Rapid City Junior Olympic USA Softball

Registrar Email: Any Questions with registration please contact your commissioner.

Commissioners:
6U - Eben Nordahl
8U - Jeremy Muth
10U - Josh Brown
12U - Jeremy Colhoff/Jennifer Hoover
14U - Laura Johnson
16U/18U - Misty Wieczorek

Player Agents/ Disciplinary Board: Carrie Gerdeman Appeals: Wayne Iddings

Scheduler (Practices & Games): Jeremy Muth

Head Maintenance: Dexter Johnson

Concession Stand Manager: Courtney Ahrendt

Officers	Name	Email Address	Phone Number
President	Wayne Iddings	[email protected]	605-510-4040
Vice President	Carrie Gerdeman	[email protected]	605-209-0829
Secretary	Misty Wieczorek	w [email protected]	605-381-9132
Treasurer	Jeff Hock	[email protected]	605-390-8981
	Jennifer Hoover	[email protected]	[email protected]
	Jeremy Muth	[email protected]	605-391-5339
	Laura Johnson	[email protected]	605-430-3423
	Jeremy Colhoff	[email protected]	605-431-4547
	Josh Brown	j[email protected]	605-415-3036
	Eben Nordahl	[email protected]	605-519-9757

Are you a player looking for a team?

Please fill out the attached form and turn it into any Board Member.
"Player looking for a team"

To gain access to the batting shed during the off season

a. All players must be registered with the league for the upcoming season.

b. Coaches

i. Must be registered with the league

ii. Have background check (for upcoming season) completed and turned in

iii. Have safesport (for upcoming season) completed and turned in

iv. pd the batting shed fee of $100

v. Turn in roster of coaches and players utilizing the batting shed.

1. To register for the batting shed fee on the website, coaches will need to create a player account for themselves in their current league account and sign up for the batting shed under their own player account.

Once all of these steps have been completed, reach out to your commissioner who will send you the sign-up scheduler

The USA softball SD website will be used by coaches to complete background checks, safesport and ACE. This will also be the site for coaches to register as coaches and register their teams with USA softball
Coaches will be able to purchase insurance for themselves as a coach. $20 per year.

USA Softball insurance is purchased by the RCJOUSA league for every REGISTERED player. This will cover the player for all sanctioned events, not just RCJOUSA league. Reach out to your commissioners for more details.

All of the individual and team registrations for 2026 for USA Softball will now be going through RegisterPlay, RegisterUSA crashed last summer and will not be coming back, which will be the USA Softball of South Dakota website. https://usasoftballofsouthdakota.com/pages/home

Below are some instructions on how to do various things on the website. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Example Step-by-Step Guides

The following examples are not official national instructions but may be adapted for use by your association to assist coaches, players, and parents.
Note: There are more processes, but this is a quick introduction.

Coaches can now order and pay for their USA Softball Background Check directly on the Register Play Websites — no more uploading certificates!

Fast, secure, and fully integrated. It’s as simple as:
Log into or create your account on usasoftballsouthdakota.com
Click on the "dsahboard" tab
Click on "my family" tab

Go to the Compliance window and open Background Check
Click “Get Background Check” button
Complete payment.
Enter personal info via the secure NCSI link
Compliance status updates automatically once results are in

SafeSport Signup links are now visible on the Compliance screen for all adults, regardless of coaching status.

Coach/Manager – Creating a Team

Go to the Teams page and click Create a Team.
Fill out team information.
In Season drop-down:
1. Select League Team if the team participates in league play (even if also in tournaments).
2. Select Tournament Team if tournament-only.
In Class drop-down, select the appropriate classification.
Click Create a Team.

Note: Team registration fees are still paid directly to the league or tournament.

Coach/Manager – Building a Roster
Invite a new player:

Go to Teams > My Teams.
Click the yellow roster button for your team.
Click Invite Players.
Enter the player’s first and last name, plus email.
Click Send Invite.

Invite an existing player:

Go to Dashboard > My Teams.
Open the roster.
Click Invite Players and search by state and name.
Click Invite if found.

Invite Former Players:

Go to Teams > My Teams.
Click the yellow roster button for your team.
Click Your Players tab.
You will see a list of players who have played for your team in the past.
Click the Invite icon on the right.

Using the roster password:

Go to Dashboard > My Teams.
Find the roster password button and share it with players.

Coach/Manager – Joining a League or Tournament

Log in and navigate to the appropriate Leagues or Tournaments page.
Find your division and click the enter button.
Select your team, system will automatically select the team if you have only one fitting team.
Choose the payment option set by the league/tournament.
Click Enter to complete.

Coach/Manager – Finding Tournaments for the Team (Tournaments Teams Only)

Go to your team's page and click the "Fill My Schedule" tab.
You will see all the future weekends of the entire season.
Click on the weekend you want to fill. You will see all the tournaments for that weekend sorted by distance.
Click on the tournament and pick the division you want to enter.

Player – Joining a Roster via Email Invite:

Check email for invite from [email protected].
Click the link to accept.
Log in or create an account, and verify your email.
Go to Dashboard > My Family.
Add your child to your family if you haven't already.
Click Join a Team, enter roster password, and confirm.

Player – Joining with Roster Password Only

Log in or create an account, verify your email.
Go to Dashboard > My Family.
Add your child to your family if you haven't already.
Click Join a Team, enter roster password, and confirm.

Parent/Guardian – Adding a Minor Player

Log in and go to Dashboard.
Click Add Family Member > Add Child.
Fill out information and save.
Players 12 & under will have only their first name and last initial displayed publicly.

Parent/Guardian – Joining a Minor to a Team

Log in, go to Dashboard > My Family.
Select your child, click Join a Team.
Enter roster password, complete info, accept waiver, and join.
Note: Once a player turns 18, they can create their own RegisterPlay account.

Additional Updates

Clubs can now store a credit card on file, add coaches, and pay for their coaches’ background checks.
Individual Team version of storing a credit card on file will be available soon.
Umpire self-registration is in testing with positive results. More details coming soon!
ACE is expected to go live before September 1st.- This did not happen but hopefully will happen soon.

6 & Under

Our 6 & Under Division is for those youngers who are itching to get out on that softball field. Starting at the age of 4, thru 6 years of age. Here, your daughter will learn her basic softball skills: stretching, throwing, catching with a glove, hitting with a tee, burning off energy running bases and start to learn what the game of softball is all about.

~ 6 years of age and under. (6U)

~ Games will start on April 29th, 2021

Games will take place throughout the week. 6U will not play on weekends,
and Fridays will only be as needed, for makeup games or scheduling conflicts.

Games take place in the following time slots: 5:15pm - 6:30pm
6:45pm - 8:00pm
8:15pm - 9:30pm

~ 6U will use Field # 5 and Field #6. (Located at the far south end of our complex)

~We have metal bleachers for spectators to sit, along with additional space for you to bring your own
chair.

~ Concessions and bathrooms are conveniently located right next to fields 5 and 6.

We also have a "Main Concessions" on our complex with additional food and beverage sales,

~Located directly in the middle of fields 1,2,3 & 4.

Our Main Concession stand is also the location of our crows nest and additional bathrooms.

~ A "playground" area is in the works of being designed and will be located on the north side of field 5.

Helpful Links:

6U Rules and Information

Rapid City Girls Junior Olympic USA Fastpitch Association U6 League Rules and Information

General Information

Field Conditions/Weather and Rainout Information

Field conditions/rainout information will be available after 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

RAINOUTS WILL BE TEXTED BY 3 P.M. TO HEAD AND ASSISTANT COACHES. INFO WILL ALSO BE POSTED ON THE LEAGUE FACEBOOK PAGE.

The weather is the single most unpredictable factor affecting any softball season. Umpires and Board will use the following criteria for canceling games in progress as taken from Appendix D of the NCAA rule book and as recommended by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL):
"Thunder always accompanies lightning, even though its audible range can be diminished because of background noise … The current recommendation of the NSSL is to consider terminating play when the lightning is six miles away ("flash-to-bang" time of 30 seconds or less). This … was developed as a practical way to make a judgment in situations where other resources … are not available."

(Games will be delayed 15 minutes with a lightning strike that requires game stoppage.)

Rainout Dates
Due to the short “window” of opportunity to play games in the girls’ fastpitch leagues—primarily due to the need to be completed by the time the State tournament begins—the ability to make up rained-out games are limited. However, EVERY attempt will be made to schedule rained-out games prior to July 1 if field space is available. To do so may require that teams play an additional night during the week.

General Rules for Rapid City Girls Fastpitch Association

U6 League Rules

The U6 League is for girls ages 6 and under as of January 1 of the current year. This league plays on a field with base distance of 60 feet and distance from pitching rubber to home plate of 30 feet. A 10-inch Softie ball is used in this league. No umpire is provided by the league. A coin flip between coaches and players will determine the home team.

TEAM:
Each team will field 6 infielders at each position and the rest of the players will play the outfield. Do not leave anyone on the bench at this age. We are trying to get girls involved with softball so leaving them on the bench might discourage them from playing the sport.

GAME:
A game will be based upon 6 innings or a time limit of 60 minutes. No official score will be kept. Innings will consist of 3 outs or all batters in the team’s line-up, whichever comes first. An inning is over when play 3/2020 on the last batter is dead or pitcher has control of ball in the 16ft circle. Games will end when the time limit is reached, following the player at bat finishing her at bat.

POSITIONS:
In an effort to develop more players in all positions, the following rules will be used. Each player will be required to play in the pitching, catching, and first base positions at least three innings in a season. Coaches are responsible for monitoring this. For purposes of enforcing this rule, an inning is defined as making an appearance at these positions during one turn of the team playing the defensive position. Unintentional violations of this may be corrected by substituting a player without penalty. Outfield players will be positioned behind the base paths, so they are involved with the game, but not in the path of the baselines. If you put them too far out into the grass they get bored and don't feel part of the game.

BATTING:
A combination tee and coach pitch will be used with NO WALKS. Batting off the tee will be used for the first half of the season. Using a tee, each batter is allowed a maximum of 3 swings, and then the batter is declared out. At a point in the season, to be determined by the board with input from the coaches, coach pitch will be used. Anticipate this to occur half way through the season. Coaches will be responsible for pitching to their team with an opposing player in the mound area to play defense. After 3 strikes are pitched, the batter may use the tee for up to 2 swings. If the batter does not hit the ball, she is out. The coach pitching will call strikes on good pitches that the batter does not swing at. The batter either hits or strikes out (there are no walks). Batter may not run on a dropped 3rd strike. Bunting is not allowed. Foul balls/tips will continue the at bat. All fair balls are played (no infield fly rule). Batters hit by pitch will take first base. If the last batter of the inning is hit by pitch, first base will be awarded, and the inning is ended.

BASE RUNNING:
No stealing will be allowed. Runners will be allowed one base advance on an overthrow that leaves the field of play. On an overthrow to 1st base that does not leave the field of play, the batter-runner may not advance beyond 1st base, but other base runners may advance one base only at their own risk. The batter-runner must stop at 1st base unless a play is made on an advancing runner. On any overthrow back to the pitcher, the base runners may not advance. When the ball is thrown back to the pitcher, a runner between bases must immediately continue to the next base or return to the last base touched. Play is dead when pitcher has control of the ball in the 16ft circle around the pitching mound. Calls on plays will be made by the closest offensive coach. When coach pitch is used, the first base coach will make calls at first, the third base coach will make calls at third, the coach pitching will make calls at second base and home plate. When the tee is still being used, the call at second base will be made by the first or third base coach with the best view of the play. If the offensive coach needs help making a call, he/she may ask for input from the defensive coach on the field.

SCORE:
No official score will be kept.

MISC:
When on defense, a team may have their coaches on the field to help their players with alignment and instruction.

Contact