Frequently Asked Questions
You’ve registered your player, now what?
Registration opens December 1st of each year; however, the season won’t officially begin right away. Depending on division late March to early April.
Evaluations:
Players registered for a Baseball & Softball AAA, Majors or Juniors divisions, and they did NOT participate in that SAME division last season, the player will need to attend Evaluations (AKA Draft). Evaluations typically occur early to mid-February (watch your email for details).
**Note: Players registered in T-Ball, Coach Pitch, and A/AA-Ball Do Not Attend Evaluations.
Buddy/Coach Request:
Players in T-Ball through AA-Ball divisions are allowed to make a buddy and/or coach request. We try our best to honor all requests but sometimes it’s not possible if a team is already full. Be sure to list your player’s request during his/her registration.
Practice Season:
Teams are forbidden to hold a practices of any type until the official Practice Season opens for their division. Furthermore, ALL practices must be facilitated on SHLL approved fields.
***Should SHLL encounter a very rainy Spring, opening practice season could be delayed.
Teams are typically scheduled 2 practices per week - prior to Daylight Saving's time, team practices are for 1 hr. and Early Team Practice runs from 4:00pm - 5:00pm and Late Team Practice runs from 5:00pm - 6:00pm. Most team practices will move back about 1/2 hour one week after DST begins and 1 hour later about 2 weeks after DST begins. Once Game Season begins most of the older divisions continue to have at least one practice per week in addition to their 2 games per week and some younger divisions may also, depending on field availability.
Game Season:
*Specific dates will be emailed closer to the start of Game Season
Game Season opens for Majors Baseball & Softball late March.
Game Season opens for AAA and AA (both baseball and softball) early April.
Game Season Opens for T-Ball and Coach Pitch (both baseball & softball) on mid-April
Game Season Opens for Junior Baseball and Softball teams playing District 10 Interlock opens according to D10's game schedule.
Teams are typically scheduled 2 games per week, most games are weeknight at 5:30PM prior to Daylight Saving time and 6:00PM after Daylight Saving time but an occasional Saturday game may be scheduled, especially if we have a lot of rain outs to get rescheduled. Once games begin, most of the older division teams continue to have a practice at least once a week, possibly two practices a week, and some coaches in the younger divisions will also hold one practice a week while others may not.
Welcome to the Pacific Northwest… and the RAIN!
It’s raining outside and I’m not sure if we have a game or a practice, how do I find out?
Rainouts for practices will always come from your head coach. Feel free to reach out to them before heading out to the field. Game day rainout information can be found on our website and our social media pages up to 1 hour prior to game time.
It was raining an hour ago and you rained out our game. It’s sunny out now, that means we can go play our game, right?
Wrong. Once a game is rained out, its canceled for the evening. Trust us, we rained it out for your kids safety, and we certainly didn’t want to cancel it, but a rainout is better than a trip to the emergency room. Rest assured we will get that game rescheduled for a beautiful spring evening soon enough.
Uniforms:
Coaches draw for team names and they will let you know by your 1st practice what your new team name is. By the 1st or 2nd practice, coaches will be letting you know what color of baseball pants, socks and belts you'll need to purchase to complete your player's uniform. Full uniforms aren't needed until game day so you've got some time before these items are needed. Keep an eye on your email for discount coupons. The league provides the jerseys and baseball hats for the baseball players to keep at the end of the season - softball players are provided jerseys and socks to keep at the end of their season.
Equipment:
What Your Player Needs For Practice
For the 1st practice your player will need cleats (not necessary for T-ball or coach pitch), a mitt, a baseball cap, a batting helmet (girls in Coach Pitch and above are required to have a face guard) and a Little League approved baseball bat. Uniforms (consisting of jersey and team hat) will be provided before the game season starts.
Bats
Bats used in the Little League (Majors) and below, Intermediate (50-70) Division, Junior League divisions, and Challenger division shall bear the USA Baseball logo signifying that the bat meets the USABat – USA Baseball’s Youth Bat Performance Standard.
Bat diameter shall not exceed 2⅝ .
Solid one-piece wood barrel bats do not require a USA Baseball logo.
Intermediate (50-70) Division and Junior League Division are permitted to use bats meeting the BBCOR performance standard.
Softball bats shall be printed with a BPF (bat performance factor) of 1.20.
Volunteering:
SHLL is a 100% volunteer-based program. Friends and Family members of the players are welcome to volunteer. Anyone wishing to become a volunteer (Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Parent, Practice Helper, Score Keeper, etc.) must register through SHLL website as a volunteer and complete/pass a background check annually. All background checks reset and require to be submitted Oct. 1 of each year.