Arlington Heights Youth Athletic Association (AHYAA) administers multiple baseball, softball, lacrosse, football and cheerleading programs in Arlington Heights, IL. Registration and general information about each program is available on our website.
Format - Coach pitch format with team rosters that are formed by the league. This instructional league emphasizes fun while learning softball fundamentals. Parents are encouraged to participate with managing, coaching, and coordinating team activities. Games and practices are intended to be fun for all players, no matter their talent level.
Season - Teams are generally formed in mid-April, with practices beginning soon after. Games generally begin in mid-May and continue through the end of June. There are no playoffs in the Coach Pitch league. The timing of games and practices varies and is dependent on field availability and weather. The coaches determine how often and where practices occur and generally aim for 2-3 practices/games per week. Practices are typically 60-90 minutes and games are no longer than 2 hours.
Volunteer Positions - Parents are encouraged to participate. At the Coach Pitch level, the most important volunteer positions are the manager and coaches. Managers generally run the teams, and coaches help out at games and practices. Each team will be assigned a manager and a number of additional coaches. Please consider managing/coaching a team when registering and indicate in the notes if you have already spoken with other parents about coaching together.
Teams – Coach pitch teams are formed by the league. The league will always attempt to group players by school and we do our best to honor friend and manager requests, however we cannot guarantee all requests. The biggest challenge is not having enough manager and coach volunteers, which then requires we spread the volunteers around to cover all the teams evenly.
Equipment - All players will receive a game jersey. The league also supplies each team with balls, face masks (all infielders are required to wear face masks while playing the field), four batting helmets with masks for sharing, and catcher’s equipment. Players supply their own gloves, softball cleats, socks, and pants/shorts. Many players supply their own face mask and batting helmet with mask. The Coach Pitch League uses 10" "softcore" softballs.
Dates
Registration – November 1st to March1st. Registrations after March1st are placed on a wait list.
Evaluations- There are no evaluations for the Coach Pitch level
Team Formation– A managers meeting is held in the middle of April
Practices – Practices start at the end of April
Games– Games start in the middle of May and run through the end of June
Playoffs - There are no playoffs at the Coach Pitch level
Rulebook – Coach Pitch Rulebook (linked from the Documents & Forms section of the website)
Format - Player pitch format with team rosters that are formed by the league. This instructional league emphasizes fun while learning softball fundamentals. Parents are encouraged to participate with managing, coaching, and coordinating team activities. Games and practices are intended to be fun for all players, no matter their talent level.
Pre-Season Evaluations - Prior to the season, generally in March before Spring Break, the league will conduct player evaluations provided AHYAA can find accommodations for the evaluation. The evaluations are not tryouts, but a record of player performance is documented for use in forming balanced teams. Players will participate in several stations, consisting of hitting, fielding, throwing, pitching, and running. Evaluations generally run 30-60 minutes depending on the turnout.
Season - Teams are normally formed in mid-March, with practices beginning the first week of April. Games generally begin on the last weekend of April and continue through mid-June. At the conclusion of the regular season, playoffs start and generally run through the end of June. All teams qualify for the playoffs, with seeding based on the regular season records. The timing of games and practices varies and is dependent on field availability and weather. The coaches determine how often and where practices occur and generally aim for 2-3 practices/games per week. Practices are typically 60-90 minutes and games are no longer than 2 hours.
Volunteer Positions - Parents are encouraged to participate. At the Junior level, the most important volunteer positions are the manager and coaches. Managers generally run the teams, and coaches help out at games and practices. Each team will be assigned a manager and a number of additional coaches. Please consider managing/coaching a team when registering and indicate in the notes if you have already spoken with other parents about coaching together.
Teams – Teams at the Juniors level are formed by the league based on player ability. Decisions regarding placement of players are governed by manager evaluations from previous seasons and player performance at pre-season evaluations. We do our best to form balanced teams and to create parity across the league.
Equipment - All players will receive a game jersey. The league also supplies each team with balls, face masks (all infielders are required to wear face masks while playing the field), four batting helmets with masks for sharing, and catcher’s equipment. Players supply their own gloves, softball cleats, socks, and pants/shorts. Many players supply their own face mask and batting helmet with mask. The Juniors League uses 11" softballs.
Dates
Registration – November 1st to March 1st. Registrations after March 1st are placed on a wait list.
Evaluations– In March before Spring Break
Team Formation– In March before Spring Break
Managers Meeting – In March after Spring Break
Practices– Practices start in early April
Games – Approximately May 1 through the end of June with the season ending prior to July 4th
Playoffs– End of June
Rulebook – Juniors Rulebook (linked from the Documents & Forms section of the website)
Format - Player pitch format with teams formed by a draft. This instructional league emphasizes fun while learning softball fundamentals. Parents are encouraged to participate with managing, coaching, and coordinating team activities. Games and practices are intended to be fun for all players, no matter their talent level.
Season - Teams are normally formed in mid-March, with practices beginning the first week of April. Games generally begin on the last weekend of April and continue through mid-June. At the conclusion of the regular season, playoffs start and generally run through the end of June. All teams qualify for the playoffs, with seeding based on the regular season records. The timing of games and practices varies and is dependent on field availability and weather. The coaches determine how often and where practices occur and generally aim for 2-3 practices/games per week. Practices are typically 60-90 minutes and games are no longer than 2 hours.
Volunteer Positions - Parents are encouraged to participate. At the Majors level, the most important volunteer positions are the manager and coaches. Managers generally run the teams, and coaches help out at games and practices. Each team will be assigned a manager and a number of additional coaches. Please consider managing/coaching a team when registering and indicate in the notes if you have already spoken with other parents about coaching together.
Teams – Teams at the Majors level are formed via draft. Prior to the season, team managers participate in a draft to select their team rosters. At the draft, managers are supplied with information on the players generated by manager evaluations from previous seasons and player performance at the pre-season evaluations.
Equipment - All players will receive a game jersey. The league also supplies each team with balls, face masks (all infielders are required to wear face masks while playing the field), four batting helmets with masks to share, and catcher’s equipment. Players supply their own gloves, , softball cleats, socks, and pants/shorts. Many players supply their own face mask and batting helmet with mask. The Majors League uses 12" softballs.
Dates
Registration – November 1st to March 1st. Registrations after March 1st are placed on a wait list.
Evaluations – In March before Spring Break
Team Formation – In March before Spring Break
Managers Meeting – In March after Spring Break
Practices – Practices start in early April
Games – Approximately May 1 through the end of June with the season ending prior to July 4th
Playoffs – End of June
Rulebook – Majors Rulebook (linked from the Documents & Forms section of the website)
Format - Player pitch format with teams formed by a draft. This instructional league emphasizes fun while learning softball fundamentals. Parents are encouraged to participate with managing, coaching, and coordinating team activities. Games and practices are intended to be fun for all players, no matter their talent level.
Note: The varsity league generally partners with other nearby leagues including Palatine, Prospect Heights and Barrington to increase the number of teams in the league. Each organization will form their own teams, however all participating organizations will follow the same rulebook. The inclusion of the additional teams has been well received in the past and the league representatives will do their best to limit out-of-town games played during the week. If a weekday, out-of-town game is unavoidable, games will generally be scheduled later in the evening and/or with an adjacent town when possible.
Season - Teams are normally formed in mid-March, with practices beginning the first week of April. Games generally begin on the last weekend of April and continue through mid-June. At the conclusion of the regular season, playoffs start and generally run through the end of June. All teams qualify for the playoffs, with seeding based on the regular season records. The timing of games and practices varies and is dependent on field availability and weather. The coaches determine how often and where practices occur and generally aim for 2-3 practices/games per week. Practices are typically 60-90 minutes and games are no longer than 2 hours.
Volunteer Positions - Parents are encouraged to participate. At the Varsity level, the most important volunteer positions are the manager and coaches. Managers generally run the teams, and coaches help out at games and practices. Each team will be assigned a manager and a number of additional coaches. Please consider managing/coaching a team when registering and indicate in the notes if you have already spoken with other parents about coaching together.
Teams – Teams at the Majors level are formed via draft. Prior to the season, team managers participate in a draft to select their team rosters. At the draft, managers are supplied with information on the players generated by manager evaluations from previous seasons and player performance at the pre-season evaluations.
Equipment - All players will receive a game jersey. The league also supplies each team with balls, face masks (all infielders are required to wear face masks while playing the field), four batting helmets with masks to share, and catcher’s equipment. Players supply their own gloves, , softball cleats, socks, and pants/shorts. Many players supply their own face mask and batting helmet with mask. The Varsity league uses 12" softballs.
Dates
Registration – November 1st to March 1st. Registrations after March 1st are placed on a wait list.
Evaluations – In March before Spring Break
Team Formation – In March before Spring Break
Managers Meeting – In March after Spring Break
Practices – Practices start in early April
Games – Approximately May 1 through the end of June with the season ending prior to July 4th
Playoffs – End of June
Rulebook – Varsity Rulebook (linked from the Documents & Forms section of the website)
Varsity League Representative - Katie Utech and Erin Mattes
FALL BALL - Currently Second Season
Format - For players who want to play more house baseball after the regular season, or did not play in the Spring season, we offer a second season Fall BAll that runs from mid-August thru mid- October. Please check the website in July for more information. This league is dependent on interest by division.
Volunteer Positions - Confirmation of teams at each age level is based on participant and volunteer interest/turnout. If you have interest in managing or coaching, contact the league representative.
KR Fastpitch is our full-time travel and house all-stars program. Teams levels range from 8U to 16U. To be eligible for a given team the player must be the appropriate age as of January 1 of the year in question. For example, to play on a 2020 10u team, the player must be no older than 10 as of January 1, 2020. Tryouts are held for teams at all levels and the number of teams fielded will be determined based on turnout.
For more information, dates and details about the KR Fastpitch program please visit krfastpitch.com
Format - The Women's Softball league is for ladies that are Freshman in high school and up (there is no upper age limit). This is a fastpitch softball league with teams from Arlington Heights and Palatine. Games will be played at Centennial Park in Arlington Heights and Community Field in Palatine.
Season - Games start in early June and are played on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings with playoffs beginning approximately the third week of July.
Teams – We recommended that all teams have 13 to 15 players. When registering, you can register as an individual and be placed on a team, or you can register as a group (Register as an individual and request to be with each other on the form).
Note: The only team requirement is that each team must have one player 18 years old or older representing the team as the team "manager" or have an adult that will represent the team as the "manager" if no one on the roster is 18 years or older. This person is essentially the point of contact for the league and umpire at games.
Equipment - All players will be provided with a game jersey. Teams will be provided an equipment bag with catcher’s gear and balls. Players will need to provide their own batting helmets with facemask, gloves and fielders masks.
Dates
Registration – October 1st to May 25th
Games – Tuesdays and Thursdays from early June to the third week of July
Rulebook – Women’s Softball Rulebook (linked from the Documents & Forms section of the website)
Women’s League Representative - Jim Taylor and Missi Courtney
