player, teammate and person by the end of each season.  Simply put, RGS is all about the girls and giving each of them a quality athletic program to help them become more than just better softball players.  

RGS is a non-profit organization run by volunteers.  While we hope to be able to hire coaches who have played or coached college softball for the summer travel teams, we rely on the commitment of parents and other adults to fill our Board, coaching and administrative positions.  We will hold ourselves to the highest levels of integrity and fairness and want to be open to new ideas.

RGS offers both recreational and competitive travel programs and is open to all girls between the ages of 5 and 18.  Any Ridgefield girl who wishes to play recreational softball will be placed on a House League team at the appropriate age bracket regardless of skill (assuming there are a sufficient number of girls at that age bracket to field a team).  The number of House League teams at each age level will be determined by the number of girls interested in playing. 

Rosters for Rebels Travel teams will be selected based on skill level and commitment.  Rebels Travel will field at least one team at each of the 10U, 12U, 14U and 16U levels (ages 9-16).  The RGS Board of Directors will consider additional travel teams if there are a sufficient number of girls at a particular age level committed to the travel program whose parents have paid the registration fees. 

The House League will play in the Spring and most of its games will be played in town but will travel to surrounding towns to play teams based in those towns.  We expect to have playoffs at the end of the season for the various age brackets in the House League. 

Rebels Travel will play in the Spring and Summer and their games will be single games or double headers both in town and throughout Fairfield County.  In addition to game play, Rebels Travel teams will participate in at least 4 weekend tournaments in June and July which are generally played in the tri-State area.  Depending on the distance to these tournaments, many families have stayed at local hotels rather than drive back and forth to the tournaments on Saturdays and Sundays but hotel stays are not required. 

RGS will also run a fall softball program and a winter training program for girls interested in practicing and playing softball in the off-season. 

RGS will also establish a college scholarship program whereby a graduating high school senior will be eligible to receive a $500 college scholarship based on her grades, commitment to softball and written essays.

Financial assistance will be available whenever possible to qualified players whose families are experiencing financial hardship and unable to pay the required registration fees. 

We look forward to a great future together.  If you have any questions, email ridgefieldctgirlssoftball@gmail.com.

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