Softball registration

PEA RIDGE — The Pea Ridge Youth Softball League registrations for the 2011 spring season will be from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Jan. 22 and 29 at the Pea Ridge Middle School, Weston Street.

This year, the Pea Ridge Youth Softball League celebrated over 15 years of slides, home runs and strike outs. The league was originally formed before 1995, as the Pea Ridge Girls Softball League, by an enthusiastic group of local Pea Ridge citizens who loved the values and game of softball.

Registration fees are $40 per girl or $75 for two or more siblings. These fees include ASA insurance for each girl, a team jersey, umpire/scorekeeper and field upkeep costs. The league provides bats and practice equipment, however, each girl must provide her own glove.

Though the league has evolved over the last 15 years from its start with the game of slow pitch softball to the current fast pitch game, the league’s original goals of instilling the values of sportsmanship, honesty, respect, and hard work, as well as, teaching the fundamentals and skills of softball remain the same.

In the spring of 2010, the Pea Ridge Youth Softball league grew to 10 teams. The league accepts players of all abilities and is constantly adding members to teams in the 6 and Under, 8 and Under, 10 and Under, 12 and Under, and 14 and Under age brackets. More than 100 girls participate in the league each spring and over 50 girls play during the fall season.

Over the years, Pea Ridge Youth Softball teams have enjoyed success in league games, as well as in local and state tournaments. Rick Johnson, current Pea Ridge softball league president, said that while the league is proud of the teams’ athletic accomplishments, some of the most important benefits youth get by participating in softball are the values they learn about practice, perseverance and accountability.

All teams will play in the neighborhood of 14 league games plus two or three league tournament games per season. All games are played in Bentonville and or Pea Ridge with no gate fees or hidden costs. PRYSL will also be accepting application for new coaches and volunteers on the above mentioned dates.

Today, Pea Ridge Youth Softball is a legally registered Arkansas non-profit organization which appreciates the help of many volunteers and community sponsors. League teams participate in the Bentonville Youth Softball program which is part of the ASA, the national governing body for softball in the United States.

More information is available online at www.weplay.com/groups/19146-Pea-Ridge-Youth-Softball.