All questions related to the scheduling of practices should be directed to the AGSL Director of Scheduling (Bob Dilger) at rdilger54@gmail.com or the AGSL Director of Coaches (Courtney Geuther) at courtney.geuther@gmail.com.
WHEN ARE PRACTICES AND HOW MANY DO I GET?
Practices are scheduled to take place from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Teams with older players will typically be in the later time slots. Upon request, and if space permits or under unusual circumstances, teams may be provided “odd” practice times (including weekend practices).
· Travel teams get two 2-hour practices each week and one optional 1-hour batting cage slot per week. Travel teams get two cages side-by-side for 1-hour each (example Cage 1 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. and Cage 2 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
· House teams get one 2-hour practice each week and one optional 1-hour batting cage slot per week. House teams get two cages side-by-side one for an hour and the other for a half hour (example: Cage 1 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. and Cage 2 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
Occasionally, House teams will ask for an extra practice field time in lieu of their batting cage time. The Director of Scheduling may provide these teams a second field for up to two hours, but only if space permits, and will usually schedule it on an available Middle School or Elementary School field.
CAN I START PRACTICE EARLIER THAN THE ALLOTTED TIME?
Practices on non-lighted school fields that are not staffed by the county may begin at 5 pm. The county strictly enforces the 5:30 pm start time on lighted (and county staffed) fields, although some county staff have allowed teams to start practice at 5:20 pm.
Also, school practice fields are sometimes “blacked out” by the county for special events. You will be provided notice if your field is not available due to a special event. An attempt will be made to provide you a makeup practice day.
WHAT IS A PRIORITY 1, 2 OR 3 FIELD?
Priority 1 and 2 fields have lights and are staffed by the county (e.g., they line the fields and set the pitching plate distance). These fields are typically assigned for some House league games, most Travel team practices and, if space permits, House team practices (usually teams with older players). Note: travel team parents pay AGSL a fee for access to AGSL assigned fields and other AGSL support.
Priority 3 fields do not have lights and are not staffed by the county (e.g., the coaches line the fields). Middle School and Elementary School fields are priority 3 fields. These fields are typically assigned to House teams and younger Travel teams that practice in the 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. timeslot.
WHO DETERMINES PRACTICE DAYS AND TIMES AND IS THERE A
HIERARCHY FOR APPROVALS?
After setting aside fields for House League games, the Director of Scheduling (Bob Dilger) will attempt to schedule practice days and times in accordance with the team’s three submitted preferred practice days and times.
In cases where there are multiple requests for specific days and times (or for specific fields) preference is provided according to the following order:
1. Board Members
2. Shooting Stars A/B teams (older teams get priority)
3. Shooting Stars C teams (older teams get priority)
4. House League teams (older teams get priority).
Note: During the spring softball season, middle and high school softball games take place on Mondays and Fridays. As a result, during the spring season, 12U through 18U travel teams typically request practices involving some combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Younger travel teams and most house league teams typically request practices involving some combination of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but may utilize Tuesdays and/or Thursdays depending on field availability.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL COUNTY REQUIREMENTS?
AGSL has a contract (Memorandum of Understanding) with Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) to access county and school property. Access to these fields and school facilities is subject to strictly enforced rules and regulations. Some specific county requirements of interest:
· Never schedule a field or school facility (school field, building space/gymnasium, or parking lot area) yourself. All requests for access to county or school property must be made through the AGSL Director of Scheduling who, in turn, forwards AGSL-approved requests to PRCS for final approval.
· PRCS requires AGSL to provide at least a 72-hour lead time on one-off additional practice field requests for lighted fields and 48-hour notice for other fields (these requests are usually made to the Director of Scheduling by teams that have had practices canceled due to weather and wish to reschedule that practice).
· PRCS requires a 48-hour lead time on practice field cancellations should you find that you won’t be using your practice field space (this requirement is primarily for lighted fields because these fields require county staff presence. PRCS does not want their staff to stay after their normal working hours if no one will be using the field).
· PRCS requires AGSL to return the fields to their original condition following practice (no litter, etc.), prohibits any field alterations (other than allowing throw down and temporarily spike-held pitching plates), and prohibits activities that could damage the field or its facilities (e.g., no hitting of balls against the fences, removing turf without county permission, etc.).
· County staff enforce these rules and regulations and report any issues to PRCS. For example, some county staff (at lighted fields) prohibit activities that may create extra work for them (e.g., some teams have been instructed at lighted fields not to have water balloon fights which may result in county staff having to pick up burst balloons after the team leaves). If approached by county staff, please remember that we are the guests at these fields and PRCS could take these fields from us.
Where Can I Find Out if My Practice Field is Closed Due to Weather?
The county maintains a web page concerning its fields’ status at: https://www.loudoun.gov/fieldstatus. This website is updated by the county each weekday by 3pm and on weekends at 7am.
You can also access this information by downloading the app called Rainoutline.com. Here is the link that takes you directly to Loudoun County’s field status: https://rainoutline.com/search/dnis/7034540011/.
CAN I RESCHEDULE A RAINED-OUT PRACTICE?
Yes, but as noted earlier, PRCS requires AGSL to provide at least a 72-hour lead time on one-off additional practice field requests for lighted fields and 48-hour notice for other fields. Requests for additional practice time due to weather cancelations should be sent to the AGSL Director of Scheduling (Bob Dilger), who, in turn, will work with PRCS.
