League Details

2021 Summer Donation Pool Structure & Playoff Format

by

Because of the unique schedule this season, we’ve adapted the playoff format and donation structure slightly for this season. Details below.

Donations will be awarded to the team’s charity two ways:

  1. $1 per Run Scored during the season (max $20 per game).
  2. Bonuses for finishing in the Top 8.
  3. Wins during the Playoffs.

End-of-Season Bonuses shall be awarded, as follows: 

  • 1st Place, +$150
  • 2nd Place, +$100
  • 3rd Place, +$75
  • 4th Place, +$50
  • 5th – 8th Place, +$25

PLAYOFFS

Because the Parks will be closed after November 1, and still allow one backup rain date, we are scheduling our Playoffs for Sunday, October 24. With only 1-week for playoffs in Summer 2021, we’re playing a modified schedule from a standard 2-week playoff format.

  • The 1, 2, 3, and 4 teams advance to a single elimination tournament to decide the Champion.
  • The 5, 6, 7, and 8 teams advance to a single elimination tournament to decide the First Consolation.
  • The 9, 10, 11, and 12 teams advance to a single elimination tournament to decide the Second Consolation.
  • The 13 and 14 teams advance to a single elimination tournament to decide the Third Consolation.

The Second and Third Playoff Consolation games will be played AT ANOTHER FIELD IN DURHAM (TBD), also on Sunday, October 24.

Playoff Game Bonuses shall be awarded, as follows: 

  • $50 for any First Round win.
  • $150 for the Championship.
  • $100 for First Consolation Championship.
  • $75 for Second Consolation Championship.

For example, if a team scores 82 runs and comes in 2nd Place, they will earn $182 for their charity. If they also win their 1st round game and the Championship, they add +$200 to their winnings to donate a total of $382 to their sponsor’s charity on the season!

At the start of the 2021 Summer season, we are projecting about $2000 in donations this season! We’ll see if we can meet that goal!

2020 Durham Softball Schedule

by

The Durham Softball League starts playing games during the first week of April each year. Easter is on April 12 this season, so the 2020 season will start on Sunday, March 29. The year will be split into two separate seasons (Spring and Summer), with the second season beginning one week after the first season’s Championship game.

Season Schedule

During 2020, there are 25 eligible weeks during the year where Durham Softball League games may be played:

Date Week of Games
Sunday, March 29, 2020 1
Sunday, April 5, 2020 2
Sunday, April 12, 2020 NO GAMES – EASTER
Sunday, April 19, 2020 3
Sunday, April 26, 2020 4
Sunday, May 3, 2020 5
Sunday, May 10, 2020 NO GAMES – MOTHER’S DAY
Sunday, May 17, 2020 6
Sunday, May 24, 2020 NO GAMES – MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Sunday, May 31, 2020 7
Sunday, June 7, 2020 8
Sunday, June 14, 2020 9
Sunday, June 21, 2020 NO GAMES – FATHER’S DAY
Sunday, June 28, 2020 10
Sunday, July 5, 2020 NO GAMES – JULY 4TH WEEKEND
Sunday, July 12, 2020 11
Sunday, July 19, 2020 12
Sunday, July 26, 2020 13
Sunday, August 2, 2020 14
Sunday, August 9, 2020 15
Sunday, August 16, 2020 16
Sunday, August 23, 2020 17
Sunday, August 30, 2020 18
Sunday, September 6, 2020 NO GAMES – LABOR DAY WEEKEND
Sunday, September 13, 2020 19
Sunday, September 20, 2020 20
Sunday, September 27, 2020 21
Sunday, October 4, 2020 22
Sunday, October 11, 2020 23
Sunday, October 18, 2020 24
Sunday, October 25, 2020 25
Sunday, November 1, 2020 26
Sunday, November 8, 2020 27
Sunday, November 15, 2020 28
Sunday, November 22, 2020 29
Sunday, November 29, 2020 NO GAMES – THANKSGIVING
Sunday, December 6, 2020 30
TOTAL 30 Weeks to Play 22 Weeks

The league does not play games on Sunday when national holidays fall on a Sunday or Monday during the year.

With 9 Regular Season Weeks and 2 Playoff Weeks, the two seasons will require a total of 22 Sundays each year. With 30 Eligible Sundays between April 8 and December 6, we have 8 “built-in” weeks to accommodate rain-out reschedules and still get both seasons in before the end of the year.

Spring Season: Starts Sunday, March 29, 2020; ends after 11 eligible weeks.

The Spring league has the potential to finish on July 12th, which is the 11th eligible week of the season. With at least a couple rain-outs likely, a more realistic date for the Championship game might be July 19 or July 26. Whenever the Championship game from the Spring season is played, the Summer season will begin exactly one week later.

Summer Season: Starts 1 weeks after Spring Season ends; ends after 11 eligible weeks.

If the Summer season’s “one week later” start date lands on a holiday, the season will start two weeks later. This means the earliest that the Summer season might begin is July 19, because it is one week after the earliest date that the Spring season could end. Because it is unlikely for the Spring season to be completed with out any rain-outs, a more realistic date for the Summer season’s Opening Day is July 26 or August 2.

With good weather, it is possible to end both seasons as early as October 4th, the 22nd eligible week of the season. For each rain-out during the year, the seasons would get one week longer.

Weekly Schedule

Games are played on Sundays and start between 10:00am and 5:35pm.

  • Each team will play a single game each day.
  • The regular season will consist of 9 games.
  • The 10th and 11th week of each season will feature two single-elimination tournaments. The Consolation Tournament will be played between the Bottom 4 teams competing for 5th Place; the Championship Tournament will be played by the Top 4 teams competing for 1st Place.

“Featured Organization” Each Week

All teams will have a single week where their non-profit is featured to highlight and promote their non-profit to the other members of the league. The captain of the team, or a representative of the non-profit, is invited and encouraged to stay for the remaining games to talk with the other teams before their game, let them know more about your organization, and collect any donated items that teams may bring to the fields.

Rain-Outs / Rescheduling Games

When a week gets rained out, all cancelled games are rescheduled for the last week of the regular season. This makes sure that most games on the schedule are played as originally scheduled at the start of the season so players can better plan their weekends ahead of time.

If some games are played, but other games need to be rescheduled, those games would be made up during the last week of the season, even if other games get rained out after them. In an emergency, alternate arrangements to play games earlier/later in the day may be considered if both teams agree to the accommodations.

Due to time restrictions, the Spring season must end no later than the end of July, with the Summer season ending no later than the end of October. If we get rained out more than 4 times, games that cannot meet these time frames may be forced to cancel entirely.

How Team Assignments Are Determined

by

We have 16 amazing charities to choose from and believe every Team Sponsor is worthy of your efforts, but we understand that there might be several players or teams who would prefer to play for the same specific charity. Since we are growing this year and have a lot of teams returning, I thought it would be helpful to outline exactly how the teams are being assigned this season. Because we have more full teams returning, the priority system is a little more complicated this year.

Team Assignments will be determined in the following order:

  1. Previous Year’s Team Renews. If a group played for a particular charity last season and brings back at least half of the same group, they will have first priority to retain their previous Charity. This priority expires on 3/1, at which time the team becomes available to outside Players.
  2. New Teams. If a Group signs up to play for a brand new Team Sponsor (eg. NCFFF, C2C), it is first come, first serve. Unless 9+ Free Agents have already signed up for their Team, these Teams are taken as soon as a Group pays for them.
  3. Order of Registration. If you sign up first, you win any tie-breakers against anyone else that may be competing for the same roster spot.
  4. Groups Stay Together. Because we prioritize keeping your Group together, your Team Assignment may be forced based on other Group registrations. Your Group will always play together, but may be assigned to different teams to balance rosters.
  5. Male / Female Balance. If necessary, Teams may be cut off from adding either Males or Females. The goal is to have 10 Males and 6 Females per team.

That covers the basics, but we’re glad to answer any questions about Team Assignments by contacting us here. There is probably going to be a bit of wiggle room and compromise within this structure, so hopefully we make a fun and balanced league.

Regardless of how the Teams play on the field, here is a description of the causes we are helping through our 16 local non-profit Sponsors:

Good luck to everyone!

2019 League Schedule

by

The Durham Softball League starts playing games during the first week of April each year. Easter is on April 21 this season, so the 2019 season will start on Sunday, March 31. The year will be split into two separate seasons (Spring and Summer), with the second season beginning one week after the first season’s Championship game.

Season Schedule

During 2019, there are 25 eligible weeks during the year where Durham Softball League games may be played:

Date Week of Games
Sunday, March 31, 2019 1
Sunday, April 7, 2019 2
Sunday, April 14, 2019 3
Sunday, April 21, 2019 NO GAMES – EASTER
Sunday, April 28, 2019 4
Sunday, May 5, 2019 5
Sunday, May 12, 2019 NO GAMES – MOTHER’S DAY
Sunday, May 19, 2019 6
Sunday, May 26, 2019 NO GAMES – MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Sunday, June 2, 2019 7
Sunday, June 9, 2019 8
Sunday, June 16, 2019 NO GAMES – FATHER’S DAY
Sunday, June 23, 2019 9
Sunday, June 30, 2019 10
Sunday, July 7, 2019 NO GAMES – JULY 4TH WEEKEND
Sunday, July 14, 2019 11
Sunday, July 21, 2019 12
Sunday, July 28, 2019 13
Sunday, August 4, 2019 14
Sunday, August 11, 2019 15
Sunday, August 18, 2019 16
Sunday, August 25, 2019 17
Sunday, September 1, 2019 NO GAMES – LABOR DAY WEEKEND
Sunday, September 8, 2019 18
Sunday, September 15, 2019 19
Sunday, September 22, 2019 20
Sunday, September 29, 2019 21
Sunday, October 6, 2019 22
Sunday, October 13, 2019 23
Sunday, October 20, 2019 24
Sunday, October 27, 2019 25
Sunday, November 3, 2019 26
Sunday, November 10, 2019 NO GAMES – VETERAN’S DAY WEEKEND
Sunday, November 17, 2019 27
Sunday, November 24, 2019 28
Sunday, December 1, 2019 29
Sunday, December 8, 2019 30
Sunday, December 15, 2019 31
TOTAL 31 Weeks to Play 22 Weeks

The league does not play games on Sunday when national holidays fall on a Sunday or Monday during the year.

With 8 Regular Season Weeks and 1 Playoff Week, the two seasons will require a total of 18 Sundays each year. With 26 Eligible Sundays between April 8 and November 1, we have 8 “built-in” weeks to accommodate rain-out reschedules and still get both seasons in before the end of the year.

Spring Season: Starts Sunday, March 31, 2019; ends after 10 eligible weeks.

The Spring league has the potential to finish on July 14th, which is the 11th eligible week of the season. With at least a couple rain-outs likely, a more realistic date for the Championship game might be July 21 or July 28. Whenever the Championship game from the Spring season is played, the Summer season will begin exactly one week later.

Summer Season: Starts 1 weeks after Spring Season ends; ends after 10 eligible weeks.

If the Summer season’s “one week later” start date lands on a holiday, the season will start two weeks later. This means the earliest that the Summer season might begin is July 21, because it is one week after the earliest date that the Spring season could end. Because it is unlikely for the Spring season to be completed with out any rain-outs, a more realistic date for the Summer season’s Opening Day is July 28 or August 4.

With good weather, it is possible to end both seasons as early as October 6th, the 22nd eligible week of the season. For each rain-out during the year, the seasons would get one week longer.

Weekly Schedule

Games are played on Sundays and start between 10am and 5pm.

  • Each team will play a single game each day.
  • The regular season will consist of 10 games.
  • The 11th week of each season will feature two single-elimination tournaments. The Consolation Tournament will be played between the Bottom 4 teams competing for 5th Place; the Championship Tournament will be played by the Top 4 teams competing for 1st Place.

“Featured Organization” Each Week

All teams will have a single week where their non-profit is featured to highlight and promote their non-profit to the other members of the league. The captain of the team, or a representative of the non-profit, is invited and encouraged to stay for the remaining games to talk with the other teams before their game, let them know more about your organization, and collect any donated items that teams may bring to the fields.

Rain-Outs / Rescheduling Games

When a week gets rained out, all games are rescheduled for the last week of the regular season. This makes sure that most games on the schedule are played as originally scheduled at the start of the season so players can better plan their weekends ahead of time.

If some games are played, but other games need to be rescheduled, those games would always be made up during the last week of the season, even if other games get rained out after them. In an emergency, alternate arrangements to play games earlier/later in the day may be considered if both teams agree to the accommodations.

Due to time restrictions, the Spring season must end no later than the end of July, with the Summer season ending no later than the end of October. If we get rained out more than 4 times, games that cannot meet these time frames may be forced to cancel entirely.

2018 Final Budget Report

by
Budget for Durham Softball, a charity softball league in Durham, NC
Final 2018 Budget Report for Durham Softball! Thanks to everyone for playing and making this year possible. Here is the recap of a few goals we had for the league this year and how close we came to achieving them:

1. Field a league with 8 teams of players. 
We only had 5 in the Spring, but we had 11 in the Summer. We averaged 8 teams per season, so we’ll call that a SUCCESS.

2. Donate 40% of our revenues. 
We definitely underestimated the cost of certain items in our budget, but they ended up being necessary to build a foundation for future seasons. Still, I think hindsight has shown that was way too optimistic. After going through Year 1, I’d now say 22.75% is pretty solid, but we FAILED on this one.

3. Donate more than $3,000. 
We *only* donated $2,800 in cash and didn’t quite hit $3,000, but our physical item donation drives were much more successful than I anticipated. With an estimated value of an additional $2,500 worth of items donated, I think we should call this a SUCCESS.

4. Get the Durham Bulls Baseball Club to acknowledge our league’s existence. 
We were really just hoping for a Twitter shout out or something, but we won their $10,000 Ballpark Renovation Grant and got invited onto the DBAP field to represent our league at a Bulls game. That was incredible. I still can’t believe it happened, but there are photos so I’m pretty sure it was real. Huge SUCCESS here.

5. Reach 500 Facebook Followers. 
We didn’t make it to 500, but the Followers we do have are great. If you’ve read this far and you’re still reading because you care about this league, you’re extra awesome. We FAILED, but maybe we’ll get there before next season!

Going 3 for 5 sounds like a pretty good game, so we’ll take it! Thanks again for playing everyone!

Donation Drive #2 – Dog Toys for Hope Animal Rescue

by
Donation Drive #2 - Dog Toys for Hope Animal Rescue!

Donate your dog toys to Hope Animal Rescue this weekend!

 

I hope everyone had a great bye week and got to spend some time with their family. Our sock drive was a big success a few weeks ago, so I’m excited about our next donation drive this weekend! It looks like we are going to have some trouble with the rain, but we can at least pretend it’ll happen for now. If we get rained out this week, both of our events will be rescheduled.

DOG TOY DONATION DRIVE: The team that donates the most dog toys to Hope Animal Rescue this week will earn a $25 bonus donation towards their team sponsor’s charity. Any type, size, or style of dog toy will be accepted. If a dog is supposed to chew on it and use it for fun or exercise, it counts as a dog toy. Items must be new or lightly used, with at least ~75% of its usable life still left. Donations will be accepted at the field until the last out of the last game of the day.

VEGGIE DAY: Dig It Farm will be out at the fields this weekend with a free serving of veggies for all players! They should have some extra produce to sell to fans and players if you want more locally grown, fresh picked veggies to take home with you. Their Spring CSA is just getting started and the Summer CSA starts in a couple months at $10/week. Highly recommended!

Hope for good weather!

2018 Spring Sponsor Donation Pool

by

2018 Durham Softball Budget

SPONSOR DONATION POOL – 2018 Pre-Season Projection

To make the games mean something, the teams are also playing for bonus donation amounts that are distributed from the Sponsor Donation Pool. Teams can earn extra bonuses for their Sponsors by achieving several different goals during the season.

Charity Distributions $ Donated
Divided by All Teams $4.00 / Game
Game Winner $3.00 / Game
Tournament Winner $100 / Season
Tournament Runner-Up $50 / Season
Regular Season 1st $100 / Season
Regular Season 2nd $50 / Season
7 Weekly Donation Drive Events $25 / Event
  • Play a single game. Each charity receives $2 per game just for playing.
  • Win a single game. Each charity receives an extra $3 per victory during the regular season.
  • Finish in 1st place. The first-place regular season team will earn $100 for their charity.
  • Finish in 2nd place. The second-place regular season team will earn $50 for their charity.
  • Win the Tournament. The tournament winner will earn $100 for their charity.
  • Runner-Up in Tournament. The tournament’s runner-up will earn $50 for their charity.
  • Win a Donation Drive Event. Win $25 for your charity by donating the most of a particular item during the contest.
  • Umpire’s Charity. Any amounts left at the end of the season will be given to one charity selected by the umpire based on each team’s attitude and sportsmanship during the season.

TOTAL PROJECTED DONATIONS FOR SPRING 2018: $800

TOTAL PAID REGISTRATIONS: 56

TOTAL “SPONSORED” REGISTRATIONS: 14

AVERAGE DONATION PER PAID PLAYER: $14.29

Including our weekly donation contests, we are projecting a minimum donation of $800 for our 2018 Spring Season. The donation range for each of our 8 charities will be between a $28 and $214, depending on how many games the team wins, where they place in the regular season, and how well they do in the tournament.

The amount of the 5th place team’s regular season earnings will also be donated to South Durham Little League, Kidznotes, and Meals on Wheels. All donations will be made with a one-time payment to the Sponsor at the end of the season, once the final amounts have been calculated.

Dig It Farm supports Durham Softball!

by

A sample of the veggies available from Dig It Farm in Durham, NC.

We are proud to announce a new partnership with a great local business, Dig It Farm

Dig It Farm is a local vegetable farm that uses organic practices in Bahama, NC to provide fresh-from-the-ground veggies at local Farmer Markets and their CSA Program.

With their CSA Program, you pre-pay for the season, and get an assortment of fresh produce delivered each week. It’s a convenient way to get a great range of fresh, healthy produce each week, and simultaneously support a growing, environmentally-friendly local farm. It doesn’t get more fresh or local than Dig It Farm – their farm is less than 15 miles from Durham. Your veggies will still be in the ground less than 24 hours before your weekly delivery date, while most large grocers have their food stored for weeks before making it available to purchase. If you have time to cook each week, love vegetables, and enjoy eating new greens and roots, then the Dig It Farm CSA is for you!

During the 2018 Softball Season, Dig It Farm will be sponsoring two “Veggie Weeks,” during which Durham Softball players will get to take home FREE fresh veggies after their game. Dig It Farm will provide examples of the sizes and contents of their weekly CSA Boxes, with a small individual serving of fresh produce given out to everyone. The quantity and type of veggies available during the Dig It Farm sample weeks will be based on what is fresh and in-season at the time, but we can promise it will be delicious!

Thank you to Dig It Farm for their support of our cause and helping us encourage healthy eating habits!

Weekly Promotions During the Regular Season

by
All 8 of Our Non-Profit Sponsor Organizations

During each week of the season, we will try to hold weekly promotions that encourage players from all teams to come together and support one of our causes. This will give players a reason to learn about each organization in the league and understand why the work they do is important. We hope the concept will help bring the players from different teams together under the same common goal of helping the Durham community through softball.

To encourage participation and give players another way to help all of the causes in the league, we will host a contest to reward the team that collects the most of a particular item each week. During each promotion, a Prize Pool will be set and the top 2 donating teams will earn a portion of the pool for their charity.

Specific dates are still TBD, but here are the details of the feature weeks we have planned so far:

  • Central Piedmont Community Action
    • Two Clothing Drives – one for Socks and one for Coats – to support the CPCA’s Clothes Closet project. Any pair of socks and any type of coat made for humans will be accepted, regardless of size. Items must be new or lightly used, with no stains/holes/rips/tears.
  • Hope Animal Rescue
    • Dog Toys – Any new or lightly used Dog Toy will be accepted.
  • Meals on Wheels
    • Nutrition Bars – Any low-sodium, healthy breakfast / nutrition / granola bar will be accepted.
  • STEM in the Park
    • Brain Food – All individual-sized bags of pretzels, chips, trail mix, goldfish, peanuts, etc. will be accepted.d.
  • Girls on the Run of the Triangle
    • Colored Pencils / Markers – Any new, unused box of colored markers, or any new or lightly used box of colored pencils, will be accepted.
  • Housing for New Hope
    • Bath Towels – Any new or lightly used bath towels, including hand towels and bath mats, will be accepted.

Donations will be accepted at the field by the umpire until the last out of the last game of the day.

We appreciate your help! We hope this encourages more direct giving and participation so all of our teams can support a sponsor even if they aren’t on their team. Where possible, weeks will be sponsored by other local businesses who support our mission and want to give back to the Durham community.

End-of-Season Tournaments

by

At the end of each Regular Season, all teams will play a single-elimination tournament to decide the Playoff Champion. The tournament seeds will be determined based on each team’s performance and win/loss record during the regular season.

Tournament Games will be structured exactly like regular season games, with the following exceptions:

  • Games cannot end in a tie. Extra innings are allowed.
  • An extra 10 minutes is added in between game start times to allow teams to play a full game.

Donations are earned for every tournament win, with Consolation Prizes equal to 50% of the Championship Prizes.

8-TEAM LEAGUE

Two Tournaments:

  • The Bottom 4 teams during the regular season will play a Consolation Tournament to decide 5th Place and compete for a Consolation Prize.
  • The Top 4 teams during the regular season will play a Championship Tournament to decide 1st Place and compete for the Championship Prize.
  • Round 1 will be played Week 1, with the Championships during Week 2.

10-TEAM LEAGUE

Two Tournaments:

  • The Bottom 4 teams during the regular season will play a Consolation Tournament to decide 7th Place and compete for a Consolation Prize.
  • The Top 6 teams during the regular season will play a Championship Tournament to decide 1st Place and compete for the Championship Prize.
  • Round 1 will be played Week 1, with the Championships during Week 2.

12-TEAM LEAGUE

Two Tournaments:

  • The Bottom 6 teams during the regular season will play a Consolation Tournament to decide 7th Place and compete for a Consolation Prize.
  • The Top 6 teams during the regular season will play a Championship Tournament to decide 1st Place and compete for the Championship Prize.
  • Round 1 will be played Week 1, with the Championships during Week 2.

16-TEAM LEAGUE

Two Tournaments:

  • The Bottom 8 teams during the regular season will play a Consolation Tournament to decide 9th Place and compete for a Consolation Prize.
  • The Top 8 teams during the regular season will play a Championship Tournament to decide 1st Place and compete for the Championship Prize.
  • Round 1 will be played Week 1, with the Championships during Week 2.