Hello EVAA Lightening families!

My name is Jason Petti and it is my pleasure to serve in the role of President for EVAA.  I would like to thank Jess Smith for his role as President these last few years and extend my appreciation for his leadership and commitment to our youth athletic programs.  I would also like to take this opportunity and thank each of you for being part of our Lightening family.  As a parent and coach, I would encourage each of you to consider volunteering and witness first-hand the rewards of working with our young athletes.  As we look forward to some of our strongest numbers in 2023 your support is needed.  Our Better and Brighter Campaign is underway to build strong community partnerships to increase scholarship opportunities and reduce registration costs for our families.  

Jason Petti
EVAA President

TRAVELING *Requires Tryout

• Registration: Click Here For Traveling Registration
• Ages: 2rd- 9thGrade / 9U-15U
• Summer Season: April - July
• Tryouts: February 20th & February 24th -or- February 27th
• Tryout Prep Clinic: February 19th

EVAA is offering a clinic the day before tryouts, to run players through each of the fielding stations they will encounter at the February 20th tryout. Many players have not had the chance to run through such an exercise, and this event will give them an opportunity to catch a fly ball in a dome, take fielding drills and be around other athletes their age. This is a highly recommended event, which can greatly increase your child's confidence, and eliminate the unknown. More information to come.

KEY DATES TO REMEMBER

EVAA BASEBALL CONTACT
baseball@evaasports.org
952-250-5827
http://www.evaasports.org
Facebook: EVAA Baseball
Twitter: Eastview_TB

In spite of what it looks like outside your window…Spring IS coming and so is a brand new Eastview Soccer Club soccer season.

Registration

We open registrations on March-1. IF YOU REGISTER IN WEEK ONE ONLY we are offering a 10% discount.

Details of the season with days and fields are already available, follow this link:

https://www.evaasports.org/inhousesoccer

Girls only soccer grades 6-8 

The Eastview Soccer Club will now offer recreation soccer for middle school girls (grades 6-8 CO-ED will be unaffected, this is an ADDITIONAL program). This will be a less intense option with only 2 days of soccer each week (T/Th). We've seen a drop of girls enrolling in middle school and our fall survey indicated that parents want a girls-only option for middle school. We heard you.

AED Donations

The Eastview Soccer Club and other sports are partnering together and with the City of Apple Valley to get high-quality, durable automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at the fields/facilities where our young athletes play. Please consider a donation when you register your child.

The Scott Selby Scholarship Program for Youth Officials

We are excited to announce this program. If you are interested in being awarded one of the exclusive EVSC Scott Selby Scholarship for Youth Officials, then write to Peter Beaumont (pmbeaumont@evaasports.org

explaining why you believe you should be honored with such an award.

The more effort you put into your case, the more likely you are to be selected.

You must have just recently been certified and not reffed a game yet.

From these applications, 10 Officials will be selected for 20 min zoom interviews and from these 10, 5 will be selected.

The Scholarship winners will then attend their first classroom of 90 mins for instruction and tests to help them before their first assignments.

The rating list of what must be completed successfully during the 10 games to qualify for the award will be fully explained.

Also, at the classroom they will be assigned 5 Grade 3-5 games and 5 as AR’s for Grade 6-8 games. They will be mentored at these games.

If they have successfully completed all 10 games and passed mentoring observation, they will be awarded the scholarship fee of $250 each.

EVAA Open Registrations 

Big News! Girls lacrosse, 12U/14U box lacrosse

Hello, Eastview Youth Lacrosse Families!

We’ve got some big news to share…
 

Girls lacrosse is back!
Thanks to a great partnership with Eagan, we are thrilled to offer Eastview girls the opportunity to play on a girls-only co-op team this season. Our goal is to build girls lacrosse in our community, and field an all-Eastview girls youth lacrosse team in the future. Registration for the co-op girls team will open soon.

Now offering 12U/14U spring “box” lacrosse
We heard you, so we’re delivering. After receiving considerable demand from Eastview LAX supporters, we are now offering 12U/14U spring “box” lacrosse. Box will include practice and games.

Spots are limited and, given demand, will go fast. Register today!

https://evaa.sportngin.com/register/form/824736074

Thank you

Thank you to those who attended the Sports Sampler on January 21 at the Apple Valley Community Center. Eastview Youth Lacrosse hosted a life-sized lacrosse net, and provided balls and sticks for attendees to try lacrosse. Our booth had a lot of activity! Best of all, we got some new players who want to join lacrosse this year!

Looking forward to seeing your child’s name on the registered list!

Sincerely,

The Eastview Youth Lacrosse Board
facebook.com/EastviewYouthLAX

*Girls are always welcome to register for the boys teams, if they prefer.

Softball families,

The Fusion Fastpitch Softball program serves the Eastview and Apple Valley High School communities by providing a place to play traveling fastpitch softball, 6U (formerly known as In-House) coach pitch softball and winter skills training opportunities.

For those who don’t want to play fastpitch but still want a softball experience, our partner program VAA Slow Pitch Softball provides a place to play slow pitch softball and continue to develop their skills and understanding of the game. Please visit their page for more information: https://www.vaasports.org/slowpitchsoftball

We are gearing up for the 2023 spring season, please take note of the following:

6U (formerly known as In-House) coach pitch softball registration is now open

6U Softball serves girls with birth years 2016 and younger with a summer season running from late April through June. Teams generally play two games per week where the coaches pitch. The 6U program is focused on both fun and skill development. Teams are formed, when possible, by placing girls with other players from their school or neighborhood.

Registration is now open for 6U using this link:

https://evaa.sportngin.com/register/form/308346403

Registration closes April 2.

Spring Traveling Fastpitch registration is now open and Tryouts: Save the date

The traveling fastpitch season will officially start on Monday April 3 and run through mid-July. Teams generally travel for games to nearby communities. Additionally, 10U traveling and 12U teams play in 3-4 weekend tournaments. 8U teams are generally formed based upon grade and school. You can indicate that you would like to be considered for our 8U A team, which will be formed this year based on interest level, with evaluations taking place as needed depending on the numbers.

Level of play is determined by birth year. For the upcoming spring season: 12U is 2010 and 2011, 10U is 2012 and 2013, and 8U is any birth years 2014, 2015 and depending on previous experience, 2016.

Tryouts are required for 10U and 12U traveling team formation. These tryouts will be held from 3-7pm on Sunday March 19 at the Irish Sports Dome in Rosemount. More details to come as we get closer to that date.

Registration is now open for 8U, 10U and 12U traveling using this link:

https://evaa.sportngin.com/register/form/699564116

Registration closes March 17.

Head Coaches Needed

Coaches are among the most influential adults in the lives of youth athletes.  Each season, one of the issues youth sports leagues deal with is the recruitment of new volunteer coaches.  Fusion Softball is no exception.  In many instances, the reputation of the league is determined by coaches.

Our primary goal is to provide a good experience for the children that register to play Fusion Softball.  Our measure of a good experience includes: having fun, whether in practice or during a game; learning the basics; productive practices; gaining experience; developing skills; and learning to compete.  Resources and support will be provided to help coaches get started and provide a valuable experience for the players.

We are always looking for parents or family members that are willing to donate time to help our players learn to enjoy the game of softball. As our program has grown over 25% in players the past couple of years, so has our need for head coaches. If interested, please complete the online application, and submit the application to fusiondirector@evaasports.org

The coaches application form can be found on this page:

https://www.evaasports.org/softballcoachescorner

For more information on the Fusion Fastpitch Softball program, visit New to Softball or email John Bullock, Fusion director at fusiondirector@evaasports.org

Track and Field is back in full swing for EVAA on Eastview High School’s beautiful new track! Last year we had over 120 kids join us from grades Pre-K to 7th grade! It’s going to be a fantastic spring. Events will include:

• Sprints
• Hurdles
• Relay Races
• Long Jump
• Ball Throw (PreK through 3rd grade)
• Shot Put (4th through 7th grade)
• High Jump (4th through 7th grade)
• Games & Obstacle Courses

All youth are welcome—regardless of ability and whether you’ve done the program before or it’s your first time. Our goal is to provide each athlete with additional strength, speed, agility, and confidence—all while making new friends and having a great time cheering each other on! Multi-sport athletes are welcome and encouraged. 

This year we are hoping to have two teams for Pre-K & Kindergarten, four teams for 1st through 3rd grade, and one traveling team for 4th through 7th that will compete against each other and other schools. Eastview JV & Varsity Track athletes often come out to help coach as well. 

The season will start after spring break on Monday, April 3 and will run through the beginning of June. Practices are held on Monday and Friday evenings (either at Eastview track or indoor venue depending on weather), with track meets starting in late April. Meets will be held on Friday nights for Pre-K/K and 1st through 3rd grade and some Saturday mornings for the older youth. A full schedule will be loaded into Sports Engine once registration closes.

Register today and invite a friend to join you! Registration closes March 20. We are always looking for coaches to assist throughout the season and no experience is necessary as we will provide training. Please contact Program Director Shawna Nelsen-Wills at 612-408-2860 or email evaatrackdirector@gmail.com with any questions.