Regina Lazers Softball Newsletter www.lazers.ca
		January 2009

Message from the President	2008/2009 Executive
Now that we are out of the deep freeze that gripped Saskatchewan for a few weeks I hope everybody is excited to start thinking about softball again. I would like to welcome our new executive and thank the new members for coming forward to help out. With an almost full executive it is easier on everyone to provide a quality program for the players. The secretary position is currently open so if you are able to help out in that position or any other we would love to hear from you. The Lazers zone has been lucky to have a number of outstanding volunteers over the years. Doris Harrison left the President position this year after four years on the executive. Doris kept us all on target and even when she “cut back” a bit to focus on the EZVC volleyball club she still did an amazing amount of work for the Lazers zone. Her leadership and cheery smile will be greatly missed. Ron Bailey, who also gave a tremendous amount of time to the Lazers as a coach, finished his two year term as treasurer. A big thank you to Ron for keeping the books in order during his already hectic schedule. Raegan Baylak has left after two years as uniform coordinator. Raegan did an excellent job as coordinator and initiated the uniform pickup nights last season. Thank you Raegan. Carolyn Zaryski left the Midget Coordinator position after two years on the executive. She single handedly ensured Midget teams had enough players by looking high and low for former players to ensure they knew there was ball after Bantam. Carolyn was also the RMSL Midget coordinator. Thank you Carolyn. Evaluations have changed a bit for the Learn to Play division where we will be only evaluating 2^nd year Mites(10 year olds) to give them a feel for what evaluations feel like before they face them in Squirt. They will also be used to evenly spread out the 10 year olds among teams based on skill level. I look forward to seeing everyone at evaluations and on the diamonds. Mark Haidl	President	Mark Haidl	586-4037
	Vice President	Terry Fries	586-5532
	Treasurer	Jim Lehrer	586-8151
	Registrar	Arlene Slimmon	586-6584
	Player/Coach Dev.	Jamie Watson	761-2203
	Equipment	Jeff Romanuk	584-0851
	Uniforms	Debbie Hills	761-1932
	Secretary	vacant
	Past President	Dorris Harrison	789-1987
	Clothing	Clayton Caswell	Please email
	LTP Coordinator	Dave Turta	545-5009
	Squirt Coordinator	Doug Baber	536-3803
	PeeWee Coord.	Gord Hamilton	790-9043
	Bantam Coord.	Renee Fries	586-5532
	Midget Coord.	vacant
	Webmaster	Mark Haidl(acting)
	If you have any questions or wish to volunteer – please contact Mark Haidl at 586-4037
	Volunteers Needed! Please join our executive which has the following open positions: - Secretary - Midget Coordinator - Webmaster

Player Evaluations for 2009 Season

Triple Play Sports (1555 8^th Ave. just east of Broad St.)

Learn to Play 2^nd year Mite players only(Born 1999) . Sunday March 22 11:00AM – 12:00pm

Squirt Sunday March 15^th, 2:00pm – 4:00pm and Sunday March 22^th, 12:00pm – 2:00pm

PeeWee Sunday March 15^th, 11:45am – 2:00pm and Sunday March 22^nd, 4:00pm – 6:15pm

Bantam Sunday March 15^th, 4:00pm – 6:00pm and Sunday March 22^nd, 2:00pm – 4:00pm

3^rd Evaluation for final A team selections(by invitation only):

Sunday March 29^th noon to 06:00PM – Division times TBA

Squirt through Bantamt players are encouraged to attend both evaluations if possible. Questions - contact Jamie Watson by email at djwatson (at) accesscomm (dot) ca

Players are asked to bring INDOOR shoes, a glove, water bottle, helmet and bat. Extra helmets and bats will be provided for those players who don't have one.

Registration Due March 1st	Coaching/Player Manuals
Along with electronic distribution of this newsletter we are going to try and save a few more trees by not mailing out registration this year. A word form is available this year which will let you type in your information and then print it out or you can print a PDF version and fill it in by hand. See http://www.lazers.ca/reg/	The RMSL has a great collection of manuals for player/coach development. For coaches manuals see http://www.rmgsl.ca/Coaches.aspx For players see http://www.rmgsl.ca/doc/PM/Players.aspx but you will require a password. Please email playermanual (at) l azers (dot) ca for the password.
Pitching/Catching Selection Rules	Coaching Certifications
Players that wish to evaluate as a pitcher or catcher in Squirt and above will be asked to identify themselves at the beginning of the evaluation so that they can be filtered through those stations. If your daughter or son wishes to try one or both of those positions we strongly encourage that they evaluate for them. The Lazers Zone will be evaluating pitchers/catchers both as a pitcher/catcher AND as a player - they receive two separate scores. Evaluating as a pitcher or catcher will in no way hinder that player's opportunity to play on an A team, if they rank high enough in their player score. However for PeeWee A and Bantam A only the top 3 selected pitchers will be allowed to pitch. It is also likely that only the top two catchers will catch regularly. Pitchers/catchers invited to join the A team as a player, but ranked below these cutoffs, may choose to move to the B team if they want to pitch at all or if they want to catch regularly.	Learn to Play coaches/helpers are encouraged to attend the LTP coaching orientation in April (dates TBA). LTP Mite division coaches are also encouraged to consider taking their Level I(community sport – ongoing participation) clinic. Teams in Squirt and above wishing to attend provincials must have a level I certified coach except for PeeWee A and Bantam A which must have a level II certified coach. The lazers will pay for fees as long as you have a registered player during the season. If you are going to be registering for a Level I or Level II coaching clinic please contact the Lazers Coach/Player development coordinator, Jamie Watson at 761-2203, first. Please keep your eye on www.lazers.ca for spring coaching clinic dates.
Facemasks/No more socks	Lazers Clothing Orders
Facemasks become mandatory in the Lazers zone on April 1^st, 2009 for the Mite(9&10) and above divisions. Due to increasing problems with variances in sock sizes from year to year we have decided to get out of the sock business and allow individuals to personally size their socks at one of the many sports stores in Regina. The white and Royal Blue socks have previously been ordered from Western Cycle which offers Lazers a 20% discount but you may be able to find them elsewhere. Divisions requiring socks are listed in http://lazers.ca/info/equip/	Clothing will be on display during the evaluations and order forms will be accepted for the 1^st order. The deadline for the 1^st order is 22 March 2009 with a target of getting everything here before the start of the season. There will be a 2^nd order in late April.
	Uniform Return
	If you still have a Lazers uniform please return it at evaluations or contact Debbie Hills at 761-1932 to arrange for their return.
Criminal Record Checks	Midget Division
Coaches in the Regina Minor Softball League are required to obtain criminal record checks yearly. Details on how to obtain your criminal record check will be provided once coach selections have been completed.	The RMSL Midget division plays only Wed. and Sundays to accommodate work schedules. Players may also want to try out for the Ladies league teams which are more competitive – see http://eteamz.active.com/midgetsoftball/