THE OFFICIAL HOME OF
MADNESS FASTPITCH
GETTING STARTED
Tryouts occur in early August on a Saturday and Sunday. Athletes trying out should attend both days if possible. Teams will start to assemble on Saturday. For the 2019/2020 season, the tryouts are on various dates. Please check the Tryout page for details.
For improving and sharpening skills before the tryout, interested athletes can attend the Madness Clinics that are hosted one week before tryouts. Attendance at the Clinic is not mandatory and it does not itself impact tryout evaluations or the selection process. The Clinic is designed simply to give interested athletes an opportunity to improve and practice skills prior to the tryout dates.
Within one week of the tryouts, a Madness coach will call or email each athlete to inform them of the result. It is Madness' desire to field 2-3 teams at each of the younger age groups (10U - 14U) so that more athletes will be given the opportunity to play. The number of teams depends upon the number and skill level of interested athletes and the availability of an experienced coach for each team. The final number of teams at each age group is not determined until after tryouts.
In late August there will be a mandatory Parent Meeting where a program summary will be given, paperwork will be turned in, and the parents will meet with their coach. During the team breakout, the coach will introduce him- or herself, explain their philosophy, and collect player contracts and other paperwork.
THE SEASON
Madness teams may decide to begin practicing shortly after teams are selected and continue while the weather is nice. Fall tournaments and indoor games are also possible. Practices and fall/winter game schedules are team dependent.
During the winter, teams practice indoors 2 times a month or more in Nov, Jan, Feb, and Mar. Indoor practices are primarily held at the Strike Zone, which is an indoor facility owned and operated by Madness and the local boys baseball program. As soon as the weather breaks in the spring, teams will begin practicing 2-3 times a week until the season starts.
Teams that decide to do practice indoors more than 2 times a month or that attend additional tournaments will do so at an additional expense of the families. The families may divide the cost evenly or if they can obtain sponsorships above their required amount, they may use this to pay for their expenses.
Madness understands that its athletes may have commitments to other sports and after school activities in addition to school responsibilities. Madness also appreciates the value of training in other sports. Madness and its coaches expect, however, that during softball season Madness softball is each player's first priority - with the exception of players participating on their school softball teams. Because Madness coaches plan out each practice in addition to setting the line up for each scrimmage and game, commitments to other sports and after school activities should be shared with the coach as soon as known. Late notice should be rare and "no call no show's" should never happen.
League games begin the first week of June and go through mid-July. There are usually two games per week and a fairly even number of home and away games.
Tournaments are played generally right before or during the regular league season. Some teams may play in a tournament after league play concludes - such as attending a national tournament or because they just don't want the season to end. :-)