New York's gay and lesbian softball league will be holding it's annula draft on Saturday March 26 and then again on Saturday April 2. Both will begin at 11am at Chelsea Park (28th Street and 10th Avenue) in Manhattan. If interested please come out! For more information on the league check out the BASL website.

Hope to see you there!

Makeup date in case of rain?
In case you don't get it right the first time?
A two-day draft like the NFL, but more exhausting so you need a week of rest in between?
The draft so nice they hold it twice?

I guess in case some people can't make it the first week, which is Easter weekend, or because of rain. And everybody gets picked even if it means creating new teams to accomodate everyone. I'll be at both in hopes of picking up a few new players for my team.

[ March 14, 2005, 08:12 AM: Message edited by: George_Twinsfan ]

We pick right behind you George. I'm not going all out to look for that one superstar player. Instead I just want to find someone who fits well with the group we currently have.

I think this NYC draft is big enough that Bud Selig should make an appearance and announce each team's first round selection. wink

Wanted to post this reminder yesterday but with the board problems I couldn't. Anyway the draft/tryout begins in 2 hours. But fear not, we will ahve a second draft next week. Hope to see some of you there!

Had a successful day at the draft as we picked up two new guys who will fit in with our team quite nicely.

And don't forget: For those of you who couldn't make it yesterday or just plain forgot, the BASL will hold a second draft next Saturday April 2 at 11:00am at Chelsea Park on the corner of 10th Avenue and 28th Street. Bring a glove and wear sneakers. Bats and balls are supplied but bring your own bat if you prefer to use that one.

So how exactly does your draft work? Is there a base (core) team and then only new players are drafted, or do you also draft the returning players as well. This reminds me somewhat of our basketball league in Chicago. The upper divisions start off with 2-3 team 'captains' and the remaining roster is picked up via 'draft'.

I am surprised to see Chicago has more teams in it's league than NY. We had 31 last year and with all the new sign-ups this week, will surely have more this year. Softball has REALLY increased in popularity here and will continue to do so I'm guessing, especially with Gay Games approaching next near.

I hope more NYC teams show up at the Milwaukee tourney this season. We had a BLAST playing Ty's in Milwaukee last year....'filthy w****...filthy w****.

Our draft is for new recruits. I suppose soembody who was unhappy with their team last year could also go back into the draft but usually they just join a new team.

We are planning on coiming back to Milwaukee this year. We had a blast last year and this year we want a trophy!

Chicago had 36 teams last year and continues to grow. Our primary growth continues to be in our lower divisions as new players that have never played before seem to become more interested.

We do not have a draft as we find many of the people interested are signing up with friends that are looking to play together. The lower divisions are competitive but what we have seen over the last three years is those new players signing up are looking for more of a social aspect versus the highly competitive upper divisions.

We offer a sign up designed specifically for new players interested in playing and returning players looking for a new team. Each person submits a questionnaire which is accessible to all team managers. If we have enough players that had not been chosen, we create new teams with these players. The last two years we have formed two new teams each year with brand new players and all four teams are returning this year. We also offer two player clinics in which the participation grows each year.

Right now it looks as if we will have 37 teams which do not include any new teams that may be created. Each year it seems as if we miss the ever elusive 40. If history repeats itself we will stop short once again with 39. Although we continue to attract new players, some teams become disinterested and disband and the players are either absorbed by other teams or choose not to play.

Over all, the league has made great strides in growth. I think you see a greater Chicago presence at tournaments through out the year more now than ever before. This growth can certainly be attributed to the strength of the commissioner and his board of volunteers which spend many hours together bettering the league which will only continue to attract new players to the league as well as CMSA.

originally posted by glb_042003
The above mentioned '31' teams was based on the 'standings' page from the CMSA website, there are 31 teams from last year listed.

At any rate, 38-39 teams for THIS season is just amazing!

Yep, the website was updated on 3/13/05 which removed teams which were not returning. This also gave each team a tenative division placement prior to the new player sign up on the 19th.

Though the draft is till scheduled for tomorrow (April 2), given the weather forecast of heavy rain, the league has scheduled a rain date of next Saturday April 9 at 12 noon at the Grand Street field. If tomorrow is washed out and anyone is interested in going next week, email or PM me and I can give you directions in case you don't know how to get there.