Irvine Girls Softball

Evaluations for ALL players (8U+) will take place on:
Sunday, January 10
weather permitting (dates subject to change; makeup dates Jan 11, 12, &/or 14)
Draft — 8U/10U/12U/14U players will be selected through a Draft that will occur following Evals
All rosters will be finalized following Evaluations and with the Draft. You will receive notification when this process is completed
Schedules
Practice Schedule will be finalized by the week of Jan 18
Game Schedule will be released the second week of February
Coaches will need to attend a mandatory meeting/presentation on Saturday, Jan 16 from 9:00am-Noon followed by equipment distribution
Practices will begin the week of January 25
Opening Day will be Sunday, February 21. Parade in the am with games or other festivities to follow
Weekend Games will then be on Saturdays following Opening Day
Weeknight Games will begin the week of February 22
Spring Break will be Sunday, March 28 thru Sunday, April 4 No Games or Practices during the break
Closing Day will be Saturday, April 24. Festivities will run concurrently with games being played throughout the day
Championship Monday: Season will conclude April 26

6U — Friend and Coach requests will be a primary consideration when forming teams, although we cannot guarantee that all requests will be honored
8U — All players will be evaluated and will be selected through a modified draft. Friend/Coach requests will be noted and considered, but no guarantees can be made that they will be honored.
10U/12U/14U — All players will be evaluated and drafted by the coaches in these divisions. Friend and Coach requests will be provided to each coach and may be used as a criterion in selecting their teams. We cannot guarantee that any or all of these requests will be honored.

Beginning in 2023, USA Softball changed the birthdate cutoffs for each age division. Click here for the latest age division chart.

Play-Up/Play-Down Requirements:

Any player born between Sep 1-Dec 31 in an EVEN year can choose to remain in their current division without notice or approval (these players are eligible for an additional year in their current division).
Any player that was granted permission to Play-up in the Fall and was born between Sep 1-Dec 31 in an EVEN year may again REQUEST to Play-up to a HIGHER Rec division in the Spring and must get approval from the Board.
6U age division players may petition to Play-up to 8U if the player was granted permission to Play-up in the preceding Fall season. Approval to Play-up will be determined by the league following the start of season evaluation, where player age, experience, talent, and safety will all be considered. Play-up decisions will be final and not subject to appeal.
All other players will NOT be allowed to Play-up in the Spring and will be required to play in their age appropriate division.
Play-down requests will NOT be allowed in the Spring.
An additional Play-Up fee will be required to equal the commensurate division

During the Spring Rec season, IGSA teams also participate in a Spring Select season (8U+; no 6U Select)
Spring Select is in ADDITION to Spring Rec
Players must be registered and assigned to a Spring Rec team to be eligible
Team Selection: teams are chosen by the Select coaches following Rec evaluations
To be considered for a Spring Select team players must attend the Rec evaluations, unless given approval from the Board.
Spring Select fees will be in addition to Rec registration
Select teams will form only with sufficient interest, talent and the approval of a volunteer coach at the appropriate levels

IGSA 2027 Spring Rec Season will be played in 3 distinct parts:

Practice Season

January 25 thru Feb 19 (prior to Opening Day)

Regular Season

February 21 thru March 28 (prior to Spring Break)

Opening Day: Sunday Feb 21
Weeknight games begin Feb 22
Mondays -- 10U
Tuesdays -- 8U
Thursdays -- 12U
Regular Season will consist of 10-11 friendly games both intra-league and inter-league
Each Division will have ONE mandatory Doubleheader Saturday
Some additional Weeknight BYEs and/or Saturday Doubleheaders may be necessary
Regular Season ends right before Spring Break
All Teams continue to practice once per week (14U 2x per week)
No scores or records will be kept

Playoff Season

April 5 thru April 26 (following Spring Break)

Playoff Season consists of 7-8 game dates:
3 weeknight games (normal nights)
3 Saturday dates
Championship Monday
(Depending on # of teams in each division, the first playoff game may take place Prior to Spring Break)
Format
Final Playoff Format and schedule will be determined at a later date and will be based on the number of teams in each Division
Format will consist of some form of Pool Play and Bracket Games
All Playoff games will be between Irvine teams (fill-in games against other leagues may be scheduled and will not count towards Playoff results)
12U Teams may play an inter-league Playoff
Scores and Records will be kept
All Teams will continue to play through at least Closing Day regardless of Bracket outcomes
All 8U-12U Teams continue to practice once per week
Some Weeknight BYEs and/or Saturday Doubleheaders may be necessary
Closing Day: Saturday, April 24
Championship Monday
3 Championship games (8U, 10U & 12U) will be played Monday night, April 26 under the lights at Bill Barber

6U & 14U

Entire Season

6U
Practice Once per week (no cages)
Single Games on Opening Day, and All Saturdays thru Closing Day (except Spring Break)
No Weeknight Games
No Playoff
14U
Practice Twice per week (+ cage time)
Game(s) on Opening Day; Doubleheader games on remaining Saturdays thru Closing Day (except Spring Break)
Games played against teams from other cities in North & South OC
Tournaments (TBD)
Mid-Season Tournament (MV)
End-of-Season Tournament (HB)

ALL Players MUST be a part of the league and registered with USA Softball prior to April 1
Players MUST play in 75% of the league scheduled Rec games during the Spring season
Multiple Rec Leagues -- In the rare circumstance that a player plays for 2 different leagues during the same Rec season, they MUST choose which league to play All-Stars for by April 1
Player may NOT participate in ANY non-USA Softball activities (travel, select, tryouts, workouts, fill-in, etc.) AFTER March 31, otherwise the player will be ineligible to participate on an All-Star team.
All-Star teams may only allow a MAXIMUM of 4 players who have played Travel softball AFTER January 1. Should more than 4 players that fit this criterion tryout for an All-Star team, those players will be restricted to the maximum allowable.

2027 Spring