2024 WUSA Fall Ball Program Begins the week of September 2nd and concludes the weekend of November 16th

The WUSA Fall Ball Program emphasizes player development. Many players will participate in a division in the fall that they will play in the more competitive spring season. As such, the league focuses on developing the player's softball skills (throwing, catching, hitting, baserunning), knowledge of the game, and corresponding rules unique to that division.

To meet our goals for the fall outlined above, our fall ball program will include a mix of clinic-style practices supported by area HS and College coaches and players, individual team practices, and games. The fall program schedule will have games during the weekdays for the 7U, 8U, 9U, 10U, and 12U divisions allowing individual teams time on the weekend for a voluntary practice at the discretion of the team manager.  Our 14U division will have either a clinic-based practice or a game on Sundays 6-8 PM.

All divisions except the 14U division will participate in an end-of-season tournament the last week of the season as a prelude to the spring season.

The league supports professional coach-led Pitcher-Catcher clinics on Sunday evenings for enrolled players. This program is intended to be progressive so players are encouraged to attend as many clinics as possible to develop these unique skills. Two, 1-hr sessions will be offered; 5-6PM and 6-7PM. Earlier sessions are aimed for less experienced players with the later session geared for more seasoned players at these positions. Note, even though girl-pitch is introduced at WUSA's 9U division of play, younger players are welcome to attend the earlier session and begin developing these skills. 

The 2024 Fall Developmental program will again host semi-individualized, player position skill development sessions on Wednesday evenings. These sessions are an opportunity for fall ball players to get professional coach level instruction on throwing mechanics, catching skills, infielding and outfielding techniques as well as hitting development. These optional sessions are designed to help all levels of players from those seeking foundational skills, to players with advanced skills seeking to be challenged with new techniques.

Age divisions for players: A WUSA player is slotted into a division of play according to her birth date. Division birth dates are set up according to USA Softball rules which changed in 2023. WUSA will phase-in these changes to our recreational league starting with 2018 birth years. Reference the table below to find the division your daughter will be defaulted. Players are allowed to play one division lower with league approval. If intending to enroll in a lower-age level division, enroll in the defaulted division and indicate your intention in the notes on the enrollment. The change will be made by our WUSA registrar. You may also email the WUSA Helpline to ensure the change to a lower division is made.

DIVISION AGE WINDOW (Fall 2024 Season)
 FALL BALL PROGRAM DIVISION DESCRIPTIONS
6U
 9/1/2017 - 8/31/2019
*Players born 9/1/2017 – 12/31/2017 may play 7U
 *****The 6U division is NOT offered in our Fall Ball Program*****
7U 9/1/2016 – 8/31/2017*
*Players born 9/1/2016 – 12/31/2016 may play 8U		 A coach will pitch to the players from a distance of approximately 27 feet using an 11-inch safety ball (DX5 ball).
All players on a team will play in the field each inning and all players will hit in the batting order.
8U 9/1/2015 – 8/31/2016*
*Players born 9/1/2015 – 12/31/2015 may play 9U
 A Coach will pitch to the players from a distance of approximately 27 feet using an 11-inch safety ball (DX5 ball). 
All players on a team will play in the field each inning and all players will hit in the batting order.
9U 9/1/2014 – 8/31/2015*
*Players born 9/1/2014 – 12/31/2014 may play 10U
 This division includes a combination of girl-pitch for one inning and machine-pitch for the remaining innings, both from a distance of 35 feet using an 11-inch standard ball. 
All players on a team will play in the field each inning and all players will hit in the batting order.
10U 9/1/2013 – 8/31/2014*
*Players born 9/1/2013 – 12/31/2013 may play 11U
 The first half of the season includes a combination of girl-pitch for two innings and machine-pitch for the remaining innings, both from a distance of 35 feet using an 11-inch standard ball.
Pending a league assessment, the second half of the season may be exclusively girl-pitch.
All players on a team will play in the field each inning and all players will hit in the batting order.
11U 9/1/2012 – 8/31/2013*
*Players born 9/1/2012 – 12/31/2012 may play 12U
 Exclusively girl pitch from 40 feet. There is no machine pitch component. 12-inch standard ball. 9 players on a team will play in the field each inning while all players will hit in the batting order. Players will continue to rotation between infield and outfield positions throughout the game.
12U 9/1/2011 – 8/31/2012*
*Players born 9/1/2011 – 12/31/2011 may play 14U
 Exclusively girl-pitch from 40 feet with a12-inch standard ball.
9 players on a team will play in the field each inning while all players will hit in the batting order. Players gain position specialization and are no longer required to rotate between infield and outfield positions.
14U 9/1/2009 – 8/31/2011 This division is exclusively girl pitch using 12-inch ball and 43 feet from pitching plate to home plate.
Pending the complement of players, the division will divide players into teams for that weekend's game which may be different from week to week. The clinic-style practices hosted 4 times over the fall season emphasize a player's individual skill development and allow fall ball players to interact with advanced HS and college players in drills with a goal of advancing skills and challenging a player at her respective level of play.

FALL FUNDRAISING 

Donations to WUSA are appreciated in the fall but no team-based fundraising programming is conducted. WUSA is embarking on a capital project to further improve our facilities. Please reach out to wusahelp@wusa.org to get information about how to contribute to this effort.

PRACTICE/GAME INFORMATION 

Teams will have one game or practice scheduled per week during the weekdays on either, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Voluntary practices on the weekends will be offered by team managers at their discretion and availability. WUSA fields will be available in 1.5 hr time blocks for a team to schedule a practice on Saturdays or Sundays. 

7U, 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, and 12U will have 90-minute practices times allotted to them and will play approximately 10 regular season games & have an end-of-Fall Season tournament. Rained-out games are NOT rescheduled. The general pattern used for game and practice schedules for each division are as follows: 

DIVISION CLINIC-BASED PRACTICE / GAME VOLUNTARY PRACTICE
7U Weeknights
 Weekends
8U Weeknights Weekends
9U Weeknights
 Weekends
10U Weeknights
 Weekends
11U Weeknights
 Weekends
12U Weeknights Weekends
14U Sundays 6 - 8 PM None

PLAYER EVALUATIONS AND TEAM FORMATION 

WUSA DOES NOT have player evaluations for the fall program. Teams are organized by the division coordinators who assign players based on player requests, schools, but also and importantly, to achieve relative parity in overall team skill. 

UNIFORMS 

The league will provide a fall ball jersey to all enrolled players. A mix of age-appropriate sizes are provided to the team manager to distribute to the players. No individualized sizes are ordered for players in the fall season. Teams are left to their own discretion to source pants and socks though an eclectic look is consistent with our relaxed, developmental fall ball program.

EQUIPMENT INFORMATION 

Each player will need the following equipment: Fielding glove, batting helmet, Softball bat, and an infield face mask* 

Other equipment is also recommended in some divisions including cleats, batting gloves, and sliding pants.   

*In the 7U/8U/9U/10U/11U/12U Divisions, infield face masks are required for all infielders, including pitchers during all girl pitch innings.  Defensive pitchers in 7U/8U/9U/10U (pitchers playing the position while a coach or machine is pitching) must wear a batting helmet.  In the 14U division, infield face masks are required for the pitcher and 3rd base positions and are recommended for all other infield positions as well. Infield face masks are not required on all infielders in the 6U division, but batting helmets OR face masks are required for pitcher and first base.

FALL BALL REGISTRATION FEE AND REFUND POLICY 

Discounted Early Bird registration fee of $200.   

The regular registration fee is $225.   

The late registration fee is $450 and contingent on available openings.

WUSA will refund registration fees upon request according to the schedule shown below:   

  • Refund requests received prior to regular registration close: Full refund minus a $25 processing fee
  • Refund requests received after regular registration closes: 50% refund   
  • No refunds after late registration ends

NOTE: Divisions may close once they are full and no additional late registrations will be allowed.   

VOLUNTEERING 

WUSA is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, and we need your help to make our league run. The success of West University Softball Association is rooted in a foundation of parent volunteerism. All families are expected to help out in various roles. While no team jobs are assigned in Fall Ball, one adult for each registered player is required to work at least one shift at WUSA’s South Campus fields concession stand.

WUSA will not approve volunteers (including team managers and coaches) with felony criminal convictions or convictions of crimes of moral turpitude.

SPECIAL REQUESTS 

Please note that WUSA is not able to honor all requests for carpools, best friends, classmates, assistant coaches, etc.   

In the fall season, while there are attempts to honor friend, or coach requests, we are unable to guarantee and we cannot honor every request. If your daughter has any potential scheduling conflicts due to other activities, you must indicate those conflicts during the registration process. While we cannot promise that we can accommodate all scheduling issues, efforts will be made to avoid as many standing/recurring schedule conflicts as possible, if those conflicts are indicated on the player registration.

FINANCIAL AID

If you are in need of financial support, you can submit a scholarship application here.