Coaches’ Corner | October 3, 2022

First and foremost to all our coaches and volunteers, thank you for all your time, effort and support this fall. We appreciate the difference you’ve been making with your teams and creating a memorable game day experience each and every time you’ve taken the field. Yet, time flies when we’re having fun…and now we’re heading into our final week of the regular season and gearing up for the single elimination tournament on Sunday, October 16.

As we prepare for the end of the season, we have five important and timely reminders.

The online process of coaches completing the end-of-season player evaluation has been a constant at OYO for nearly 15 years. Please find attached a simple one-page PDF to complete your team’s evals in LeagueApps by Sunday, October 9. What’s more, successful completion of this evaluation helps you earn additional coach incentive dollars, and also keeps you eligible to coach in the rec league tournament next weekend!

2. Mandatory Pre-Tournament Coaches’ Meeting Is Sunday, October 9 at 7:15 p.m. on Field 2 | (Tee Ball coaches do not need to attend this meeting)
We ask all head coaches (or a team representative in the event you cannot attend) to join us for this important and required 30-minute meeting, which will help ensure every team approaches the tournament upholding The OYO Way, following the Code of Conduct and honoring and protecting what’s most important to all of us at OYO. This meeting is set for Sunday, October 9 at 7:15 p.m. at OYO on Field 2. Once again, your attendance helps you earn additional coach incentive dollars, and also keeps you eligible to coach in the rec league tournament!

3. Download Your Division’s Bracket Today and Know the Rules
If you have not already done so, please download he tournament brackets online for your division and confirm your team will have at least eight players present — and if not, see #4 below. In addition, we have attached a customized a tournament-friendly Rules Overview document of the most relevant OYO “house rules” for your team’s division.

With fall breaks spanning many Sundays in October, your team may have players who cannot participate in the Fall Ball Tournament on October 16. As defined in OYO’s published rules for the rec league tournament, a team must adhere to the following requirements:

• A team that has 8 or more players present to bat and play in the field is in full compliance and does not have to record an out when on offence
• A team that has 7 players present to bat and play in the field must record an out each time the team’s eighth batter spot in the lineup is reached
• A team that has 6 or less players present to bat and play in the field would need to forfeit the game 10 minutes after the game’s official start time

That’s the written rule. However, our mission and goal is for all teams to be able to participate in the tournament but in a fair and reasonable manner. So we have established a temporary rule that allows a team to add a substitute player(s) from a younger division only to ensure they have eight players present. For example, a Super Major team can add a player from the Minor division, or a 10U Softball team can add an 08U Softball player, or a Junior Rookie team can add a Tee Ball player. Of course, to ensure fairness to all teams, we also have established several parameters that must be followed when adding these substitute players:

If you believe your team will have seven or less players on October 16, then please contact the respective Vice President by Thursday, October 6. At that time, the VPs will reach out to necessary divisions seeking enough interested players to fill in on game day. We will assign these players on a first come, first served basis for teams that request players on October 16. Assignments will be circulated to the division during the week of October 10 so all coaches are aware of the approved substitutions before the tournament starts.

If you have any questions or need something more, less or different, please contact any of us for more information. As always, we truly appreciate all you do for OYO’s ballplayers and families! Without your incredible volunteerism and commitment, we would not be able to provide a memorable and quality experience for all our ballplayers and families. Thank you for making a difference, and thank you for choosing OYO as your place for baseball and softball!