North Grounds Softball League

On behalf of the Commissioners of the North Grounds Softball League ("NGSL") at the University of Virginia School of Law, we would like to invite your school to enter the 21st Annual Virginia Law Softball Invitational. Last year 105 teams from across the country gathered in scenic Charlottesville for an exceptional weekend of competition and merriment. We expect this year's tournament to be even more fun for all involved.

Click here to see the steps for registration.

The 2004 tournament will be held the weekend of April 2-4, 2004. Games will be played all day Saturday, April 3rd and Sunday, April 4th. Registration and check-in will take place Friday, April 2^nd in the late afternoon-evening. The format is double elimination.

Once again, we are offering two divisions: the "Co-Rec" division and the "Regular" division. The rules of the Co-Rec division require that of the ten players on the field, at least four must be women. Generally, teams in the Regular division are all male, but that is not required. Full tournament rules are available elsewhere on the website.

Only current law students and professors or administrators are eligible to play. No alumni teams or players are permitted. Please help us maintain the competitive and fun atmosphere of the tournament by adhering to this rule. In order to ensure the fairness of the competition, we ask that each of your teams complete a liability/roster form. Upon registration, each player on the roster must show a valid student ID. Please make sure all players bring school identification cards to check-in.

We will provide balls, fields, umpires, and trophies for the champions of each division. Each team must provide additional equipment (i.e. bats and gloves). The entrance fee this year will be $375 per team. We encourage you to enter more than one team. Because of the high number of entries we receive each year, each school may enter only 4 teams with no more than 3 teams in any division. Teams will be chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis and limited according to field space. Last year we had 39 teams in the Co-Rec division and 51 teams in the Regular division.

Once again this year, the $375 entry fee will be refunded to the team that travels the greatest distance to the tournament. However, only one team is eligible for this refund. Thus, if the school traveling the greatest distance brings more than one team, the school will only be reimbursed $375.

In the past many schools have obtained sponsors to subsidize some or all of their expenses. We encourage you to do this. Lexis, Bar/Bri, Westlaw and former alumni are often good places to start. As in the past, the majority of the proceeds from the tournament are donated to a local charity. Over the last few years, we have developed a strong relationship with Children, Youth and Family Services of Charlottesville ("CYFS") and they will be this year's charity again. Click here for more details about CYFS.

In keeping with NGSL and UVA tradition, there will be a barbeque on Saturday afternoon as well as a tournament party on Saturday night. Both of these events are included for players in team entry fees. Many of you may be worried about the weather, but we will play unless the fields are absolutely unplayable. If the fields are unplayable the tournament may be canceled. Your entry fee will not be refunded if we are unable to play. There will be beer at both Friday night registration, sponsored by Westlaw, and approximately 20 kegs at the Saturday evening party - so there will be no reason to rush home if we do happen to get a little inclement weather.

We hope that you will accept our invitation to join us for the weekend. Upon receipt of the enclosed form(s) and check(s) made payable to North Grounds Softball League, we will send you further information regarding rules, directions and housing. You may also see those portions of our website for further information. A slot will not be reserved for your team until we receive a check and entry form for each team (rosters do not need to be sent with the entry form and fee, but rosters should be sent no later than March 14th).

Entries for the 2004 tournament must be sent in by FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2004. Remember that the number of fields available in Charlottesville limits the number of teams we can accept. All teams will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis, and we don't want your team to be left out. Please send your entry form and fee as soon as possible.

We are working hard to ensure that this year's event will be even better than last year's. We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions, please contact Sean McMahan or Megan Davidson by e-mail.